Word study
Helper
3 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: helper, helpers. 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 “helper” 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)
- עָזַר âzarhelp, succourtranslated this way 10 times of its 81 uses · Strong’s H5826Verb · Translated: help 34, helped 14, helps 7, helper 7Full study and all 77 verses →
1 Chronicles 12:18 Then the Spirit came upon Amasai, the chief of the Thirty, and he said: “We are yours, O David! We are with you, O son of Jesse! Peace, peace to you, and peace to your helpers, for your God helps you.” So David received them and made them leaders of his troops.
Job 9:13 God does not restrain His anger; the helpers of Rahab cower beneath Him.
- עֵזֶר êzerhelp, succourtranslated this way 4 times of its 21 uses · Strong’s H5828Noun · Translated: help 14, helper 4, aid 1, protects 1Full study and all 21 verses →
Genesis 2:18 The LORD God also said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make for him a suitable helper.”
Exodus 18:4 The other son was named Eliezer, for Moses had said, “The God of my father was my helper and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh.”
- עֶזְרָה ezrâhhelp, succour, assistancetranslated this way 3 times of its 26 uses · Strong’s H5833Noun · Translated: help 17, helper 3, aid 3, allies 2Full study and all 25 verses →
Psalm 27:9 Hide not Your face from me, nor turn away Your servant in anger. You have been my helper; do not leave me or forsake me, O God of my salvation.
Psalm 40:17 But I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my helper and deliverer; O my God, do not delay.
Greek words (New Testament)
- ὑπηρέτης hypērétēsa servant, an attendanttranslated this way 1 time of its 20 uses · Strong’s G5257Noun · Translated: officers 12, servants 3Full study and all 20 verses →
Acts 13:5 When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. And John was with them as their helper.
- βοηθός boēthósa helpertranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s G998Noun · Translated: helper 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Hebrews 13:6 So we say with confidence: “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”
- διακονέω diakonéōI wait at table, servetranslated this way 1 time of its 37 uses · Strong’s G1247Verb · Translated: serve 6, serves 6, ministered 5, served 4Full study and all 32 verses →
Acts 19:22 He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he stayed for a time in the province of Asia.
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.
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.