Word study
Fine
10 Hebrew and 4 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: fine, fined, fines. 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 “fine” 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)
- סֹלֶת sôlethfine flourtranslated this way 51 times of its 53 uses · Strong’s H5560Noun · Translated: fine flour 44, consist of fine flour 3, flour 2Full study and all 52 verses →
Genesis 18:6 So Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick! Prepare three seahs of fine flour, knead it, and bake some bread.”
Exodus 29:40 With the first lamb offer a tenth of an ephah of fine flour, mixed with a quarter hin of oil from pressed olives, and a drink offering of a quarter hin of wine.
- שֵׁשׁ shêshid.translated this way 17 times of its 40 uses · Strong’s H8336Noun · Translated: linen 20, fine linen 17, marble 3Full study and all 37 verses →
Genesis 41:42 Then Pharaoh removed the signet ring from his finger, put it on Joseph’s finger, clothed him in garments of fine linen, and placed a gold chain around his neck.
Exodus 25:4 blue, purple, and scarlet yarn; fine linen and goat hair;
- תַּחַשׁ tachashta—aštranslated this way 14 times of its 14 uses · Strong’s H8476Noun · Translated: fine leather 13, articles of fine leather 1Full study and all 14 verses →
Exodus 25:5 ram skins dyed red and fine leather; acacia wood;
Numbers 4:6 They are to place over this a covering of fine leather, spread a solid blue cloth over it, and insert its poles.
- בּוּץ bûtsbyssustranslated this way 7 times of its 8 uses · Strong’s H948Noun · Translated: fine linen 6, linen 1, fine white 1Full study and all 8 verses →
1 Chronicles 15:27 Now David was dressed in a robe of fine linen, as were all the Levites who were carrying the ark, as well as the singers and Chenaniah, the director of music for the singers. David also wore a linen ephod.
2 Chronicles 2:14 He is the son of a woman from the daughters of Dan, and his father is a man of Tyre. He is skilled in work with gold and silver, bronze and iron, stone and wood, purple, blue, and crimson yarn, and fine linen. He is experienced in every kind of engraving and can execute any design that is given him. He will work with your craftsmen and with those of my lord, your father David.
- טוֹב ṭôbpleasant, agreeable, goodtranslated this way 6 times of its 538 uses · Strong’s H2896Adjective · Translated: good 249, better 72, prosperity 19, good things 12Full study and all 499 verses →
Deuteronomy 8:12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses in which to dwell,
2 Chronicles 3:5 He paneled the main room with cypress, which he overlaid with fine gold and decorated with palm trees and chains.
- דַּק daqthin, small, finetranslated this way 3 times of its 14 uses · Strong’s H1851Adjective · Translated: thin 8Full study and all 13 verses →
Exodus 16:14 When the layer of dew had evaporated, there were thin flakes on the desert floor, as fine as frost on the ground.
Isaiah 29:5 But your many foes will be like fine dust, the multitude of the ruthless like blowing chaff. Then suddenly, in an instant,
- עָנַשׁ ânashfine, mulcttranslated this way 3 times of its 8 uses · Strong’s H6064Verb · Translated: surely be fined 1, fine 1, imposed 1, punish 1Full study and all 8 verses →
Exodus 21:22 If men who are fighting strike a pregnant woman and her child is born prematurely, but there is no further injury, he shall surely be fined as the woman’s husband demands and as the court allows.
Deuteronomy 22:19 They are also to fine him a hundred shekels of silver and give them to the young woman’s father, because this man has given a virgin of Israel a bad name. And she shall remain his wife; he must not divorce her as long as he lives.
- תִּפְאָרָה tiphârâhbeauty, glorytranslated this way 3 times of its 49 uses · Strong’s H8597Noun · Translated: glory 14, splendor 10, glorious 8, beauty 3Full study and all 49 verses →
Ezekiel 16:17 You also took the fine jewelry of gold and silver I had given you, and you made male idols with which to prostitute yourself.
Ezekiel 16:39 Then I will deliver you into the hands of your lovers, and they will level your mounds and tear down your lofty shrines. They will strip off your clothes, take your fine jewelry, and leave you naked and bare.
- כֶּסֶף kesephsilver, moneytranslated this way 2 times of its 386 uses · Strong’s H3701Noun · Translated: silver 293, money 58, price 8, like silver 4Full study and all 337 verses →
2 Kings 25:15 The captain of the guard also took away the censers and sprinkling bowls— anything made of pure gold or fine silver.
Jeremiah 52:19 The captain of the guard also took away the basins, censers, sprinkling bowls, pots, lampstands, pans, and drink offering bowls— anything made of pure gold or fine silver.
- כֶּתֶם kethemgoldtranslated this way 2 times of its 9 uses · Strong’s H3800Noun · Translated: gold 4, fine gold 2, pure gold 1, adorned with the gold 1Full study and all 9 verses →
Proverbs 25:12 Like an earring of gold or an ornament of fine gold is a wise man’s rebuke to a listening ear.
Daniel 10:5 I lifted up my eyes, and behold, there was a certain man dressed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist.
Greek words (New Testament)
- βύσσινος býssinosof fine linen, cottontranslated this way 5 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s G1039Adjective · Translated: fine linen 5Full study and all 4 verses →
Revelation 18:12 cargo of gold, silver, precious stones, and pearls; of fine linen, purple, silk, and scarlet; of all kinds of citron wood and every article of ivory, precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble;
Revelation 18:16 saying: “Woe, woe to the great city, clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls!
- μαλακός malakóssoft, effeminatetranslated this way 3 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s G3120Adjective · Translated: fine 3, men who submit 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Matthew 11:8 Otherwise, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? Look, those who wear fine clothing are found in kings’ palaces.
Luke 7:25 Otherwise, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? Look, those who wear elegant clothing and live in luxury are found in palaces.
- καλός kalósbeautiful, good, worthytranslated this way 3 times of its 99 uses · Strong’s G2570Adjective · Translated: good 64, better 9, right 5, noble 4Full study and all 89 verses →
Matthew 13:45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls.
John 2:10 and said, “Everyone serves the fine wine first, and then the cheap wine after the guests are drunk. But you have saved the fine wine until now!”
- λαμπρός lamprósshining, magnificent, brighttranslated this way 3 times of its 9 uses · Strong’s G2986Adjective · Translated: fine 3, bright 3, radiant 1, splendor 1Full study and all 9 verses →
Luke 23:11 And even Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked Him. Dressing Him in a fine robe, they sent Him back to Pilate.
James 2:2 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in.
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.
What the Bible says about fine: passages by topic →
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.