Word study

Forward

6 Hebrew and 1 Greek words behind this English word

The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “forward”. 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 “forward” or one of its forms.

Compare the Hebrew words side by side

Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)

  • קָרַב qârabcome near, approachtranslated this way 14 times of its 276 uses · Strong’s H7126Verb  ·  Translated: present 65, bring 18, approached 16, presented 14

    Exodus 40:14 Bring his sons forward and clothe them with tunics.

    Leviticus 10:5 So they came forward and carried them, still in their tunics, outside the camp, as Moses had directed.

    Full study and all 258 verses →
  • יָצָא yâtsâgo or come outtranslated this way 6 times of its 1,035 uses · Strong’s H3318Verb  ·  Translated: brought 108, went 103, go 82, came 78

    Numbers 12:5 and the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud, stood at the entrance to the Tent, and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When both of them had stepped forward,

    Full study and all 975 verses →
  • נָגַשׁ nâgashdraw near, approachtranslated this way 5 times of its 123 uses · Strong’s H5066Verb  ·  Translated: approached 24, approach 12, come near 9, Bring 9

    Genesis 18:23 Abraham stepped forward and said, “Will You really sweep away the righteous with the wicked?

    Deuteronomy 20:2 When you are about to go into battle, the priest is to come forward and address the army,

    Full study and all 110 verses →
  • מַעַל maalhigher parttranslated this way 4 times of its 112 uses · Strong’s H4605Adverb  ·  Translated: older 30, above 21, more 8, upward 6

    1 Samuel 16:13 So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward. Then Samuel set out and went to Ramah.

    Haggai 2:15 Now consider carefully from this day forward: Before one stone was placed on another in the temple of the LORD,

    Full study and all 109 verses →
  • קוּם qûmarise, stand up, standtranslated this way 2 times of its 594 uses · Strong’s H6965Verb  ·  Translated: rise 68, got 61, set 44, Get 42

    1 Samuel 17:52 Then the men of Israel and Judah charged forward with a shout and pursued the Philistines to the entrance of Gath and to the gates of Ekron. And the bodies of the Philistines were strewn along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron.

    Psalm 35:11 Hostile witnesses come forward; they make charges I know nothing about.

    Full study and all 570 verses →
  • הָלְאָה hâleâhout there, onwards, furthertranslated this way 2 times of its 12 uses · Strong’s H1973Adverb  ·  Translated: beyond 3, on 3, forward 2

    1 Samuel 18:9 And from that day forward Saul kept a jealous eye on David.

    Ezekiel 39:22 From that day forward the house of Israel will know that I am the LORD their God.

    Full study and all 12 verses →

Greek words (New Testament)

How to study a word well
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
  4. 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.
  5. See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
  6. Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
  7. 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.