Word study
Exhaust
11 Hebrew and 1 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: exhausted, exhaust. 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 “exhaust” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- עָיֵף âyêphfaint, wearytranslated this way 4 times of its 17 uses · Strong’s H5889Adjective · Translated: weary 7, exhausted 4, famished 2Full study and all 17 verses →
Judges 8:4 Then Gideon and his three hundred men came to the Jordan and crossed it, exhausted yet still in pursuit.
2 Samuel 16:14 Finally, the king and all the people with him arrived, exhausted. And there he refreshed himself.
- כָּלָה kâlâhbe complete, at an end, finished, accomplished, spenttranslated this way 3 times of its 206 uses · Strong’s H3615Verb · Translated: finished 54, fail 12, consumed 9, completed 7Full study and all 200 verses →
1 Kings 17:14 for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be exhausted and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD sends rain upon the face of the earth.’”
1 Kings 17:16 The jar of flour was not exhausted and the jug of oil did not run dry, according to the word that the LORD had spoken through Elijah.
- פָּגַר pâgarbe exhausted, fainttranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s H6296Verb · Translated: exhausted 2Full study and all 2 verses →
1 Samuel 30:10 because two hundred men were too exhausted to cross the brook. But David and four hundred men continued in pursuit.
1 Samuel 30:21 When David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow him and who were left behind at the Brook of Besor, they came out to meet him and the troops with him. As David approached the men, he greeted them,
- לָהַהּ lâhahhlanguish, fainttranslated this way 1 time of its 2 uses · Strong’s H3856Verb · Translated: exhausted 1, Like a madman 1Full study and all 2 verses →
Genesis 47:13 There was no food, however, in all that region, because the famine was so severe; the lands of Egypt and Canaan had been exhausted by the famine.
- יָעֵף yâêphweary, fainttranslated this way 1 time of its 4 uses · Strong’s H3287Adjective · Translated: weary 2, become exhausted 1, faint 1Full study and all 4 verses →
2 Samuel 16:2 “Why do you have these?” asked the king. Ziba replied, “The donkeys are for the king’s household to ride, the bread and summer fruit are for the young men to eat, and the wine is to refresh those who become exhausted in the wilderness.”
- עָיֵף âyêphbe fainttranslated this way 1 time of its 5 uses · Strong’s H5888Verb · Translated: faint 2, exhaustion 1, became exhausted 1, faints 1Full study and all 5 verses →
2 Samuel 21:15 Once again the Philistines waged war against Israel, and David and his servants went down and fought against the Philistines. But David became exhausted.
- לָאָה lââhbe weary, impatienttranslated this way 1 time of its 19 uses · Strong’s H3811Verb · Translated: wearied 4, weary 4, wearies 2, try the patience 2Full study and all 18 verses →
Job 16:7 Surely He has now exhausted me; You have devastated all my family.
- חָלָה châlâhbe weak, sicktranslated this way 1 time of its 75 uses · Strong’s H2470Verb · Translated: ill 8, sick 8, grievous 5, sought 4Full study and all 73 verses →
Jeremiah 12:13 They have sown wheat but harvested thorns. They have exhausted themselves to no avail. Bear the shame of your harvest because of the fierce anger of the LORD.”
- נָשַׁת nâshathbe dry, parchedtranslated this way 1 time of its 3 uses · Strong’s H5405Verb · Translated: empty 1, parched 1, exhausted 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Jeremiah 51:30 The warriors of Babylon have stopped fighting; they sit in their strongholds. Their strength is exhausted; they have become like women. Babylon’s homes have been set ablaze, the bars of her gates are broken.
- 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 →
- יָעַף yâaphbe weary, fainttranslated this way 1 time of its 8 uses · Strong’s H3286Verb · Translated: grow tired 2, weary 2, faint 1, grows faint 1Full study and all 8 verses →
Jeremiah 51:58 This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Babylon’s thick walls will be leveled, and her high gates consumed by fire. So the labor of the people will be for nothing; the nations will exhaust themselves to fuel the flames.”
Greek words (New Testament)
- ἀπό apófrom, away fromtranslated this way 1 time of its 549 uses · Strong’s G575Preposition · Translated: from 363, of 55, by 20, in 16Full study and all 517 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.