Word study
Hem
4 Hebrew and 1 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “hem”. 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 “hem” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- שׁוּל shûlskirttranslated this way 5 times of its 10 uses · Strong’s H7757Noun · Translated: lower hem 3, hem 2, skirts 2, train of his robe 1Full study and all 10 verses →
Exodus 28:33 Make pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn all the way around the lower hem, with gold bells between them,
Exodus 28:34 alternating the gold bells and pomegranates around the lower hem of the robe.
- כָּנָף kânâphwing, extremitytranslated this way 1 time of its 96 uses · Strong’s H3671Noun · Translated: wings 53, wing 12, corners 4, corner 3Full study and all 79 verses →
1 Samuel 15:27 As Samuel turned to go, Saul grabbed the hem of his robe, and it tore.
- צוּר tsûrconfine, bind, besiegetranslated this way 1 time of its 38 uses · Strong’s H6696Verb · Translated: besieged 10, besiege 7, besieging 4, lay siege 3Full study and all 38 verses →
Psalm 139:5 You hem me in behind and before; You have laid Your hand upon me.
- כָּתַר kâtharsurroundtranslated this way 1 time of its 6 uses · Strong’s H3803Verb · Translated: surrounded 1, Bear 1, encircle 1, gather around 1Full study and all 6 verses →
Habakkuk 1:4 Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted.
Greek words (New Testament)
- συνέχω synéchōI press together, confine, compel, am afflicted withtranslated this way 1 time of its 12 uses · Strong’s G4912Verb · Translated: suffering 3Full study and all 12 verses →
Luke 19:43 For the days will come upon you when your enemies will barricade you and surround you and hem you in on every side.
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.