Word study
Guest
2 Hebrew and 5 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: guests, guest. 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 “guest” 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)
- קָרָא qârâcall, proclaim, readtranslated this way 6 times of its 709 uses · Strong’s H7121Verb · Translated: called 211, call 104, named 58, summoned 50Full study and all 663 verses →
1 Samuel 9:13 As soon as you enter the city, you will find him before he goes up to the high place to eat. The people will not eat until he comes, because he must bless the sacrifice; after that, the guests will eat. Go up at once; you will find him.”
2 Samuel 15:11 Two hundred men from Jerusalem accompanied Absalom. They had been invited as guests and they went along innocently, for they knew nothing about the matter.
- בּוֹא bôcome in, come, go in, gotranslated this way 2 times of its 2,442 uses · Strong’s H935Verb · Translated: come 358, came 298, bring 209, brought 201Full study and all 2,217 verses →
Greek words (New Testament)
- υἱός huiósa son, descendenttranslated this way 3 times of its 365 uses · Strong’s G5207Noun · Translated: Son 301, sons 53, guests 3, people 3Full study and all 334 verses →
Matthew 9:15 Jesus replied, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while He is with them? But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.
Mark 2:19 Jesus replied, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while He is with them? As long as He is with them, they cannot fast.
- ἀνακεῖμαι anakeîmaiI recline, especially at a dinner-tabletranslated this way 3 times of its 13 uses · Strong’s G345Verb · Translated: guests 3, reclining 3Full study and all 12 verses →
Matthew 22:10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered everyone they could find, both evil and good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.
Mark 6:26 The king was consumed with sorrow, but because of his oaths and his guests, he did not want to refuse her.
- κατάλυμα katálymaan inn, lodging-placetranslated this way 2 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s G2646Noun · Translated: guest room 2, inn 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Mark 14:14 and whichever house he enters, say to the owner, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is My guest room, where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?’
Luke 22:11 and say to the owner of that house, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?’
- ξενίζω xenízōI entertain a stranger, I startletranslated this way 2 times of its 10 uses · Strong’s G3579Verb · Translated: staying 2, entertained 2Full study and all 10 verses →
Acts 10:23 So Peter invited them in as his guests. And the next day he got ready and went with them, accompanied by some of the brothers from Joppa.
Acts 10:32 Therefore send to Joppa for Simon, who is called Peter. He is a guest in the home of Simon the tanner, by the sea.’
- συνανάκειμαι synanákeimaiI recline at table withtranslated this way 2 times of its 7 uses · Strong’s G4873Verb · Translated: guests 2, table 2, ate 1, eating 1Full study and all 7 verses →
Matthew 14:9 The king was grieved, but because of his oaths and his guests, he ordered that her wish be granted
Mark 6:22 When the daughter of Herodias came and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests, and the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.”
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 guest: 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.