Word study
Greet
3 Hebrew and 4 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: greet, greetings, greeted, greeting, greets. 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 “Greet” 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)
- שָׁאַל shâalask, inquiretranslated this way 7 times of its 165 uses · Strong’s H7592Verb · Translated: ask 31, asked 28, inquired 16, requested 7Full study and all 156 verses →
Exodus 18:7 So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him. They greeted each other and went into the tent.
Judges 18:15 So they turned aside there and went to the home of the young Levite, the house of Micah, and greeted him.
- בָּרַךְ bârakkneel, blesstranslated this way 5 times of its 323 uses · Strong’s H1288Verb · Translated: blessed 155, bless 114, blesses 13, pronounce blessings 3Full study and all 289 verses →
1 Samuel 13:10 Just as he finished offering the burnt offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him.
2 Kings 4:29 So Elisha said to Gehazi, “Tie up your garment, take my staff in your hand, and go! If you meet anyone, do not greet him, and if anyone greets you, do not answer him. Then lay my staff on the boy’s face.”
- קָרָא qârâencounter, befalltranslated this way 3 times of its 127 uses · Strong’s H7122Verb · Translated: meet 58, against 11, confront 8, met 6Full study and all 124 verses →
Judges 4:22 When Barak arrived in pursuit of Sisera, Jael went out to greet him and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man you are seeking.” So he went in with her, and there lay Sisera dead, with a tent peg through his temple.
1 Kings 2:19 So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah. The king stood up to greet her, bowed to her, and sat down on his throne. Then the king had a throne brought for his mother, who sat down at his right hand.
Greek words (New Testament)
- ἀσπάζομαι aspázomaiI greet, salute, pay my respects totranslated this way 55 times of its 60 uses · Strong’s G782Verb · Translated: Greet 32, send you greetings 11, sends you greetings 8, greeted 4Full study and all 49 verses →
Matthew 5:47 And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even Gentiles do the same?
Mark 9:15 As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were filled with awe and ran to greet Him.
- ἀσπασμός aspasmósa greeting, salutationtranslated this way 10 times of its 10 uses · Strong’s G783Noun · Translated: greeting 6, greetings 4Full study and all 10 verses →
Matthew 23:7 the greetings in the marketplaces, and the title of ‘Rabbi’ by which they are addressed.
Mark 12:38 In His teaching Jesus also said, “Watch out for the scribes. They like to walk around in long robes, to receive greetings in the marketplaces,
- χαίρω chaírōI rejoice, am gladtranslated this way 6 times of its 71 uses · Strong’s G5463Verb · Translated: rejoice 26, rejoiced 7, Greetings 6, glad 6Full study and all 65 verses →
Matthew 26:49 Going directly to Jesus, he said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed Him.
Luke 1:28 The angel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
- λέγω légōI say, speaktranslated this way 2 times of its 993 uses · Strong’s G3004Verb · Translated: said 216, tell 164, say 105, saying 86Full study and all 936 verses →
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.