Word study
Except
6 Hebrew and 2 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “except”. 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 “except” 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)
- כִּי kîburning, brandingtranslated this way 22 times of its 3,991 uses · Strong’s H3588Conjunction · Translated: for 1,770, that 572, because 523, when 194Full study and all 3,583 verses →
Genesis 39:6 So Potiphar left all that he owned in Joseph’s care; he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate. Now Joseph was well-built and handsome,
Genesis 39:9 No one in this house is greater than I am. He has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. So how could I do such a great evil and sin against God?”
- רַק raqthintranslated this way 5 times of its 97 uses · Strong’s H7535Adverb · Translated: only 27, but 24, Nevertheless 8, However 7Full study and all 96 verses →
Joshua 8:2 And you shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king, except that you may carry off their plunder and livestock for yourselves. Set up an ambush behind the city.”
1 Kings 3:3 And Solomon loved the LORD and walked in the statutes of his father David, except that he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.
- לָהֵן lâhênon this account, thereforetranslated this way 4 times of its 7 uses · Strong’s H3861Conjunction · Translated: except 4, but 2, unless 1Full study and all 7 verses →
Daniel 2:11 What the king requests is so difficult that no one can tell it to him except the gods, whose dwelling is not with mortals.”
Daniel 3:28 Nebuchadnezzar declared, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent His angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him. They violated the king’s command and risked their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.
- בִּלְתִּי biltînot, excepttranslated this way 3 times of its 104 uses · Strong’s H1115Preposition-l · Translated: not 12, no 8, nothing 4, without 4Full study and all 101 verses →
Genesis 47:18 When that year was over, they came to him the second year and said, “We cannot hide from our lord that our money is gone and all our livestock belongs to you. There is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our land.
Numbers 32:12 not one except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun— because they did follow the LORD wholeheartedly.’
- זוּלָה zûlâhremovaltranslated this way 3 times of its 15 uses · Strong’s H2108Preposition · Translated: except 3, but you 3, but me 3, besides 2Full study and all 15 verses →
Deuteronomy 1:36 except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land on which he has set foot, because he followed the LORD wholeheartedly.”
Joshua 11:13 Yet Israel did not burn any of the cities built on their mounds, except Hazor, which Joshua burned.
- מֵאָה mêâhhundredtranslated this way 2 times of its 292 uses · Strong’s H3967Number · Translated: hundred 137, hundreds 26, two hundred 17, 120 6Full study and all 263 verses →
2 Samuel 8:4 David captured from him a thousand chariots, seven thousand charioteers, and twenty thousand foot soldiers, and he hamstrung all the horses except a hundred he kept for the chariots.
1 Chronicles 18:4 David captured from him a thousand chariots, seven thousand charioteers, and twenty thousand foot soldiers, and he hamstrung all the horses except a hundred he kept for the chariots.
Greek words (New Testament)
- εἰ eiiftranslated this way 38 times of its 441 uses · Strong’s G1487Conjunction · Translated: if 318, except 38, only 13, but 11Full study and all 415 verses →
Matthew 5:13 You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its savor, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
Mark 5:37 And He did not allow anyone to accompany Him except Peter, James, and John the brother of James.
- παρεκτός parektósbesides, outside, withouttranslated this way 2 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s G3924Preposition · Translated: except 2, external 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Matthew 5:32 But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, brings adultery upon her. And he who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
Acts 26:29 “Short time or long,” Paul replied, “I wish to God that not only you but all who hear me this day may become what I am, except for these chains.”
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.