Word study

Greatness

4 Hebrew words behind this English word

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

Compare the Hebrew words side by side

Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)

  • גֹּדֶל gôdelgreatnesstranslated this way 10 times of its 13 uses · Strong’s H1433Noun  ·  Translated: greatness 9, keeping with the greatness 1, strength 1, arrogance 1

    Numbers 14:19 Pardon, I pray, the iniquity of this people, in keeping with the greatness of Your loving devotion, just as You have forgiven them ever since they left Egypt.”

    Deuteronomy 3:24 “O Lord GOD, You have begun to show Your greatness and power to Your servant. For what god in heaven or on earth can perform such works and mighty acts as Yours?

    Full study and all 13 verses →
  • גְּדוּלָה gedûlâhgreatnesstranslated this way 5 times of its 12 uses · Strong’s H1420Noun  ·  Translated: greatness 5, great thing 2, great 2, great promises 1

    1 Chronicles 29:11 Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the splendor and the majesty, for everything in heaven and on earth belongs to You. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom, and You are exalted as head over all.

    Esther 1:4 And for a full 180 days he displayed the glorious riches of his kingdom and the magnificent splendor of his greatness.

    Full study and all 11 verses →
  • רְבוּ rebûgreatnesstranslated this way 5 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s H7238Noun  ·  Translated: greatness 5

    Daniel 4:22 you, O king, are that tree! For you have become great and strong; your greatness has grown to reach the sky, and your dominion extends to the ends of the earth.

    Daniel 4:36 At the same time my sanity was restored, my honor and splendor returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored to my throne, and surpassing greatness was added to me.

    Full study and all 5 verses →
  • רֹב rôbmultitude, abundance, greatnesstranslated this way 2 times of its 142 uses · Strong’s H7230Noun  ·  Translated: many 28, abundance 22, great 18, abundant 10

    Isaiah 63:1 Who is this coming from Edom, from Bozrah with crimson-stained garments? Who is this robed in splendor, marching in the greatness of His strength? “It is I, proclaiming vindication, mighty to save.”

    Hosea 9:7 The days of punishment have come; the days of retribution have arrived — let Israel know it. The prophet is called a fool, and the inspired man insane, because of the greatness of your iniquity and hostility.

    Full study and all 138 verses →
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.