Word study

Investigate

4 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word

The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: investigate, investigated. 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 “investigate” 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)

  • דָּרַשׁ dârashresort to, seektranslated this way 3 times of its 160 uses · Strong’s H1875Verb  ·  Translated: seek 47, inquire 29, sought 14, search 6

    Deuteronomy 17:4 and if it is reported and you hear about it, you must investigate it thoroughly. If the report is true and such an abomination has happened in Israel,

    Judges 6:29 “Who did this?” they said to one another. And after they had investigated thoroughly, they were told, “Gideon son of Joash did it.”

    Full study and all 151 verses →
  • חָקַר châqarsearchtranslated this way 2 times of its 26 uses · Strong’s H2713Verb  ·  Translated: searched 5, explore 4, search 3, determined 2

    Deuteronomy 13:14 then you must inquire, investigate, and interrogate thoroughly. And if it is established with certainty that this abomination has been committed among you,

    Job 5:27 Indeed, we have investigated, and it is true! So hear it and know for yourself.”

    Full study and all 25 verses →
  • יָדַע yâdaknowtranslated this way 2 times of its 914 uses · Strong’s H3045Verb  ·  Translated: know 453, known 53, knows 48, knew 38

    1 Samuel 14:38 Therefore Saul said, “Come here, all you leaders of the troops, and let us investigate how this sin has occurred today.

    Full study and all 863 verses →
  • בָּקַשׁ bâqashseektranslated this way 1 time of its 222 uses · Strong’s H1245Verb  ·  Translated: seek 78, sought 21, seeking 13, search 13

    Esther 2:23 After the report had been investigated and verified, both officials were hanged on the gallows. And all this was recorded in the Book of the Chronicles in the presence of the king.

    Full study and all 212 verses →

Greek words (New Testament)

  • ζήτησις zḗtēsisa question, debate, controversytranslated this way 1 time of its 8 uses · Strong’s G2214Noun  ·  Translated: speculation 2, controversies 2, dispute 1, debate 1

    Acts 25:20 Since I was at a loss as to how to investigate these matters, I asked if he was willing to go to Jerusalem and be tried there on these charges.

    Full study and all 8 verses →
  • παρακολουθέω parakolouthéōI accompany, follow closely, investigatetranslated this way 1 time of its 4 uses · Strong’s G3877Verb  ·  Translated: Therefore 1, carefully investigated 1, followed 1, observed 1

    Luke 1:3 Therefore, having carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus,

    Full study and all 3 verses →
  • ἐξερευνάω exereunáōI search diligently, examine carefullytranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s G1830Verb  ·  Translated: investigated carefully 1

    1 Peter 1:10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who foretold the grace to come to you searched and investigated carefully,

    Full study and its 1 verse →
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.

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.