Word study

Effort

4 Hebrew and 6 Greek words behind this English word

The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: effort, efforts. 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 “effort” 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)

Greek words (New Testament)

  • σπουδάζω spoudázōI hastentranslated this way 7 times of its 13 uses · Strong’s G4704Verb  ·  Translated: Make every effort 6

    2 Timothy 2:15 Make every effort to present yourself approved to God, an unashamed workman who accurately handles the word of truth.

    Titus 3:12 As soon as I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, make every effort to come to me at Nicopolis, because I have decided to winter there.

    Full study and all 11 verses →
  • σπουδή spoudḗhaste, diligencetranslated this way 2 times of its 10 uses · Strong’s G4710Noun  ·  Translated: earnestness 4, diligence 2, effort 2, zeal 1

    2 Peter 1:5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith virtue; and to virtue, knowledge;

    Jude 1:3 Beloved, although I made every effort to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt it necessary to write and urge you to contend earnestly for the faith entrusted once for all to the saints.

    Full study and all 10 verses →
  • ἐργασία ergasíaworking, activity, trade, performancetranslated this way 1 time of its 6 uses · Strong’s G2039Noun  ·  Translated: business 2, effort 1, income 1, making money 1

    Luke 12:58 Make every effort to reconcile with your adversary while you are on your way to the magistrate. Otherwise, he may drag you off to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and the officer may throw you into prison.

    Full study and all 6 verses →
  • ἀγωνίζομαι agōnízomaiI strive, contendtranslated this way 1 time of its 8 uses · Strong’s G75Verb  ·  Translated: fight 2

    Luke 13:24 “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able.

    Full study and all 8 verses →
  • τρέχω tréchōI run, exercise myselftranslated this way 1 time of its 20 uses · Strong’s G5143Verb  ·  Translated: ran 6, run 5, running 4

    Romans 9:16 So then, it does not depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.

    Full study and all 17 verses →
  • κοπιάω kopiáōI grow weary, toiltranslated this way 1 time of its 23 uses · Strong’s G2872Verb  ·  Translated: labor 5, worked 4, weary 2, worked hard 2

    Galatians 4:11 I fear for you, that my efforts for you may have been in vain.

    Full study and all 21 verses →
How to study a word well
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
  4. 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.
  5. See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
  6. Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
  7. 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.