Word study
Godly
2 Hebrew and 5 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “godly”. 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 “godly” 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)
- חָסִיד châsîdkind, pioustranslated this way 9 times of its 31 uses · Strong’s H2623Noun · Translated: saints 16, godly 9, faithful 3, Holy 1Full study and all 31 verses →
Deuteronomy 33:8 Concerning Levi he said: “Give Your Thummim to Levi and Your Urim to Your godly one, whom You tested at Massah and contested at the waters of Meribah.
2 Chronicles 6:41 Now therefore, arise, O LORD God, and enter Your resting place, You and the ark of Your might. May Your priests, O LORD God, be clothed with salvation, and may Your godly ones rejoice in goodness.
- אֱלֹהִים ĕlôhîmGodtranslated this way 1 time of its 2,563 uses · Strong’s H430Noun · Translated: God 2,295, gods 202, God's 18, judges 4Full study and all 2,240 verses →
Greek words (New Testament)
- θεός theósGod, a godtranslated this way 3 times of its 1,292 uses · Strong’s G2316Noun · Translated: God 1,187, God's 87, gods 8, godly 3Full study and all 1,142 verses →
- εὐσεβῶς eusebōspiously, religiouslytranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G2153Adverb · Translated: godly 2Full study and all 2 verses →
2 Timothy 3:12 Indeed, all who desire to live godly lives in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,
Titus 2:12 It instructs us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live sensible, upright, and godly lives in the present age,
- εὐσέβεια eusébeiapiety, godlinesstranslated this way 1 time of its 15 uses · Strong’s G2150Noun · Translated: godliness 14, godly 1Full study and all 15 verses →
1 Timothy 6:3 If anyone teaches another doctrine and disagrees with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and with godly teaching,
- εὐλαβέομαι eulabéomaiI fear, am anxioustranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s G2125Verb · Translated: godly fear 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in godly fear built an ark to save his family. By faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
- εὐσεβής eusebḗspious, God-fearingtranslated this way 1 time of its 3 uses · Strong’s G2152Adjective · Translated: devout 2, godly 1Full study and all 3 verses →
2 Peter 2:9 if all this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.
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 godly: 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.