Word study
Engage
8 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: engage, engaging, engages. 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 “engage” 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)
- קָרָא qârâencounter, befalltranslated this way 4 times of its 127 uses · Strong’s H7122Verb · Translated: meet 58, against 11, confront 8, met 6Full study and all 124 verses →
Joshua 8:14 When the king of Ai saw the Israelites, he hurried out early in the morning with the men of the city to engage them in battle at an appointed place overlooking the Arabah. But he did not know that an ambush had been set up against him behind the city.
2 Samuel 18:6 So David’s army marched into the field to engage Israel, and the battle took place in the forest of Ephraim.
- נָתַן nâthangive, put, settranslated this way 2 times of its 1,957 uses · Strong’s H5414Verb · Translated: give 326, gave 206, given 187, put 135Full study and all 1,785 verses →
- גָּרָה gârâhengage in strifetranslated this way 1 time of its 14 uses · Strong’s H1624Verb · Translated: provoke 3, stirs 3, stir 2Full study and all 13 verses →
Deuteronomy 2:24 “Arise, set out, and cross the Arnon Valley. See, I have delivered into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to take possession of it and engage him in battle.
- לָחַם lâchamfight, do battletranslated this way 1 time of its 175 uses · Strong’s H3898Verb · Translated: fight 77, fought 45, fighting 16, waged war 6Full study and all 170 verses →
2 Chronicles 35:22 Josiah, however, did not turn away from him; instead, in order to engage him in battle, he disguised himself. He did not listen to Neco’s words from the mouth of God, but went to fight him on the Plain of Megiddo.
- בָּגַד bâgadact or deal treacherouslytranslated this way 1 time of its 46 uses · Strong’s H898Verb · Translated: faithless 11, betrayed 6, unfaithful 5, broken faith 3Full study and all 38 verses →
Psalm 25:3 Surely none who wait for You will be put to shame; but those who engage in treachery without cause will be disgraced.
- לָקַח lâqachtaketranslated this way 1 time of its 938 uses · Strong’s H3947Verb · Translated: take 247, took 245, taken 40, get 26Full study and all 890 verses →
- נָגַח nâgachpush, thrust, goretranslated this way 1 time of its 10 uses · Strong’s H5055Verb · Translated: gores 3, gore 3, repel 1, butting 1Full study and all 10 verses →
Daniel 11:40 At the time of the end, the king of the South will engage him in battle, but the king of the North will storm out against him with chariots, horsemen, and many ships, invading many countries and sweeping through them like a flood.
- מְרַד meradrebelliontranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s H4776Noun · Translated: engaging in rebellion 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Ezra 4:19 I issued a decree, and a search was conducted. It was discovered that this city has revolted against kings from ancient times, engaging in rebellion and sedition.
Greek words (New Testament)
- ὑπαντάω hypantáōI meettranslated this way 1 time of its 10 uses · Strong’s G5221Verb · Translated: met 7, went out to meet 2, engage 1Full study and all 10 verses →
Luke 14:31 Or what king on his way to war with another king will not first sit down and consider whether he can engage with ten thousand men the one coming against him with twenty thousand?
- στάσις stásisstanding, place, dissensiontranslated this way 1 time of its 9 uses · Strong’s G4714Noun · Translated: insurrection 3, dispute 2, engaging 1, rioting 1Full study and all 9 verses →
Acts 15:2 And after engaging these men in sharp debate, Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers , to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question.
- ἐν enin, on, amongtranslated this way 1 time of its 2,393 uses · Strong’s G1722Preposition · Translated: in 1,515, by 152, with 144, at 124Full study and all 1,896 verses →
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.