Word study
Glow
7 Hebrew words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: glowing, glow, glows. 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 “glow” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- גֶּחֶל gechelembertranslated this way 2 times of its 18 uses · Strong’s H1513Noun · Translated: coals 8, burning coals 4, glowing coals 2Full study and all 18 verses →
2 Samuel 22:9 Smoke rose from His nostrils, and consuming fire came from His mouth; glowing coals blazed forth.
Psalm 18:8 Smoke rose from His nostrils, and consuming fire came from His mouth; glowing coals blazed forth.
- כְּמוֹ kemôlike, as, whentranslated this way 1 time of its 127 uses · Strong’s H3644Preposition · Translated: like 77, as 11, as you 4, equal 3Full study and all 119 verses →
Psalm 102:3 For my days vanish like smoke, and my bones burn like glowing embers.
- נֹגַהּ nôgahhbrightnesstranslated this way 1 time of its 19 uses · Strong’s H5051Noun · Translated: brightness 8, brilliant light 3Full study and all 19 verses →
Isaiah 4:5 Then the LORD will create over all of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud of smoke by day and a glowing flame of fire by night. For over all the glory there will be a canopy,
- רִצְפָּה ritspâhpavementtranslated this way 1 time of its 7 uses · Strong’s H7531Noun · Translated: pavement 5, mosaic pavement 1, glowing coal 1Full study and all 6 verses →
Isaiah 6:6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a glowing coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar.
- אֵשׁ êshfiretranslated this way 1 time of its 313 uses · Strong’s H784Noun · Translated: fire 256, like fire 11, fiery 8, burning 6Full study and all 289 verses →
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.
- נָגַהּ nâgahhshinetranslated this way 1 time of its 6 uses · Strong’s H5050Verb · Translated: lights 2, glow 1, shine 1, dawned 1Full study and all 6 verses →
Job 18:5 Indeed, the lamp of the wicked is extinguished; the flame of his fire does not glow.
- חָרַר chârarbe hot, scorched, burn poettranslated this way 1 time of its 10 uses · Strong’s H2787Verb · Translated: burn 2, burned 2, charred 2Full study and all 10 verses →
Ezekiel 24:11 Set the empty pot on its coals until it becomes hot and its copper glows. Then its impurity will melt within; its rust will be consumed.
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.