Word study
Equal
8 Hebrew and 2 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: equal, equals. 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 “equal” 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)
- כְּמוֹ kemôlike, as, whentranslated this way 3 times of its 127 uses · Strong’s H3644Preposition · Translated: like 77, as 11, as you 4, equal 3Full study and all 119 verses →
Genesis 44:18 Then Judah approached Joseph and said, “Sir, please let your servant speak personally to my lord. Do not be angry with your servant, for you are equal to Pharaoh himself.
1 Samuel 26:15 So David said to Abner, “You are a man, aren’t you? And who in Israel is your equal? Why then did you not protect your lord the king when one of the people came to destroy him?
- שָׁוָה shâvâhbe even, smoothtranslated this way 2 times of its 22 uses · Strong’s H7737Verb · Translated: makes 2, set 2, compares 2Full study and all 22 verses →
Isaiah 40:25 “To whom will you liken Me, or who is My equal?” asks the Holy One.
Isaiah 46:5 To whom will you liken Me or count Me equal? To whom will you compare Me, that we should be alike?
- בַּד badseparationtranslated this way 1 time of its 163 uses · Strong’s H905Noun · Translated: alone 43, poles 34, addition 26, only 12Full study and all 156 verses →
Exodus 30:34 The LORD also said to Moses, “Take fragrant spices — gum resin, onycha, galbanum, and pure frankincense — in equal measures,
- חֵלֶק chêleqportion, tract, territorytranslated this way 1 time of its 64 uses · Strong’s H2506Noun · Translated: portion 35, share 9, portions 3, plot 3Full study and all 61 verses →
Deuteronomy 18:8 They shall eat equal portions, even though he has received money from the sale of his father’s estate.
- אַיִן ayinnothing, noughttranslated this way 1 time of its 744 uses · Strong’s H369Adverb · Translated: there is no 55, no 54, without 54, nothing 40Full study and all 660 verses →
1 Samuel 9:2 And he had a son named Saul, choice and handsome, without equal among the Israelites — a head taller than any of the people.
- מֹשֶׁל môshellikeness, one liketranslated this way 1 time of its 3 uses · Strong’s H4915Noun · Translated: equal 1, authority 1, dominion will extend 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Job 41:33 Nothing on earth is his equal— a creature devoid of fear!
- הָיָה hâyâhfall out, come to pass, become, betranslated this way 1 time of its 2,848 uses · Strong’s H1961Verb · Translated: will be 206, become 178, came 169, was 151Full study and all 2,573 verses →
- דָּנִיֵּאל DânîêlDanieltranslated this way 1 time of its 75 uses · Strong’s H1841Noun · Translated: Daniel 69, equal to daniel 1, Daniel's 1, including daniel 1Full study and all 67 verses →
Daniel 1:19 And the king spoke with them, and among all the young men he found no one equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. So they entered the king’s service.
Greek words (New Testament)
- ἴσος ísosequal, identicaltranslated this way 3 times of its 8 uses · Strong’s G2470Adjective · Translated: equal 3, inconsistent 2, full 1, same 1Full study and all 8 verses →
Matthew 20:12 ‘These men who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the scorching heat of the day.’
John 5:18 Because of this, the Jews tried all the harder to kill Him. Not only was He breaking the Sabbath, but He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.
- καθώς kathṓsjust as, astranslated this way 1 time of its 172 uses · Strong’s G2531Adverb · Translated: as 95, just as 42, exactly 5, according 4Full study and all 171 verses →
2 Corinthians 11:12 But I will keep on doing what I am doing, in order to undercut those who want an opportunity to be regarded as our equals in the things of which they boast.
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.