Word study
Driven
5 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “driven”. English often uses one word where Hebrew or Greek has several, each with its own shade of meaning. Under each word are verses where it is translated this way; choose the word itself for its full study: every verse, how else it is translated, the forms it takes and what the dictionaries say.
At a glance
How often each original word is translated “driven” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side Compare the Greek words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- יָרַשׁ yârashtake possession of, inherit, dispossesstranslated this way 12 times of its 230 uses · Strong’s H3423Verb · Translated: possess 72, drive 27, take possession 21, driven 12Full study and all 204 verses →
Numbers 32:21 and if every one of your armed men crosses the Jordan before the LORD, until He has driven His enemies out before Him,
Deuteronomy 19:1 When the LORD your God has cut off the nations whose land He is giving you, and when you have driven them out and settled in their cities and houses,
- נָדַח nâdachimpel, thrust, banishtranslated this way 5 times of its 54 uses · Strong’s H5080Verb · Translated: banished 13, exiles 5, driven 4, banish 4Full study and all 53 verses →
Job 6:13 Is there any help within me now that success is driven from me?
Isaiah 8:22 Then they will look to the earth and see only distress and darkness and the gloom of anguish. And they will be driven into utter darkness.
- גָּרַשׁ gârashdrive out, cast outtranslated this way 4 times of its 46 uses · Strong’s H1644Verb · Translated: drive 14, drove 7, banished 4, driven 3Full study and all 45 verses →
Genesis 4:14 Behold, this day You have driven me from the face of the earth, and from Your face I will be hidden; I will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”
Exodus 12:39 Since their dough had no leaven, the people baked what they had brought out of Egypt into unleavened loaves. For when they had been driven out of Egypt, they could not delay and had not prepared any provisions for themselves.
- טְרַד ṭeradchase awaytranslated this way 4 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s H2957Verb · Translated: driven away 4Full study and all 4 verses →
Daniel 4:25 You will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling will be with the beasts of the field. You will feed on grass like an ox and be drenched with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass you by, until you acknowledge that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes.
Daniel 4:32 You will be driven away from mankind to live with the beasts of the field, and you will feed on grass like an ox. And seven times will pass you by, until you acknowledge that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes.”
- הָדַף hâdaphthrusttranslated this way 2 times of its 11 uses · Strong’s H1920Verb · Translated: driven 2Full study and all 11 verses →
Deuteronomy 9:4 When the LORD your God has driven them out before you, do not say in your heart, “Because of my righteousness the LORD has brought me in to possess this land.” Rather, the LORD is driving out these nations before you because of their wickedness.
Job 18:18 He is driven from light into darkness and is chased from the inhabited world.
Greek words (New Testament)
- ἐλαύνω elaúnōI drive on, propel, rowtranslated this way 3 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s G1643Verb · Translated: driven 3, row 1, rowed 1Full study and all 5 verses →
Luke 8:29 For Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was bound with chains and shackles, he had broken the chains and been driven by the demon into solitary places.
James 3:4 Consider ships as well. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot is inclined.
- ἐκβάλλω ekbállōI throw, cast, put out, banish, bring forth, producetranslated this way 2 times of its 81 uses · Strong’s G1544Verb · Translated: drive 22, drove 8, threw 5, take 4Full study and all 75 verses →
Matthew 9:33 And when the demon had been driven out, the man began to speak. The crowds were amazed and said, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel!”
Mark 16:9 Early on the first day of the week, after Jesus had risen, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom He had driven out seven demons.
- φέρω phérōI carry, bear, bring, leadtranslated this way 2 times of its 64 uses · Strong’s G5342Verb · Translated: brought 17, Bring 11, bear 6, bringing 3Full study and all 58 verses →
Acts 27:15 Unable to head into the wind, the ship was caught up. So we gave way and let ourselves be driven along.
Acts 27:17 After hoisting it up, the crew used ropes to undergird the ship. And fearing that they would run aground on the sandbars of Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor and were driven along.
How to study a word well
- Start from the verse, not the dictionary. Find which Hebrew or Greek word stands in the verse you are studying. One English word often translates several different original words.
- Read every place the word is used. A word means what its writers used it to mean. The list of verses and the count by book show its range, and who uses it most.
- Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
- Notice the form. A command is not a statement, and a passive verb is something done to the subject. The form in your verse is part of the meaning.
- See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
- Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
- Come back to the verse. Context decides. A word does not carry every one of its meanings into every verse, and where a word came from does not settle what it means in a sentence written centuries later.
Scripture text and translation counts: Berean Standard Bible. Full entry: Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906, public domain), in the digital edition Brown-Driver-Briggs Enhanced by unfoldingWord (Joel Ruark, J. de Joode), based on data by Eliran Wong and Stephen Ku; its additions are used under CC BY 4.0. Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project, CC BY 4.0. Hebrew-to-English verse numbering: original work of the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible available at https://github.com/openscriptures/morphhb, CC BY 4.0. We reformatted the data, linked the references to this site’s Bible text and left out words in other scripts that the source holds only as images. These are historical reference works; an entry gives its authors’ view, and a word’s meaning in any verse depends on how it is used there.