Word study
Enemy
7 Hebrew and 1 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: enemies, enemy. 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 “enemy” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- אֹיֵב ôyêbbe hostile totranslated this way 265 times of its 279 uses · Strong’s H341Verb · Translated: enemies 187, enemy 69, foes 8, enemy's 3Full study and all 273 verses →
Genesis 22:17 I will surely bless you, and I will multiply your descendants like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will possess the gates of their enemies.
Exodus 15:6 Your right hand, O LORD, is majestic in power; Your right hand, O LORD, has shattered the enemy.
- צַר tsarnarrow, tighttranslated this way 32 times of its 110 uses · Strong’s H6862Noun · Translated: enemies 22, foes 22, distress 18, enemy 10Full study and all 106 verses →
Genesis 14:20 and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything.
Joshua 5:13 Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in His hand. Joshua approached Him and asked, “Are You for us or for our enemies?”
- שָׂנֵא sânêhatetranslated this way 9 times of its 143 uses · Strong’s H8130Verb · Translated: hate 65, hated 23, hates 17, enemies 6Full study and all 139 verses →
Genesis 24:60 And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “Our sister, may you become the mother of thousands upon thousands. May your offspring possess the gates of their enemies.”
Exodus 1:10 Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase even more; and if a war breaks out, they may join our enemies, fight against us, and leave the country.”
- צָרַר tsârarbind, tie up, be restricted, narrow, scant, crampedtranslated this way 8 times of its 53 uses · Strong’s H6887Verb · Translated: distress 5, foes 4, enemy 4, enemies 4Full study and all 52 verses →
Esther 3:10 So the king removed the signet ring from his finger and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews.
Psalm 7:6 Arise, O LORD, in Your anger; rise up against the fury of my enemies. Awake, my God, and ordain judgment.
- קוּם qûmarise, stand up, standtranslated this way 3 times of its 594 uses · Strong’s H6965Verb · Translated: rise 68, got 61, set 44, Get 42Full study and all 570 verses →
Exodus 32:25 Moses saw that the people were out of control, for Aaron had let them run wild and become a laughingstock to their enemies.
- שָׁרַר shârarwatchertranslated this way 3 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s H8324Noun · Translated: enemies 3, oppressors 1, foes 1Full study and all 5 verses →
Psalm 5:8 Lead me, O LORD, in Your righteousness because of my enemies; make straight Your way before me.
Psalm 54:5 He will reward my enemies with evil. In Your faithfulness, destroy them.
- עָר ârfoetranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s H6145Noun · Translated: enemy 1, enemies 1Full study and all 2 verses →
1 Samuel 28:16 “Why do you consult me,” asked Samuel, “since the LORD has turned away from you and become your enemy?
Psalm 139:20 who speak of You deceitfully; Your enemies take Your name in vain.
Greek words (New Testament)
- ἐχθρός echthróshated, hostile, an enemytranslated this way 30 times of its 32 uses · Strong’s G2190Adjective · Translated: enemies 19, enemy 11, hostile 2Full study and all 32 verses →
Matthew 5:43 You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor’ and ‘Hate your enemy.’
Mark 12:36 Speaking by the Holy Spirit, David himself declared: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand until I put Your enemies under Your feet.”’
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 enemy: 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.