Word study

Helpless

5 Hebrew and 1 Greek words behind this English word

The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “helpless”. 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 “helpless” or one of its forms.

Compare the Hebrew words side by side

Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)

  • חֵלְכָא chêlekâwretch, unfortunatetranslated this way 2 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s H2489Noun  ·  Translated: helpless 2, victim 1

    Psalm 10:8 He lies in wait near the villages; in ambush he slays the innocent; his eyes watch in stealth for the helpless.

    Psalm 10:10 They are crushed and beaten down; the helpless fall prey to his strength.

    Full study and all 3 verses →
  • עָנִי ânîpoor, afflicted, humble, meektranslated this way 1 time of its 76 uses · Strong’s H6041Adjective  ·  Translated: poor 33, afflicted 22, oppressed 7, humble 4

    Psalm 10:12 Arise, O LORD! Lift up Your hand, O God! Do not forget the helpless.

    Full study and all 74 verses →
  • דָּלַל dâlalhang, be low, languishtranslated this way 1 time of its 9 uses · Strong’s H1809Verb  ·  Translated: brought 2

    Psalm 116:6 The LORD preserves the simplehearted; I was helpless, and He saved me.

    Full study and all 9 verses →
  • דַּל dallow, weak, poor, thintranslated this way 1 time of its 47 uses · Strong’s H1800Adjective  ·  Translated: poor 37, poor man 3, weak 2

    Proverbs 28:15 Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked ruler over a helpless people.

    Full study and all 46 verses →
  • כֹּחַ kôachstrength, powertranslated this way 1 time of its 118 uses · Strong’s H3581Noun  ·  Translated: strength 54, power 35, produce 2, powerless 2

    Jeremiah 48:45 “Those who flee will stand helpless in Heshbon’s shadow, because fire has gone forth from Heshbon and a flame from within Sihon. It devours the foreheads of Moab and the skulls of the sons of tumult.

    Full study and all 114 verses →

Greek words (New Testament)

  • ῥίπτω rhíptōI throw, cast, tosstranslated this way 1 time of its 7 uses · Strong’s G4496Verb  ·  Translated: threw 3, helpless 1, laid 1, thrown 1

    Matthew 9:36 When He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

    Full study and all 7 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.

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.