Word study
Gold
8 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “gold”. 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 “gold” 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)
- זָהָב zâhâbgoldtranslated this way 367 times of its 377 uses · Strong’s H2091Noun · Translated: gold 352, golden 8, pure gold 2, like gold 2Full study and all 335 verses →
Genesis 2:11 The name of the first river is the Pishon; it winds through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold.
Exodus 3:22 Every woman shall ask her neighbor and any woman staying in her house for silver and gold jewelry and clothing, and you will put them on your sons and daughters. So you will plunder the Egyptians.”
- דְּהַב dehabgoldtranslated this way 16 times of its 23 uses · Strong’s H1722Noun · Translated: gold 15, golden 7, placed a gold 1Full study and all 23 verses →
Ezra 5:14 He also removed from the temple of Babylon the gold and silver articles belonging to the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken and carried there from the temple in Jerusalem. King Cyrus gave these articles to a man named Sheshbazzar, whom he appointed governor
Daniel 2:32 The head of the statue was pure gold, its chest and arms were silver, its belly and thighs were bronze,
- כֶּתֶם kethemgoldtranslated this way 9 times of its 9 uses · Strong’s H3800Noun · Translated: gold 4, fine gold 2, pure gold 1, adorned with the gold 1Full study and all 9 verses →
Job 28:16 It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, in precious onyx or sapphire.
Psalm 45:9 The daughters of kings are among your honored women; the queen stands at your right hand, adorned with the gold of Ophir.
- פָּז pâzrefined, pure goldtranslated this way 8 times of its 9 uses · Strong’s H6337Noun · Translated: pure gold 6, fine gold 1, even the purest gold 1, purest 1Full study and all 9 verses →
Job 28:17 Neither gold nor crystal can compare to it, nor jewels of fine gold be exchanged for it.
Psalm 19:10 They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.
- חֲרוּץ chărûtssharp, diligenttranslated this way 6 times of its 19 uses · Strong’s H2742Noun · Translated: gold 5, diligent 5, decision 2Full study and all 18 verses →
Psalm 68:13 Though you lie down among the sheepfolds, the wings of the dove are covered with silver, and her feathers with shimmering gold.”
Proverbs 3:14 for she is more profitable than silver, and her gain is better than fine gold.
- טַבַּעַת ṭabbaathsignet, signet-ring, ringtranslated this way 2 times of its 44 uses · Strong’s H2885Noun · Translated: rings 31, signet ring 7, ring 3, gold rings 2Full study and all 38 verses →
Exodus 28:24 Then fasten the two gold chains to the two gold rings at the corners of the breastpiece,
Exodus 39:17 Then they fastened the two gold chains to the two gold rings at the corners of the breastpiece,
- מְנוֹרָה menôrâhlampstandtranslated this way 2 times of its 34 uses · Strong’s H4501Noun · Translated: lampstand 25, lampstands 5, gold lampstand 2, it 1Full study and all 30 verses →
Exodus 31:8 the table with its utensils, the pure gold lampstand with all its utensils, the altar of incense,
Exodus 39:37 the pure gold lampstand with its row of lamps and all its utensils, as well as the oil for the light;
- בֶּצֶר betserprecious oretranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s H1220Noun · Translated: gold 2Full study and all 2 verses →
Job 22:24 and consign your gold to the dust and the gold of Ophir to the stones of the ravines,
Job 22:25 then the Almighty will be your gold and the finest silver for you.
Greek words (New Testament)
- χρυσίον chrysíona golden ornamenttranslated this way 11 times of its 12 uses · Strong’s G5553Noun · Translated: gold 11, gold-covered 1Full study and all 12 verses →
Acts 3:6 But Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!”
1 Timothy 2:9 Likewise, I want the women to adorn themselves with respectable apparel, with modesty, and with self-control, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes,
- χρυσός chrysósanything made of goldtranslated this way 9 times of its 9 uses · Strong’s G5557Noun · Translated: gold 9Full study and all 9 verses →
Matthew 2:11 On coming to the house, they saw the Child with His mother Mary, and they fell down and worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.
Acts 17:29 Therefore, being offspring of God, we should not think that the Divine Being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by man’s skill and imagination.
- χρύσεος chrýseosgoldentranslated this way 3 times of its 18 uses · Strong’s G5552Adjective · Translated: golden 15, gold 3Full study and all 16 verses →
2 Timothy 2:20 A large house contains not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay. Some indeed are for honorable use, but others are for common use.
Hebrews 9:4 containing the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant. Inside the ark were the gold jar of manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant.
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 gold: 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.