Word study
Instruct
9 Hebrew and 4 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: instructed, instruct, instructing, instructs. 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 “instruct” 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)
- צָוָה tsâvâhlay charge (upon), give charge (to), charge, command, ordertranslated this way 16 times of its 491 uses · Strong’s H6680Verb · Translated: commanded 271, command 41, gave 16, instructed 13Full study and all 473 verses →
Genesis 32:4 He instructed them, “You are to say to my master Esau, ‘Your servant Jacob says: I have been staying with Laban and have remained there until now.
Deuteronomy 6:1 These are the commandments and statutes and ordinances that the LORD your God has instructed me to teach you to follow in the land that you are about to enter and possess,
- דָבַר dâbarspeaktranslated this way 15 times of its 1,113 uses · Strong’s H1696Verb · Translated: speak 209, said 157, spoken 142, spoke 110Full study and all 1,025 verses →
Genesis 44:2 Put my cup, the silver one, in the mouth of the youngest one’s sack, along with the silver for his grain.” So the steward did as Joseph had instructed.
Exodus 1:17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt had instructed; they let the boys live.
- אָמַר âmarutter, saytranslated this way 7 times of its 4,555 uses · Strong’s H559Verb · Translated: said 1,531, says 576, say 352, replied 341Full study and all 3,827 verses →
Genesis 24:2 So Abraham instructed the chief servant of his household, who managed all he owned, “Place your hand under my thigh,
- יָרָה yârâhthrow, shoottranslated this way 7 times of its 78 uses · Strong’s H3384Verb · Translated: teach 20, shoot 9, instruct 6, shot 5Full study and all 72 verses →
Deuteronomy 17:10 You must abide by the verdict they give you at the place the LORD will choose. Be careful to do everything they instruct you,
2 Kings 12:2 And Joash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all the days he was instructed by Jehoiada the priest.
- בִּין bîndiscerntranslated this way 6 times of its 166 uses · Strong’s H995Verb · Translated: understand 27, discerning 16, understanding 12, consider 10Full study and all 160 verses →
Deuteronomy 32:10 He found him in a desert land, in a barren, howling wilderness; He surrounded him, He instructed him, He guarded him as the apple of His eye.
2 Chronicles 26:5 He sought God throughout the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God. And as long as he sought the LORD, God gave him success.
- יָסַר yâsardiscipline, chasten, admonishtranslated this way 4 times of its 41 uses · Strong’s H3256Verb · Translated: discipline 10, scourged 4, punish 3, disciplines 2Full study and all 38 verses →
Job 4:3 Surely you have instructed many, and have strengthened their feeble hands.
Psalm 16:7 I will bless the LORD who counsels me; even at night my conscience instructs me.
- שָׂכַל sâkalbe prudenttranslated this way 4 times of its 61 uses · Strong’s H7919Verb · Translated: wise 11, prosper 5, understand 5, prospered 3Full study and all 61 verses →
Nehemiah 9:20 You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold Your manna from their mouths, and You gave them water for their thirst.
Psalm 32:8 I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will give you counsel and watch over you.
- דָּבָר dâbârspeech, wordtranslated this way 2 times of its 1,244 uses · Strong’s H1697Noun · Translated: word 342, words 299, acts 51, Chronicles 42Full study and all 1,120 verses →
Leviticus 10:7 You shall not go outside the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, or you will die, for the LORD’s anointing oil is on you.” So they did as Moses instructed.
- יָדַע yâdaknowtranslated this way 2 times of its 914 uses · Strong’s H3045Verb · Translated: know 453, known 53, knows 48, knew 38Full study and all 863 verses →
Greek words (New Testament)
- παραγγέλλω parangéllōI notify, command, chargetranslated this way 9 times of its 29 uses · Strong’s G3853Verb · Translated: instructed 7, command 5, commanded 4, ordered 3Full study and all 29 verses →
Matthew 15:35 And He instructed the crowd to sit down on the ground.
Mark 6:8 He instructed them to take nothing but a staff for the journey — no bread, no bag, no money in their belts —
- κατηχέω katēchéōI instruct orallytranslated this way 3 times of its 8 uses · Strong’s G2727Verb · Translated: instructed 2Full study and all 7 verses →
Acts 18:25 He had been instructed in the way of the Lord and was fervent in spirit. He spoke and taught accurately about Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John.
Romans 2:18 if you know His will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law;
- λέγω légōI say, speaktranslated this way 2 times of its 993 uses · Strong’s G3004Verb · Translated: said 216, tell 164, say 105, saying 86Full study and all 936 verses →
Matthew 8:4 Then Jesus instructed him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift prescribed by Moses, as a testimony to them.”
Matthew 28:13 and instructed them: “You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep.’
- διδάσκω didáskōI teachtranslated this way 2 times of its 97 uses · Strong’s G1321Verb · Translated: teach 34, teaching 26, taught 24, began to teach 5Full study and all 91 verses →
Matthew 28:15 So the guards took the money and did as they were instructed. And this account has been circulated among the Jews to this very day.
John 9:34 They replied, “You were born in utter sin, and you are instructing us?” And they threw him out.
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.