Word study
Haste
10 Hebrew words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “haste”. 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 “haste” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- חִפָּזוֹן chippâzôntrepidation, hurried flighttranslated this way 2 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s H2649Noun · Translated: haste 2, hurry 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Exodus 12:11 This is how you are to eat it: You must be fully dressed for travel, with your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. You are to eat in haste; it is the LORD’s Passover.
Deuteronomy 16:3 You must not eat leavened bread with it; for seven days you are to eat with it unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, because you left the land of Egypt in haste— so that you may remember for the rest of your life the day you left the land of Egypt.
- אָמַץ âmatsbe alerttranslated this way 2 times of its 41 uses · Strong’s H553Verb · Translated: courageous 13, strengthen 3, mighty 2, haste 2Full study and all 41 verses →
1 Kings 12:18 Then King Rehoboam sent out Adoram, who was in charge of the forced labor, but all Israel stoned him to death. And King Rehoboam mounted his chariot in haste and escaped to Jerusalem.
2 Chronicles 10:18 Then King Rehoboam sent out Hadoram, who was in charge of the forced labor, but the Israelites stoned him to death. And King Rehoboam mounted his chariot in haste and escaped to Jerusalem.
- אוּץ ûtspress, be pressed, make hastetranslated this way 2 times of its 9 uses · Strong’s H213Verb · Translated: haste 2Full study and all 9 verses →
Proverbs 21:5 The plans of the diligent bring plenty, as surely as haste leads to poverty.
Proverbs 29:20 Do you see a man who speaks in haste? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
- חוּשׁ chûshhaste, make hastetranslated this way 1 time of its 18 uses · Strong’s H2363Verb · Translated: hurry 4, come quickly 3Full study and all 18 verses →
1 Samuel 20:38 Then Jonathan cried out, “Hurry! Make haste! Do not delay!” So the boy picked up the arrow and returned to his master.
- חָפַז châphazbe in trepidation, hurry, or alarmtranslated this way 1 time of its 8 uses · Strong’s H2648Verb · Translated: hurrying 2, alarm 2, alarmed 1, haste 1Full study and all 8 verses →
2 Kings 7:15 And they tracked them as far as the Jordan, and indeed, the whole way was littered with the clothing and equipment the Arameans had thrown off in haste. So the scouts returned and told the king.
- מָהַר mâharhastentranslated this way 1 time of its 66 uses · Strong’s H4116Verb · Translated: quickly 20, hurried 9, Hurry 6, swift 4Full study and all 61 verses →
2 Chronicles 24:5 So he gathered the priests and Levites and said, “Go out to the cities of Judah and collect the money due annually from all Israel, to repair the house of your God. Do it quickly.” The Levites, however, did not make haste.
- בָּהַל bâhalalarm, dismaytranslated this way 1 time of its 37 uses · Strong’s H926Verb · Translated: terrified 8, dismayed 7, terror 3, rushed 2Full study and all 37 verses →
Esther 8:14 The couriers rode out in haste on their royal horses, pressed on by the command of the king. And the edict was also issued in the citadel of Susa.
- נָדַד nâdadretreat, flee, depart, stray, wander, fluttertranslated this way 1 time of its 26 uses · Strong’s H5074Verb · Translated: fled 4, flee 4, wanders 2, flees 2Full study and all 25 verses →
Psalm 68:12 “Kings and their armies flee in haste; she who waits at home divides the plunder.
- מְנוּסָה menûsâhflighttranslated this way 1 time of its 2 uses · Strong’s H4499Noun · Translated: flees 1, flee in haste 1Full study and all 2 verses →
Isaiah 52:12 For you will not leave in a hurry nor flee in haste, for the LORD goes before you, and the God of Israel is your rear guard.
- נוּס nûsflee, escapetranslated this way 1 time of its 157 uses · Strong’s H5127Verb · Translated: fled 65, flee 47, ran 5, run 5Full study and all 141 verses →
Jeremiah 46:5 Why am I seeing this? They are terrified, they are retreating; their warriors are defeated, they flee in haste without looking back; terror is on every side!” declares the LORD.
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 haste: 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.