Word study

Imagination

3 Hebrew and 1 Greek words behind this English word

The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: imagination, imaginations. 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 “imagination” or one of its forms.

Compare the Hebrew words side by side

Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)

  • מַשְׂכִּית maskîthshow-piece, figure, imaginationtranslated this way 2 times of its 6 uses · Strong’s H4906Noun  ·  Translated: sculpted 1, carved images 1, imaginations 1, imagination 1

    Psalm 73:7 From their prosperity proceeds iniquity; the imaginations of their hearts run wild.

    Proverbs 18:11 A rich man’s wealth is his fortified city; it is like a high wall in his imagination.

    Full study and all 6 verses →
  • לֵב lêbinner man, mind, will, hearttranslated this way 2 times of its 526 uses · Strong’s H3820Noun  ·  Translated: heart 326, hearts 78, mind 30, judgment 11

    Ezekiel 13:2 “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are now prophesying. Tell those who prophesy out of their own imagination: Hear the word of the LORD!

    Ezekiel 13:17 Now, O son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people who prophesy out of their own imagination. Prophesy against them

    Full study and all 495 verses →
  • מַחֲשָׁבָה machăshâbâhthought, devicetranslated this way 1 time of its 52 uses · Strong’s H4284Noun  ·  Translated: thoughts 15, plans 10, artistic 3, schemes 3

    Isaiah 65:2 All day long I have held out My hands to an obstinate people who walk in the wrong path, who follow their own imaginations,

    Full study and all 48 verses →

Greek words (New Testament)

  • ἐνθύμησις enthýmēsisinward thought, reflection, thoughtstranslated this way 1 time of its 4 uses · Strong’s G1761Noun  ·  Translated: thoughts 2, thinking 1, imagination 1

    Acts 17:29 Therefore, being offspring of God, we should not think that the Divine Being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by man’s skill and imagination.

    Full study and all 4 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 imagination: 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.