Word study
Increase
5 Hebrew and 2 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: increase, increased, increasing, increases. 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 “increase” 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)
- רָבָה râbâhbe, or become, much, many, greattranslated this way 20 times of its 219 uses · Strong’s H7235Verb · Translated: multiply 39, multiplied 23, many 15, much 10Full study and all 207 verses →
Genesis 3:16 To the woman He said: “I will sharply increase your pain in childbirth; in pain you will bring forth children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”
Exodus 1:10 Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase even more; and if a war breaks out, they may join our enemies, fight against us, and leave the country.”
- יָסַף yâsaphaddtranslated this way 8 times of its 202 uses · Strong’s H3254Verb · Translated: again 36, add 23, longer 20, severely 12Full study and all 198 verses →
Leviticus 19:25 But in the fifth year you may eat its fruit; thus your harvest will be increased. I am the LORD your God.
Deuteronomy 1:11 May the LORD, the God of your fathers, increase you a thousand times over and bless you as He has promised.
- פָּרַץ pâratsbreak throughtranslated this way 3 times of its 49 uses · Strong’s H6555Verb · Translated: broken 7, break 5, broke 3, spread 2Full study and all 48 verses →
Genesis 30:30 Indeed, you had very little before my arrival, but now your wealth has increased many times over. The LORD has blessed you wherever I set foot. But now, when may I also provide for my own household?”
1 Chronicles 4:38 These men listed by name were the leaders of their clans. Their families increased greatly,
- רַב rabmuch, many, greattranslated this way 2 times of its 445 uses · Strong’s H7227Adjective · Translated: many 171, great 65, captain 24, long 14Full study and all 426 verses →
1 Samuel 14:19 While Saul was talking to the priest, the commotion in the Philistine camp continued to increase. So Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand.”
2 Samuel 15:12 While Absalom was offering the sacrifices, he sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, to come from his hometown of Giloh. So the conspiracy gained strength, and Absalom’s following kept increasing.
- גָּדַל gâdalgrow up, become greattranslated this way 2 times of its 115 uses · Strong’s H1431Verb · Translated: great 14, grew 10, grown 7, greater 7Full study and all 114 verses →
Isaiah 9:3 You have enlarged the nation and increased its joy. The people rejoice before You as they rejoice at harvest time, as men rejoice in dividing the plunder.
Amos 8:5 asking, “When will the New Moon be over, that we may sell grain? When will the Sabbath end, that we may market wheat? Let us reduce the ephah and increase the shekel; let us cheat with dishonest scales.
Greek words (New Testament)
- πλεονάζω pleonázōI abound, increasetranslated this way 5 times of its 9 uses · Strong’s G4121Verb · Translated: increase 2Full study and all 8 verses →
Romans 5:20 The law came in so that the trespass would increase; but where sin increased, grace increased all the more,
1 Thessalonians 3:12 And may the Lord cause you to increase and overflow with love for one another and for everyone else, just as our love for you overflows,
- αὐξάνω auxánōI cause to increase, become greater, growtranslated this way 4 times of its 23 uses · Strong’s G837Verb · Translated: grow 5, grew 4, grows 3, continued to spread 3Full study and all 23 verses →
John 3:30 He must increase; I must decrease.
Acts 7:17 As the time drew near for God to fulfill His promise to Abraham, our people in Egypt increased greatly in number.
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.