Word study
Guard
10 Hebrew and 5 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: guard, guards, guarded, guarding. 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 “guard” 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)
- שָׁמַר shâmarkeep, watch, preservetranslated this way 37 times of its 461 uses · Strong’s H8104Verb · Translated: keep 133, careful 39, kept 33, guard 25Full study and all 436 verses →
Genesis 3:24 So He drove out the man and stationed cherubim on the east side of the Garden of Eden, along with a whirling sword of flame to guard the way to the tree of life.
Deuteronomy 4:9 Only be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves, so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen, and so that they do not slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and grandchildren.
- טַבָּח ṭabbâchcooktranslated this way 29 times of its 31 uses · Strong’s H2876Noun · Translated: guard 29, cook 2Full study and all 31 verses →
Genesis 37:36 Meanwhile, the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard.
2 Kings 25:8 On the seventh day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign over Babylon, Nebuzaradan captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem.
- נָצַר nâtsarwatch, guard, keeptranslated this way 15 times of its 59 uses · Strong’s H5341Verb · Translated: keep 10, guard 9, obey 7, preserve 5Full study and all 58 verses →
Deuteronomy 32:10 He found him in a desert land, in a barren, howling wilderness; He surrounded him, He instructed him, He guarded him as the apple of His eye.
Psalm 12:7 You, O LORD, will keep us; You will forever guard us from this generation.
- רוּץ rûtsruntranslated this way 13 times of its 103 uses · Strong’s H7323Verb · Translated: ran 22, run 21, guards 11, couriers 6Full study and all 92 verses →
1 Samuel 22:17 Then the king ordered the guards at his side, “Turn and kill the priests of the LORD, because they too sided with David. For they knew he was fleeing, but they did not tell me.” But the king’s servants would not lift a hand to strike the priests of the LORD.
1 Kings 14:27 Then King Rehoboam made bronze shields in their place and committed them to the care of the captains of the guard on duty at the entrance to the royal palace.
- מַטָּרָא maṭṭârâjail, aimtranslated this way 13 times of its 16 uses · Strong’s H4307Noun · Translated: guard 13, target 3Full study and all 15 verses →
Nehemiah 3:25 and Palal son of Uzai made repairs opposite the angle and the tower that juts out from the upper palace of the king near the courtyard of the guard. Next to him, Pedaiah son of Parosh
Jeremiah 32:2 At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was imprisoned in the courtyard of the guard, which was in the palace of the king of Judah.
- מִשְׁמָר mishmârplace of confinement, goal, prisontranslated this way 7 times of its 18 uses · Strong’s H4929Noun · Translated: custody 5, guard 5, guards 2Full study and all 16 verses →
1 Chronicles 26:16 The lots for the West Gate and the Shallecheth Gate on the ascending highway fell to Shuppim and Hosah. There were guards stationed at every watch.
Nehemiah 4:9 So we prayed to our God and posted a guard against them day and night.
- אָסַף âsaphgather, removetranslated this way 5 times of its 193 uses · Strong’s H622Verb · Translated: gathered 56, gather 27, assembled 13, assemble 8Full study and all 183 verses →
Numbers 10:25 Finally, the divisions of the camp of Dan set out under their standard, serving as the rear guard for all units, with Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai in command.
Joshua 6:9 While the horns continued to sound, the armed troops marched ahead of the priests who blew the horns, and the rear guard followed the ark.
- מִשְׁמֶרֶת mishmerethguard, watchtranslated this way 5 times of its 73 uses · Strong’s H4931Noun · Translated: charge 20, duties 18, responsible 3, service 3Full study and all 66 verses →
2 Samuel 20:3 When David returned to his palace in Jerusalem, he took the ten concubines he had left to take care of the palace, and he placed them in a house under guard. He provided for them, but he no longer slept with them. They were confined until the day of their death, living as widows.
1 Chronicles 9:23 So they and their descendants were assigned to guard the gates of the house of the LORD — the house called the Tent.
- מִשְׁמַעַת mishmaathobedient band, body of subjectstranslated this way 2 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s H4928Noun · Translated: guard 2, bodyguard 1, subject 1Full study and all 4 verses →
2 Samuel 23:23 He was most honored among the Thirty, but he did not become one of the Three. And David appointed him over his guard.
1 Chronicles 11:25 He was most honored among the Thirty, but he did not become one of the Three. And David appointed him over his guard.
- שָׁקַד shâqadwatch, waketranslated this way 2 times of its 12 uses · Strong’s H8245Verb · Translated: watching 3Full study and all 11 verses →
Ezra 8:29 Guard them carefully until you weigh them out in the chambers of the house of the LORD in Jerusalem before the leading priests, Levites, and heads of the Israelite families.”
Psalm 127:1 A song of ascents. Of Solomon. Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain; unless the LORD protects the city, its watchmen stand guard in vain.
Greek words (New Testament)
- φυλάσσω phylássōI keep, guard, observetranslated this way 10 times of its 31 uses · Strong’s G5442Verb · Translated: guard 7, keep 5, kept 4, obey 2Full study and all 31 verses →
Luke 11:21 When a strong man, fully armed, guards his house, his possessions are secure.
Acts 12:4 He arrested him and put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out to the people after the Passover.
- τηρέω tēréōI keep, guard, observetranslated this way 4 times of its 69 uses · Strong’s G5083Verb · Translated: keep 23, kept 12, keeps 7, held 4Full study and all 63 verses →
Matthew 27:54 When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified and said, “Truly this was the Son of God.”
Acts 12:6 On the night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, with sentries standing guard at the entrance to the prison.
- κουστωδία koustōdíaa guardtranslated this way 3 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s G2892Noun · Translated: guard 2, guards 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Matthew 27:65 “You have a guard,” Pilate said. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.”
Matthew 27:66 So they went and secured the tomb by sealing the stone and posting the guard.
- βλέπω blépōI look, seetranslated this way 3 times of its 128 uses · Strong’s G991Verb · Translated: see 53, seeing 10, saw 8, sees 6Full study and all 117 verses →
Mark 13:9 So be on your guard. You will be delivered over to the councils and beaten in the synagogues. On My account you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them.
Mark 13:23 So be on your guard; I have told you everything in advance.
- φύλαξ phýlaxa guard, keeper, sentineltranslated this way 2 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s G5441Noun · Translated: guards 2, sentries 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Acts 5:23 “We found the jail securely locked, with the guards posted at the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside.”
Acts 12:19 After Herod had searched for him unsuccessfully, he examined the guards and ordered that they be executed. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and spent some time there.
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 guard: 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.