Word study
Gain
12 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: gain, gained, gains, gaining. 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 “gain” 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)
- בֶּצַע betsagain made by violence, unjust gain, profittranslated this way 17 times of its 22 uses · Strong’s H1215Noun · Translated: gain 6, dishonest gain 4, unjust gain 3Full study and all 22 verses →
Genesis 37:26 Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood?
Exodus 18:21 Furthermore, select capable men from among the people — God-fearing, trustworthy men who are averse to dishonest gain. Appoint them over the people as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.
- יִתְרוֹן yithrônadvantage, profittranslated this way 4 times of its 10 uses · Strong’s H3504Noun · Translated: gain 3, exceeds 2Full study and all 9 verses →
Ecclesiastes 1:3 What does a man gain from all his labor, at which he toils under the sun?
Ecclesiastes 2:11 Yet when I considered all the works that my hands had accomplished and what I had toiled to achieve, I found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind; there was nothing to be gained under the sun.
- כָּבַד kâbadbe heavy, weighty, burdensome, honouredtranslated this way 3 times of its 109 uses · Strong’s H3513Verb · Translated: honor 19, honored 11, heavy 10, hardened 6Full study and all 105 verses →
Exodus 14:4 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart so that he will pursue them. But I will gain honor by means of Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD.” So this is what the Israelites did.
Isaiah 26:15 You have enlarged the nation, O LORD; You have enlarged the nation. You have gained glory for Yourself; You have extended all the borders of the land.
- עָשָׂה âsâhdo, maketranslated this way 3 times of its 2,478 uses · Strong’s H6213Verb · Translated: done 292, made 265, make 143, did 112Full study and all 2,206 verses →
- בִּין bîndiscerntranslated this way 3 times of its 166 uses · Strong’s H995Verb · Translated: understand 27, discerning 16, understanding 12, consider 10Full study and all 160 verses →
Psalm 119:104 I gain understanding from Your precepts; therefore I hate every false way.
Proverbs 8:5 O simple ones, learn to be shrewd; O fools, gain understanding.
- תְּבוּאָה tebûâhproduct, revenuetranslated this way 3 times of its 41 uses · Strong’s H8393Noun · Translated: harvest 13, produce 10, crops 3, gain 3Full study and all 40 verses →
Proverbs 3:14 for she is more profitable than silver, and her gain is better than fine gold.
Proverbs 10:16 The labor of the righteous leads to life, but the gain of the wicked brings punishment.
- יָדַע yâdaknowtranslated this way 3 times of its 914 uses · Strong’s H3045Verb · Translated: know 453, known 53, knows 48, knew 38Full study and all 863 verses →
- קָנָה qânâhget, acquiretranslated this way 3 times of its 82 uses · Strong’s H7069Verb · Translated: buy 16, bought 13, purchased 7, acquire 6Full study and all 75 verses →
Proverbs 4:7 Wisdom is supreme; so acquire wisdom. And whatever you may acquire, gain understanding.
Proverbs 15:32 He who ignores discipline despises himself, but whoever heeds correction gains understanding.
- הָיָה hâyâhfall out, come to pass, become, betranslated this way 2 times of its 2,848 uses · Strong’s H1961Verb · Translated: will be 206, become 178, came 169, was 151Full study and all 2,573 verses →
- יָעַל yâalprofit, avail, benefittranslated this way 2 times of its 23 uses · Strong’s H3276Verb · Translated: profit 5, benefit 4, worthless 2, idols 2Full study and all 21 verses →
Job 21:15 Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, and what would we gain if we pray to Him?’
Job 35:3 For you ask, ‘What does it profit me, and what benefit do I gain apart from sin?’
- יָסַף yâsaphaddtranslated this way 2 times of its 202 uses · Strong’s H3254Verb · Translated: again 36, add 23, longer 20, severely 12Full study and all 198 verses →
Proverbs 1:5 let the wise listen and gain instruction, and the discerning acquire wise counsel
Proverbs 11:24 One gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds what is right, only to become poor.
- מָה mâhwhat? how? aughttranslated this way 2 times of its 708 uses · Strong’s H4100Interrogative · Translated: what 313, why 183, how 80, many 5Full study and all 618 verses →
Greek words (New Testament)
- κερδαίνω kerdaínōI gain, win, avoid losstranslated this way 8 times of its 16 uses · Strong’s G2770Verb · Translated: win 5, gained 4, gain 3, won 2Full study and all 15 verses →
Matthew 16:26 What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
Mark 8:36 What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?
- κέρδος kérdosgain, advantagetranslated this way 3 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s G2771Noun · Translated: gain 3Full study and all 3 verses →
Philippians 1:21 For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
Titus 1:11 who must be silenced. For the sake of dishonorable gain, they undermine entire households and teach things they should not.
- πορισμός porismósa source of gaintranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G4200Noun · Translated: means of gain 1, gain 1Full study and all 2 verses →
1 Timothy 6:5 and constant friction between men of depraved mind who are devoid of the truth. These men regard godliness as a means of gain.
1 Timothy 6:6 Of course, godliness with contentment is great gain.
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.