Word study
Inscribe
5 Hebrew and 4 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: inscribed, inscribe. 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 “inscribe” 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)
- כָּתַב kâthabwritetranslated this way 5 times of its 219 uses · Strong’s H3789Verb · Translated: written 104, write 29, wrote 21, recorded 16Full study and all 210 verses →
Exodus 31:18 When the LORD had finished speaking with Moses on Mount Sinai, He gave him the two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God.
Deuteronomy 9:10 Then the LORD gave me the two stone tablets, inscribed by the finger of God with the exact words that the LORD spoke to you out of the fire on the mountain on the day of the assembly.
- חָקַק châqaqcut in, inscribe, decreetranslated this way 4 times of its 19 uses · Strong’s H2710Verb · Translated: inscribed 3, scepter 2Full study and all 19 verses →
Job 19:23 I wish that my words were recorded and inscribed in a book,
Proverbs 8:27 I was there when He established the heavens, when He inscribed a circle on the face of the deep,
- חוּג chûgdraw round, make a circletranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s H2328Verb · Translated: inscribed 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Job 26:10 He has inscribed a horizon on the face of the waters at the boundary between light and darkness.
- רָשַׁם râshaminscribe, notetranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s H7559Verb · Translated: inscribed 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Daniel 10:21 But first I will tell you what is inscribed in the Book of Truth. Yet no one has the courage to support me against these, except Michael your prince.’’
- עַל alheighttranslated this way 1 time of its 4,859 uses · Strong’s H5921Preposition · Translated: on 777, over 297, in 218, against 216Full study and all 3,996 verses →
Greek words (New Testament)
- ἐπιγράφω epigráphōI write upon, inscribetranslated this way 3 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s G1924Verb · Translated: inscribe 2, read 1, inscription 1, inscribed 1Full study and all 5 verses →
Hebrews 8:10 For this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord. I will put My laws in their minds and inscribe them on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be My people.
Revelation 21:12 The city had a great and high wall with twelve gates inscribed with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, and twelve angels at the gates.
- ἐπιγραφή epigraphḗan inscription, titletranslated this way 1 time of its 5 uses · Strong’s G1923Noun · Translated: inscription 4, inscribed 1Full study and all 5 verses →
Mark 15:26 And the charge inscribed against Him read: THE KING OF THE JEWS.
- ἐγγράφω engráphōI write, inscribetranslated this way 1 time of its 3 uses · Strong’s G1449Verb · Translated: written 2, inscribed 1Full study and all 3 verses →
2 Corinthians 3:2 You yourselves are our letter, inscribed on our hearts, known and read by everyone.
- γράφω gráphōI writetranslated this way 1 time of its 186 uses · Strong’s G1125Verb · Translated: written 112, write 34, wrote 16, writing 14Full study and all 177 verses →
Revelation 2:17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will give the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone inscribed with a new name, known only to the one who receives it.
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.