Word study
Feel
10 Hebrew and 1 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: feel, feels, feeling. 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 “feel” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- רוּחַ rûachbreath, wind, spirittranslated this way 3 times of its 368 uses · Strong’s H7307Noun · Translated: spirit 189, wind 83, breath 31, winds 8Full study and all 343 verses →
Numbers 5:14 and if a feeling of jealousy comes over her husband and he suspects his wife who has defiled herself— or if a feeling of jealousy comes over him and he suspects her even though she has not defiled herself—
Numbers 5:30 or when a feeling of jealousy comes over a husband and he suspects his wife. He is to have the woman stand before the LORD, and the priest is to apply to her this entire law.
- גֵּר gêrsojournertranslated this way 1 time of its 92 uses · Strong’s H1616Noun · Translated: foreigner 51, foreigners 15, foreign resident 10, foreigner residing 2Full study and all 83 verses →
Exodus 23:9 Do not oppress a foreign resident, since you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners; for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
- אַךְ aksurelytranslated this way 1 time of its 138 uses · Strong’s H389Adverb · Translated: but 31, Surely 29, only 11, Nevertheless 7Full study and all 135 verses →
Job 14:22 He feels only the pain of his own body and mourns only for himself.”
- זָעַם zâambe indignanttranslated this way 1 time of its 12 uses · Strong’s H2194Verb · Translated: denounce 3, angry 2Full study and all 11 verses →
Psalm 7:11 God is a righteous judge and a God who feels indignation each day.
- יָמַשׁ yâmashtouchtranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s H3237Verb · Translated: feel 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Judges 16:26 Samson said to the servant who held his hand, “Lead me where I can feel the pillars supporting the temple, so I can lean against them.”
- טוֹב ṭôbpleasant, agreeable, goodtranslated this way 1 time of its 538 uses · Strong’s H2896Adjective · Translated: good 249, better 72, prosperity 19, good things 12Full study and all 499 verses →
1 Samuel 16:23 And whenever the spirit from God came upon Saul, David would pick up his harp and play. Then Saul would find relief and feel better, and the spirit of distress would depart from him.
- בִּין bîndiscerntranslated this way 1 time of its 166 uses · Strong’s H995Verb · Translated: understand 27, discerning 16, understanding 12, consider 10Full study and all 160 verses →
Psalm 58:9 Before your pots can feel the burning thorns— whether green or dry— He will sweep them away.
- מוּשׁ mûshfeeltranslated this way 1 time of its 2 uses · Strong’s H4184Verb · Translated: touch 1, feel 1Full study and all 2 verses →
Psalm 115:7 they have hands, but cannot feel; they have feet, but cannot walk; they cannot even clear their throats.
- בַּל balnottranslated this way 1 time of its 63 uses · Strong’s H1077Adverb · Translated: never 8, cannot 7, will not 4, i will not 3Full study and all 54 verses →
Proverbs 23:35 “They struck me, but I feel no pain! They beat me, but I did not know it! When can I wake up to search for another drink?”
- גָּשַׁשׁ gâshashfeel with the hand, feel, stroketranslated this way 1 time of its 2 uses · Strong’s H1659Verb · Translated: feel our way along 1, groping 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Isaiah 59:10 Like the blind, we feel our way along the wall, groping like those without eyes. We stumble at midday as in the twilight; among the vigorous we are like the dead.
Greek words (New Testament)
- φρονέω phronéōI think, judge, observetranslated this way 1 time of its 22 uses · Strong’s G5426Verb · Translated: mind 4, think 2Full study and all 19 verses →
Philippians 1:7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart. For in my chains and in my defense and confirmation of the gospel, you are all partners in grace with me.
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.