Word study
Duty
10 Hebrew words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: duties, duty. 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 “duty” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- מִשְׁמֶרֶת mishmerethguard, watchtranslated this way 19 times of its 73 uses · Strong’s H4931Noun · Translated: charge 20, duties 18, responsible 3, service 3Full study and all 66 verses →
Numbers 3:7 They are to perform duties for him and for the whole congregation before the Tent of Meeting, attending to the service of the tabernacle.
1 Chronicles 25:8 They cast lots for their duties, young and old alike, teacher as well as pupil.
- בּוֹא bôcome in, come, go in, gotranslated this way 5 times of its 2,442 uses · Strong’s H935Verb · Translated: come 358, came 298, bring 209, brought 201Full study and all 2,217 verses →
- יָבַם yâbammarrytranslated this way 3 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s H2992Verb · Translated: Perform your duty as her brother-in-law 1, fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law 1, perform the duty of a brother-in-law 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Genesis 38:8 Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife. Perform your duty as her brother-in-law and raise up offspring for your brother.”
Deuteronomy 25:5 When brothers dwell together and one of them dies without a son, the widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband’s brother is to take her as his wife and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law for her.
- יָצָא yâtsâgo or come outtranslated this way 3 times of its 1,035 uses · Strong’s H3318Verb · Translated: brought 108, went 103, go 82, came 78Full study and all 975 verses →
- מְלָאכָה melâkâhoccupation, worktranslated this way 3 times of its 142 uses · Strong’s H4399Noun · Translated: work 86, regular work 10, craft 3, service 3Full study and all 131 verses →
1 Chronicles 9:33 Those who were musicians, the heads of Levite families, stayed in the temple chambers and were exempt from other duties because they were on duty day and night.
Nehemiah 10:33 for the showbread, for the regular grain offerings and burnt offerings, for the Sabbath offerings, for the New Moons and appointed feasts, for the holy offerings, for the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and for all the duties of the house of our God.
- בְּלוֹ belôtributetranslated this way 3 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s H1093Noun · Translated: duty 3Full study and all 3 verses →
Ezra 4:13 Let it now be known to the king that if that city is rebuilt and its walls are restored, they will not pay tribute, duty, or toll, and the royal treasury will suffer.
Ezra 4:20 And mighty kings have ruled over Jerusalem and exercised authority over the whole region west of the Euphrates; and tribute, duty, and toll were paid to them.
- דָּבָר dâbârspeech, wordtranslated this way 2 times of its 1,244 uses · Strong’s H1697Noun · Translated: word 342, words 299, acts 51, Chronicles 42Full study and all 1,120 verses →
Deuteronomy 24:5 If a man is newly married, he must not be sent to war or be pressed into any duty. For one year he is free to stay at home and bring joy to the wife he has married.
2 Chronicles 31:16 In addition, they distributed portions to the males registered by genealogy who were three years of age or older — to all who would enter the house of the LORD for their daily duties for service in the responsibilities of their divisions —
- שָׁמַר shâmarkeep, watch, preservetranslated this way 2 times of its 461 uses · Strong’s H8104Verb · Translated: keep 133, careful 39, kept 33, guard 25Full study and all 436 verses →
1 Kings 14:27 Then King Rehoboam made bronze shields in their place and committed them to the care of the captains of the guard on duty at the entrance to the royal palace.
2 Chronicles 12:10 Then King Rehoboam made bronze shields in their place and committed them to the care of the captains of the guard on duty at the entrance to the royal palace.
- מַשָּׂא massâload, burden, lifting, bearing, tributetranslated this way 2 times of its 64 uses · Strong’s H4853Noun · Translated: burden 35, load 7, carry 5, burdens 2Full study and all 60 verses →
Numbers 4:15 When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy objects and all their equipment, as soon as the camp is ready to move, the Kohathites shall come and do the carrying. But they must not touch the holy objects, or they will die. These are the transportation duties of the Kohathites regarding the Tent of Meeting.
Numbers 4:27 All the service of the Gershonites — all their transport duties and other work — is to be done at the direction of Aaron and his sons; you are to assign to them all that they are responsible to carry.
- עֲבֹדָה ăbôdâhlabour, servicetranslated this way 2 times of its 127 uses · Strong’s H5656Noun · Translated: service 56, work 25, labor 8, task 5Full study and all 112 verses →
1 Chronicles 6:32 They ministered with song before the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting, until Solomon built the house of the LORD in Jerusalem. And they performed their duties according to the regulations given them.
2 Chronicles 31:2 Hezekiah reestablished the divisions of the priests and Levites — each of them according to their duties as priests or Levites — for the burnt offerings and peace offerings, for ministry, for giving thanks, and for singing praises at the gates of the LORD’s dwelling.
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.
What the Bible says about duty: passages by topic →
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.