Word study
Hand
10 Hebrew and 8 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: hand, hands, handed, handing. 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 “hand” 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)
- יָד yâdhandtranslated this way 1,030 times of its 1,403 uses · Strong’s H3027Noun · Translated: hand 664, hands 349, through 64, power 22Full study and all 1,290 verses →
Genesis 3:22 Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil. And now, lest he reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever...”
Exodus 3:8 I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey— the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.
- כַּף kaphhollow, or flat of the hand, palm, sole of foot, pantranslated this way 109 times of its 176 uses · Strong’s H3709Noun · Translated: hands 70, hand 32, dish 12, palm 9Full study and all 170 verses →
Genesis 20:5 Didn’t Abraham tell me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ I have done this in the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands.”
Exodus 4:4 “Stretch out your hand and grab it by the tail,” the LORD said to Moses, who reached out his hand and caught the snake, and it turned back into a staff in his hand.
- יָמִין yâmînright handtranslated this way 64 times of its 132 uses · Strong’s H3225Noun · Translated: right hand 59, right 47, south 9, south side 4Full study and all 128 verses →
Genesis 48:13 And Joseph took both of them— with Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand— and brought them close to him.
Exodus 15:6 Your right hand, O LORD, is majestic in power; Your right hand, O LORD, has shattered the enemy.
- נָתַן nâthangive, put, settranslated this way 17 times of its 1,957 uses · Strong’s H5414Verb · Translated: give 326, gave 206, given 187, put 135Full study and all 1,785 verses →
Genesis 27:17 Then she handed her son Jacob the tasty food and bread she had made.
- יַד yadhandtranslated this way 14 times of its 15 uses · Strong’s H3028Noun · Translated: hand 10, hands 2, human hands 2, power 1Full study and all 15 verses →
Ezra 5:8 Let it be known to the king that we went into the province of Judah, to the house of the great God. The people are rebuilding it with large stones and placing timbers in the walls. This work is being carried out diligently and is prospering in their hands.
Daniel 2:34 As you watched, a stone was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay, and crushed them.
- שָׂכִיר sâkîrhiredtranslated this way 9 times of its 17 uses · Strong’s H7916Adjective · Translated: hired hand 7, hired worker 3Full study and all 17 verses →
Exodus 12:45 A temporary resident or hired hand shall not eat the Passover.
Leviticus 19:13 You must not defraud your neighbor or rob him. You must not withhold until morning the wages due a hired hand.
- שְׂמֹאול semôwlthe lefttranslated this way 7 times of its 53 uses · Strong’s H8040Noun · Translated: left 35, north 8, left hand 7, go to the left 1Full study and all 52 verses →
Genesis 48:13 And Joseph took both of them— with Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand— and brought them close to him.
Judges 16:29 And Samson reached out for the two central pillars supporting the temple. Bracing himself against them with his right hand on one pillar and his left hand on the other,
- חֹפֶן chôphenhollow of handtranslated this way 3 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s H2651Noun · Translated: hands 3Full study and all 3 verses →
Proverbs 30:4 Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in His hands? Who has bound up the waters in His cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is the name of His Son— surely you know!
Ezekiel 10:2 And the LORD said to the man clothed in linen, “Go inside the wheelwork beneath the cherubim. Fill your hands with burning coals from among the cherubim and scatter them over the city.” And as I watched, he went in.
- קָרַב qârabcome near, approachtranslated this way 2 times of its 276 uses · Strong’s H7126Verb · Translated: present 65, bring 18, approached 16, presented 14Full study and all 258 verses →
Genesis 27:41 Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. And Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
- קָרוֹב qârôbneartranslated this way 2 times of its 74 uses · Strong’s H7138Adjective · Translated: near 38, nearest 4, nearby 3, next 2Full study and all 72 verses →
Isaiah 13:22 Hyenas will howl in her fortresses and jackals in her luxurious palaces. Babylon’s time is at hand, and her days will not be prolonged.
Jeremiah 48:16 Moab’s calamity is at hand, and his affliction is rushing swiftly.
Greek words (New Testament)
- χείρ cheíra handtranslated this way 147 times of its 155 uses · Strong’s G5495Noun · Translated: hand 74, hands 73, grasp 3Full study and all 149 verses →
Matthew 3:12 His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and to gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
Mark 1:31 So He went to her, took her by the hand, and helped her up. The fever left her, and she began to serve them.
- δεξιός dexióson the right hand, right hand, righttranslated this way 32 times of its 54 uses · Strong’s G1188Adjective · Translated: right hand 32, right 20, right side 2Full study and all 54 verses →
Matthew 6:3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,
Mark 10:37 They answered, “Grant that one of us may sit at Your right hand and the other at Your left in Your glory.”
- παραδίδωμι paradídōmiI hand over, deliver, betraytranslated this way 30 times of its 119 uses · Strong’s G3860Verb · Translated: betray 19, handed 19, delivered 10, hand 9Full study and all 117 verses →
Matthew 5:25 Reconcile quickly with your adversary, while you are still on the way to court. Otherwise, he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison.
Mark 7:13 Thus you nullify the word of God by the tradition you have handed down. And you do so in many such matters.”
- ἀχειροποίητος acheiropoíētosnot made by hand, not handmadetranslated this way 3 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s G886Adjective · Translated: made without hands 1, built by human hands 1, human hands 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Mark 14:58 “We heard Him say, ‘I will destroy this man-made temple, and in three days I will build another that is made without hands.’”
2 Corinthians 5:1 For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is dismantled, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.
- χειροποίητος cheiropoíētosdone or made with handstranslated this way 3 times of its 6 uses · Strong’s G5499Adjective · Translated: man-made 2, made by human hands 1, made 1, human hands 1Full study and all 6 verses →
Acts 7:48 However, the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says:
Ephesians 2:11 Therefore remember that formerly you who are Gentiles in the flesh and called uncircumcised by the so-called circumcision (that done in the body by human hands) —
- χειραγωγέω cheiragōgéōI lead by the handtranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G5496Verb · Translated: led him by the hand 1, led me by the hand 1Full study and all 2 verses →
Acts 9:8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could not see a thing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus.
Acts 22:11 Because the brilliance of the light had blinded me, my companions led me by the hand into Damascus.
- χαρίζομαι charízomaiI show favor to, forgivetranslated this way 2 times of its 23 uses · Strong’s G5483Verb · Translated: forgave 4, forgiven 3, forgive 3, gave 2Full study and all 19 verses →
Acts 25:11 If, however, I am guilty of anything worthy of death, I do not refuse to die. But if there is no truth to their accusations against me, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!”
Acts 25:16 I told them that it is not the Roman custom to hand a man over before he has had an opportunity to face his accusers and defend himself against their charges.
- ἅπτομαι háptomaiI touch or handletranslated this way 2 times of its 35 uses · Strong’s G680Verb · Translated: touched 20, touch 8, place his hands 2Full study and all 33 verses →
Mark 10:13 Now people were bringing the little children to Jesus for Him to place His hands on them, and the disciples rebuked those who brought them.
Luke 18:15 Now people were even bringing their babies to Jesus for Him to place His hands on them. And when the disciples saw this, they rebuked those who brought them.
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 hand: 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.