Word study
Dwell
16 Hebrew and 7 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: dwell, dwelling, dwells, dwellings, dwelt, dwelled. 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 “dwell” 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)
- יָשַׁב yâshabsit, remain, dwelltranslated this way 131 times of its 1,049 uses · Strong’s H3427Verb · Translated: lived 103, dwell 89, live 84, sit 70Full study and all 960 verses →
Genesis 4:20 Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and raise livestock.
Exodus 15:15 Then the chiefs of Edom will be dismayed; trembling will seize the leaders of Moab; those who dwell in Canaan will melt away,
- שָׁכַן shâkansettle down, abide, dwelltranslated this way 70 times of its 129 uses · Strong’s H7931Verb · Translated: dwell 45, dwelling 9, settle 8, settled 7Full study and all 124 verses →
Genesis 9:27 May God expand the territory of Japheth; may he dwell in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be his servant.”
Exodus 25:8 And they are to make a sanctuary for Me, so that I may dwell among them.
- מִשְׁכָּן mishkândwelling-place, 'tabernacle'translated this way 25 times of its 134 uses · Strong’s H4908Noun · Translated: tabernacle 101, dwellings 10, dwelling place 6, dwelling 4Full study and all 128 verses →
Leviticus 26:11 And I will make My dwelling place among you, and My soul will not despise you.
Numbers 16:24 “Tell the congregation to move away from the dwellings of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”
- גּוּר gûrsojourntranslated this way 10 times of its 88 uses · Strong’s H1481Verb · Translated: residing 8, reside 6, living 6, dwell 6Full study and all 85 verses →
Numbers 9:14 If a foreigner dwelling among you wants to observe the Passover to the LORD, he is to do so according to the Passover statute and its ordinances. You are to apply the same statute to both the foreigner and the native of the land.’”
Psalm 5:4 For You are not a God who delights in wickedness; no evil can dwell with You.
- מוֹשָׁב môshâbseat, assembly, dwelling-place, dwelling, dwellerstranslated this way 9 times of its 42 uses · Strong’s H4186Noun · Translated: live 9, dwellings 4, seat 4, settlements 4Full study and all 42 verses →
Genesis 27:39 His father Isaac answered him: “Behold, your dwelling place shall be away from the richness of the land, away from the dew of heaven above.
Exodus 10:23 No one could see anyone else, and for three days no one left his place. Yet all the Israelites had light in their dwellings.
- מָעוֹן mâôndwelling, habitationtranslated this way 8 times of its 18 uses · Strong’s H4583Noun · Translated: dwelling place 4, haunt 4, habitation 3, dwelling 2Full study and all 18 verses →
1 Samuel 2:32 You will see distress in My dwelling place. Despite all that is good in Israel, no one in your house will ever again reach old age.
2 Chronicles 30:27 Then the priests and the Levites stood to bless the people, and God heard their voice, and their prayer came into His holy dwelling place in heaven.
- נָוֶה nâvehabode of shepherd, or flockstranslated this way 7 times of its 37 uses · Strong’s H5116Noun · Translated: pasture 11, dwelling 3, dwelling place 2, home 2Full study and all 36 verses →
Exodus 15:13 With loving devotion You will lead the people You have redeemed; with Your strength You will guide them to Your holy dwelling.
2 Samuel 15:25 Then the king said to Zadok, “Return the ark of God to the city. If I find favor in the eyes of the LORD, He will bring me back and let me see both it and His dwelling place again.
- מָקוֹם mâqômstanding, spot, conditiontranslated this way 6 times of its 381 uses · Strong’s H4725Noun · Translated: place 279, home 16, places 11, wherever 7Full study and all 364 verses →
1 Chronicles 16:27 Splendor and majesty are before Him; strength and joy fill His dwelling.
Job 28:12 But where can wisdom be found, and where does understanding dwell?
- מְעוֹנָה meônâhid.translated this way 3 times of its 9 uses · Strong’s H4585Noun · Translated: dens 4, dwelling place 2, dwellings 1, den 1Full study and all 9 verses →
Deuteronomy 33:27 The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms. He drives out the enemy before you, giving the command, ‘Destroy him!’
Psalm 76:2 His tent is in Salem, His dwelling place in Zion.
- מָגוּר mâgûrsojourning-place, dwelling-placetranslated this way 2 times of its 10 uses · Strong’s H4033Noun · Translated: travels 2Full study and all 9 verses →
Genesis 28:4 And may He give the blessing of Abraham to you and your descendants, so that you may possess the land where you dwell as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham.”
Ezekiel 20:38 And I will purge you of those who rebel and transgress against Me. I will bring them out of the land in which they dwell, but they will not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD.
- לוּן lûnlodge, pass the nighttranslated this way 2 times of its 80 uses · Strong’s H3885Verb · Translated: spend the night 17, spent the night 7, grumbled 7, remain 6Full study and all 76 verses →
Psalm 25:13 His soul will dwell in prosperity, and his descendants will inherit the land.
Proverbs 15:31 He who listens to life-giving reproof will dwell among the wise.
- דּוּר dûrdwelltranslated this way 2 times of its 7 uses · Strong’s H1753Verb · Translated: dwell 2, peoples 2, nested 1, lived 1Full study and all 6 verses →
Daniel 2:38 Wherever the sons of men or beasts of the field or birds of the air dwell, He has given them into your hand and has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.
Daniel 4:1 King Nebuchadnezzar, To the people of every nation and language who dwell in all the earth: May your prosperity be multiplied.
- עִם imwithtranslated this way 2 times of its 940 uses · Strong’s H5973Preposition · Translated: with 246, with you 84, with him 61, against 39Full study and all 838 verses →
Leviticus 25:47 If a foreigner residing among you prospers, but your countryman dwelling near him becomes destitute and sells himself to the foreigner or to a member of his clan,
- מַחֲנֶה machănehencampment, camptranslated this way 2 times of its 206 uses · Strong’s H4264Noun · Translated: camp 146, army 21, camps 12, armies 3Full study and all 186 verses →
1 Chronicles 9:19 Shallum son of Kore, the son of Ebiasaph, the son of Korah, and his relatives from the Korahites were assigned to guard the thresholds of the Tent, just as their fathers had been assigned to guard the entrance to the dwelling of the LORD.
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.
- מְדוֹר medôrdwelling placetranslated this way 2 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s H4070Noun · Translated: dwelling 2, live 1, lived 1Full study and all 4 verses →
Daniel 2:11 What the king requests is so difficult that no one can tell it to him except the gods, whose dwelling is not with mortals.”
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.
- אֹהֶל ôheltenttranslated this way 2 times of its 338 uses · Strong’s H168Noun · Translated: Tent 259, tents 46, home 10, homes 7Full study and all 310 verses →
Judges 5:24 Most blessed among women is Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, most blessed of tent-dwelling women.
1 Chronicles 4:41 These who were noted by name came in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah. They attacked the Hamites in their dwellings as well as the Meunites who were there, devoting them to destruction even to this day. Then they settled in their place, because there was pasture for their flocks.
Greek words (New Testament)
- κατοικέω katoikéōI dwell in, settle in, inhabittranslated this way 22 times of its 41 uses · Strong’s G2730Verb · Translated: dwell 16, lived 7, living 7, dwells 4Full study and all 39 verses →
Matthew 12:45 Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and dwell there. And the final plight of that man is worse than the first. So will it be with this wicked generation.”
Luke 11:26 Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and dwell there. And the final plight of that man is worse than the first.”
- ἐνοικέω enoikéōI dwell in, am settled intranslated this way 4 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s G1774Verb · Translated: dwell 2, lives 1, dwelt 1, dwells 1Full study and all 5 verses →
2 Corinthians 6:16 What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.”
Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
- σκηνόω skēnóōI dwell as in a tent, encamptranslated this way 4 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s G4637Verb · Translated: dwell 3, made his dwelling 1, spread his tabernacle 1Full study and all 5 verses →
John 1:14 The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Revelation 12:12 Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea; with great fury the devil has come down to you, knowing he has only a short time.”
- κάθημαι káthēmaiI sit, am seatedtranslated this way 2 times of its 84 uses · Strong’s G2521Verb · Translated: sitting 26, seated 23, Sit 11, sat 10Full study and all 82 verses →
Luke 21:35 For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of all the earth.
Revelation 14:6 Then I saw another angel flying overhead, with the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on the earth — to every nation and tribe and tongue and people.
- οἰκητήριον oikētḗriona dwelling-place, habitationtranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G3613Noun · Translated: dwelling 2Full study and all 2 verses →
2 Corinthians 5:2 For in this tent we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling,
Jude 1:6 And the angels who did not stay within their own domain but abandoned their proper dwelling— these He has kept in eternal chains under darkness, bound for judgment on that great day.
- σκηνή skēnḗa tent, tabernacletranslated this way 2 times of its 20 uses · Strong’s G4633Noun · Translated: tabernacle 11, shelters 3, room 2Full study and all 20 verses →
Luke 16:9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to make friends for yourselves so that when it is gone, they will welcome you into eternal dwellings.
Revelation 21:3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God.
- οἰκέω oikéōI inhabit, dwelltranslated this way 2 times of its 9 uses · Strong’s G3611Verb · Translated: living 3, lives 2, dwells 2, live 2Full study and all 9 verses →
1 Corinthians 3:16 Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple, and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?
1 Timothy 6:16 He alone is immortal and dwells in unapproachable light. No one has ever seen Him, nor can anyone see Him. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.
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.