Word study

Embrace

3 Hebrew and 2 Greek words behind this English word

The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: embraced, embrace, embraces, embracing. 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 “embrace” 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)

  • חָבַק châbaqclasp, embracetranslated this way 9 times of its 13 uses · Strong’s H2263Verb  ·  Translated: embraced 3, embrace 3, huddle 2, embraces 2

    Genesis 29:13 When Laban heard the news about his sister’s son Jacob, he ran out to meet him. He embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his home, where Jacob told him all that had happened.

    Proverbs 4:8 Prize her, and she will exalt you; if you embrace her, she will honor you.

    Full study and all 12 verses →
  • חָזַק châzaqbe or grow firm, strong, strengthentranslated this way 3 times of its 290 uses · Strong’s H2388Verb  ·  Translated: strong 37, made repairs 22, strengthened 16, repaired 15

    1 Kings 9:9 And others will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the LORD their God who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them— because of this, the LORD has brought all this disaster upon them.’”

    2 Chronicles 7:22 And others will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them— because of this, He has brought all this disaster upon them.’”

    Full study and all 264 verses →
  • חֵיק chêqbosomtranslated this way 3 times of its 34 uses · Strong’s H2436Noun  ·  Translated: arms 6, bosom 4, laps 4, lap 3

    Deuteronomy 13:6 If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you embrace, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (which neither you nor your fathers have known,

    Deuteronomy 28:54 The most gentle and refined man among you will begrudge his brother, the wife he embraces, and the rest of his children who have survived,

    Full study and all 31 verses →

Greek words (New Testament)

  • παραλαμβάνω paralambánōI take, receivetranslated this way 2 times of its 49 uses · Strong’s G3880Verb  ·  Translated: took 21, received 10, taken 4, Take 4

    Matthew 1:20 But after he had pondered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to embrace Mary as your wife, for the One conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

    Matthew 1:24 When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and embraced Mary as his wife.

    Full study and all 49 verses →
  • ἐπιπίπτω epipíptōI fall upon, press upontranslated this way 2 times of its 11 uses · Strong’s G1968Verb  ·  Translated: fell 3, embraced 2, fallen 2

    Luke 15:20 So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still in the distance, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.

    Acts 20:37 They all wept openly as they embraced Paul and kissed him.

    Full study and all 11 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.