Word study

Hebrew

2 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word

The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: hebrew, hebrews. 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 “hebrew” 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)

  • עִבְרִי IbrîHebrewtranslated this way 32 times of its 34 uses · Strong’s H5680Noun  ·  Translated: Hebrews 17, Hebrew 13, help the hebrew 1, Hebrew women 1

    Genesis 14:13 Then an escapee came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew. Now Abram was living near the Oaks of Mamre the Amorite, a brother of Eshcol and Aner, all of whom were bound by treaty to Abram.

    Exodus 1:15 Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah,

    Full study and all 32 verses →
  • יְהוּדִית Yehûdîthin Jewishtranslated this way 5 times of its 6 uses · Strong’s H3066Noun  ·  Translated: Hebrew 5, language of judah 1

    2 Kings 18:26 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, along with Shebnah and Joah, said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it. Do not speak with us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall.”

    2 Chronicles 32:18 Then the Assyrians called out loudly in Hebrew to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to frighten and terrify them in order to capture the city.

    Full study and all 6 verses →

Greek words (New Testament)

  • Ἑβραϊστί Hebraïstíin the Hebrew or Aramaic dialecttranslated this way 7 times of its 7 uses · Strong’s G1447Adverb  ·  Translated: Hebrew 7

    John 5:2 Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool with five covered colonnades, which in Hebrew is called Bethesda.

    Revelation 9:11 They were ruled by a king, the angel of the Abyss. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek it is Apollyon.

    Full study and all 7 verses →
  • Ἑβραΐς Hebraḯsthe Hebrew language, Aramaictranslated this way 3 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s G1446Adjective  ·  Translated: Hebrew 3

    Acts 21:40 Having received permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned to the crowd. A great hush came over the crowd, and he addressed them in Hebrew:

    Acts 22:2 When they heard him speak to them in Hebrew, they became even more quiet. Then Paul declared,

    Full study and all 3 verses →
  • Ἑβραῖος Hebraîosa Hebrewtranslated this way 3 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s G1445Noun  ·  Translated: Hebrews 2, Hebraic 1, Hebrew 1

    2 Corinthians 11:22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I.

    Philippians 3:5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin; a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee;

    Full study and all 3 verses →
How to study a word well
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
  4. 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.
  5. See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
  6. Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
  7. 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 hebrew: 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.