Word study
Ground
15 Hebrew and 4 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: ground, grounds, grounded. 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 “ground” 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)
- אֶרֶץ eretsearth, landtranslated this way 122 times of its 2,375 uses · Strong’s H776Noun · Translated: land 1,483, earth 564, ground 119, lands 41Full study and all 2,120 verses →
Genesis 8:17 Bring out all the living creatures that are with you— birds, livestock, and everything that crawls upon the ground— so that they can spread out over the earth and be fruitful and multiply upon it.”
Exodus 4:3 “Throw it on the ground,” said the LORD. So Moses threw it on the ground, and it became a snake, and he ran from it.
- אֲדָמָה ădâmâhground, landtranslated this way 38 times of its 220 uses · Strong’s H127Noun · Translated: land 121, ground 38, earth 34, soil 12Full study and all 207 verses →
Genesis 2:5 Now no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth, nor had any plant of the field sprouted, for the LORD God had not yet sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground.
Exodus 3:5 “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”
- יַבָּשָׁה yabbâshâhdry land, dry groundtranslated this way 8 times of its 14 uses · Strong’s H3004Noun · Translated: dry ground 8, dry land 4, dry 2Full study and all 14 verses →
Exodus 4:9 But if they do not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. Then the water you take from the Nile will become blood on the ground.”
Joshua 4:22 you are to tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’
- טָחַן ṭâchangrindtranslated this way 3 times of its 8 uses · Strong’s H2912Verb · Translated: grind 4, ground 3, grinding 1Full study and all 8 verses →
Exodus 32:20 Then he took the calf they had made, burned it in the fire, ground it to powder, and scattered the powder over the face of the water. Then he forced the Israelites to drink it.
Numbers 11:8 The people walked around and gathered it, ground it on a handmill or crushed it in a mortar, then boiled it in a cooking pot or shaped it into cakes. It tasted like pastry baked with fine oil.
- חָרָבָה chârâbâhdry groundtranslated this way 3 times of its 8 uses · Strong’s H2724Noun · Translated: dry land 4, dry ground 3, dry 1Full study and all 7 verses →
Joshua 3:17 The priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel crossed over the dry ground, until the entire nation had crossed the Jordan.
2 Kings 2:8 And Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up, and struck the waters, which parted to the right and to the left, so that the two of them crossed over on dry ground.
- חֶלְקָה chelqâhportiontranslated this way 3 times of its 28 uses · Strong’s H2513Noun · Translated: field 9, plot 3, portion 2, plot of ground 2Full study and all 24 verses →
2 Kings 9:26 ‘As surely as I saw the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons yesterday, declares the LORD, so will I repay you on this plot of ground, declares the LORD.’ Now then, according to the word of the LORD, pick him up and throw him on the plot of ground.”
Psalm 73:18 Surely You set them on slick ground; You cast them down into ruin.
- דָּקַק dâqaqcrush, pulverise, thresh; be finetranslated this way 3 times of its 13 uses · Strong’s H1854Verb · Translated: powder 3, ground 3, crushed 2, crush 2Full study and all 12 verses →
2 Kings 23:6 He brought the Asherah pole from the house of the LORD to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem, and there he burned it, ground it to powder, and threw its dust on the graves of the common people.
Isaiah 28:28 Grain for bread must be ground, but it is not endlessly threshed. Though the wheels of the cart roll over it, the horses do not crush it.
- נִיר nîrthe tillable, untilled or fallow groundtranslated this way 3 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s H5215Noun · Translated: unplowed ground 2, fallow ground 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Proverbs 13:23 Abundant food is in the fallow ground of the poor, but without justice it is swept away.
Jeremiah 4:3 For this is what the LORD says to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: “Break up your unplowed ground, and do not sow among the thorns.
- אֲרַע ăraearthtranslated this way 3 times of its 21 uses · Strong’s H772Noun · Translated: earth 15, ground 3, land 2, inferior 1Full study and all 17 verses →
Daniel 4:15 But leave the stump with its roots in the ground, with a band of iron and bronze around it, in the tender grass of the field. Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven and graze with the beasts on the grass of the earth.
Daniel 4:23 And you, O king, saw a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying: ‘Cut down the tree and destroy it, but leave the stump with its roots in the ground, with a band of iron and bronze around it, in the tender grass of the field. Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and graze with the beasts of the field till seven times pass him by.’
- פָּנִים pânîmface, beforetranslated this way 2 times of its 1,836 uses · Strong’s H6440Noun · Translated: before 448, face 222, presence 147, before you 123Full study and all 1,671 verses →
- שָׁחַק shâchaqrub away, beat fine, pulverizetranslated this way 2 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s H7833Verb · Translated: ground 2, Grind 1, wears away 1Full study and all 4 verses →
2 Samuel 22:43 I ground them as the dust of the earth; I crushed and trampled them like mud in the streets.
Psalm 18:42 I ground them as dust in the face of the wind; I trampled them like mud in the streets.
- עָפָר âphârdry earth, dusttranslated this way 2 times of its 110 uses · Strong’s H6083Noun · Translated: dust 73, soil 6, like dust 5, like the dust 3Full study and all 103 verses →
Job 30:6 so that they lived on the slopes of the wadis, among the rocks and in holes in the ground.
Isaiah 2:19 Men will flee to caves in the rocks and holes in the ground, away from the terror of the LORD and from the splendor of His majesty, when He rises to shake the earth.
- מִישׁוֹר mîshôrlevel place, uprightnesstranslated this way 2 times of its 23 uses · Strong’s H4334Noun · Translated: plateau 8, plain 2, level ground 2, level 2Full study and all 23 verses →
Psalm 26:12 My feet stand on level ground; in the congregations I will bless the LORD.
Isaiah 42:16 I will lead the blind by a way they did not know; I will guide them on unfamiliar paths. I will turn darkness into light before them and rough places into level ground. These things I will do for them, and I will not forsake them.
- עָמַד âmadtake one's stand, standtranslated this way 2 times of its 508 uses · Strong’s H5975Verb · Translated: stood 99, stand 95, standing 50, stands 12Full study and all 485 verses →
- מֶלֶךְ melekkingtranslated this way 2 times of its 2,416 uses · Strong’s H4428Noun · Translated: king 1,810, kings 267, king's 134, royal 58Full study and all 1,901 verses →
Greek words (New Testament)
- γῆ gēthe earth, soil, landtranslated this way 19 times of its 238 uses · Strong’s G1093Noun · Translated: earth 156, land 37, ground 19, soil 13Full study and all 217 verses →
Matthew 10:29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.
Mark 4:26 Jesus also said, “The kingdom of God is like a man who scatters seed on the ground.
- πετρώδης petrṓdēsrocky, stonytranslated this way 4 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s G4075Adjective · Translated: rocky ground 4Full study and all 4 verses →
Matthew 13:5 Some fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly because the soil was shallow.
Mark 4:5 Some fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly because the soil was shallow.
- ῥήγνυμι rhḗgnymiI break, break forthtranslated this way 2 times of its 7 uses · Strong’s G4486Verb · Translated: burst 3, tear you to pieces 1, throws him to the ground 1, slammed him to the ground 1Full study and all 7 verses →
Mark 9:18 Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. I asked Your disciples to drive it out, but they were unable.”
Luke 9:42 Even while the boy was approaching, the demon slammed him to the ground in a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father.
- πέτρα pétrarocktranslated this way 2 times of its 15 uses · Strong’s G4073Noun · Translated: rock 10, rocks 3, rocky ground 2Full study and all 14 verses →
Luke 8:6 Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the seedlings withered because they had no moisture.
Luke 8:13 The seeds on rocky ground are those who hear the word and receive it with joy, but they have no root. They believe for a season, but in the time of testing, they fall away.
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 ground: 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.