Word study
Fire
8 Hebrew and 4 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: fire, fires, fired. 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 “fire” 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)
- אֵשׁ êshfiretranslated this way 273 times of its 313 uses · Strong’s H784Noun · Translated: fire 256, like fire 11, fiery 8, burning 6Full study and all 289 verses →
Genesis 19:24 Then the LORD rained down sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah — from the LORD out of the heavens.
Exodus 3:2 There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from within a bush. Moses saw the bush ablaze with fire, but it was not consumed.
- נוּר nûrfiretranslated this way 7 times of its 16 uses · Strong’s H5135Noun · Translated: fiery 9, fire 7Full study and all 14 verses →
Daniel 3:24 Suddenly King Nebuchadnezzar jumped up in amazement and asked his advisers, “Did we not throw three men, firmly bound, into the fire?” “Certainly, O king,” they replied.
Daniel 3:25 “Look!” he exclaimed. “I see four men, unbound and unharmed, walking around in the fire — and the fourth looks like a son of the gods!”
- יָצַת yâtsathkindle, burntranslated this way 6 times of its 26 uses · Strong’s H3341Verb · Translated: kindle 5, fire 4, set 4, burned 3Full study and all 25 verses →
Joshua 8:8 And when you have taken the city, set it on fire. Do as the LORD has commanded! See, I have given you orders.”
2 Samuel 14:30 Then Absalom said to his servants, “Look, Joab’s field is next to mine, and he has barley there. Go and set it on fire!” And Absalom’s servants set the field on fire.
- שָׂרַף sâraphburntranslated this way 5 times of its 109 uses · Strong’s H8313Verb · Translated: burned 59, burn 29, burns 3Full study and all 104 verses →
Judges 9:52 When Abimelech came to attack the tower, he approached its entrance to set it on fire.
2 Chronicles 16:14 And he was buried in the tomb that he had cut out for himself in the City of David. They laid him on a bier that was full of spices and various blended perfumes; then they made a great fire in his honor.
- בָּעַר bâarburn, consumetranslated this way 3 times of its 93 uses · Strong’s H1197Verb · Translated: purge 12, burn 10, burned 7, burning 6Full study and all 90 verses →
Isaiah 4:4 when the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains from the heart of Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire.
Ezekiel 1:13 In the midst of the living creatures was the appearance of glowing coals of fire, or of torches. Fire moved back and forth between the living creatures; it was bright, and lightning flashed out of it.
- אוּר ûrflametranslated this way 3 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s H217Noun · Translated: fire 3, east 1, light 1Full study and all 5 verses →
Isaiah 31:9 Their rock will pass away for fear, and their princes will panic at the sight of the battle standard,” declares the LORD, whose fire is in Zion, whose furnace is in Jerusalem.
Isaiah 44:16 He burns half of it in the fire, and he roasts meat on that half. He eats the roast and is satisfied. Indeed, he warms himself and says, “Ah! I am warm; I see the fire.”
- שְׂרֵפָה serêphâhburningtranslated this way 2 times of its 13 uses · Strong’s H8316Noun · Translated: fire 2, burned 2Full study and all 12 verses →
Leviticus 10:6 Then Moses said to Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “Do not let your hair become disheveled and do not tear your garments, or else you will die, and the LORD will be angry with the whole congregation. But your brothers, the whole house of Israel, may mourn on account of the fire that the LORD has ignited.
2 Chronicles 21:19 This continued day after day until two full years had passed. Finally, his intestines came out because of his disease, and he died in severe pain. And his people did not make a fire in his honor as they had done for his fathers.
- עָבַר âbarpass over, through, by, pass ontranslated this way 2 times of its 542 uses · Strong’s H5674Verb · Translated: pass 62, crossed 57, cross 52, passed 35Full study and all 487 verses →
Greek words (New Testament)
- πῦρ pŷrfire, trialstranslated this way 64 times of its 71 uses · Strong’s G4442Noun · Translated: fire 63, fiery 3, burning 2, flames of fire 1Full study and all 69 verses →
Matthew 3:10 The axe lies ready at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
Mark 9:22 “It often throws him into the fire or into the water, trying to kill him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”
- ἀνθρακιά anthrakiáa heap of burning coalstranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G439Noun · Translated: charcoal fire 2Full study and all 2 verses →
John 18:18 Because it was cold, the servants and officers were standing around a charcoal fire they had made to keep warm. And Peter was also standing with them, warming himself.
John 21:9 When they landed, they saw a charcoal fire there with fish on it, and some bread.
- πυρά pyráa firetranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G4443Noun · Translated: fire 2Full study and all 2 verses →
Acts 28:2 The islanders showed us extraordinary kindness. They kindled a fire and welcomed all of us because it was raining and cold.
Acts 28:3 Paul gathered a bundle of sticks, and as he laid them on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself to his hand.
- πύρωσις pýrōsisa burning, trial, fiery testtranslated this way 2 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s G4451Noun · Translated: fire that consumes 2, fiery 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Revelation 18:9 Then the kings of the earth who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her will weep and wail at the sight of the smoke rising from the fire that consumes her.
Revelation 18:18 and cry out at the sight of the smoke rising from the fire that consumes her. “What city was ever like this great city?” they will exclaim.
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 fire: 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.