Word study
Jewel
7 Hebrew and 1 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: jewels, jewel. 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 “jewel” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- כְּלִי kelîarticle, utensil, vesseltranslated this way 3 times of its 282 uses · Strong’s H3627Noun · Translated: articles 59, utensils 32, weapons 20, furnishings 15Full study and all 255 verses →
Genesis 24:53 Then he brought out jewels of silver and gold, and articles of clothing, and he gave them to Rebekah. He also gave precious gifts to her brother and her mother.
Job 28:17 Neither gold nor crystal can compare to it, nor jewels of fine gold be exchanged for it.
- אֶבֶן ebenstonetranslated this way 2 times of its 242 uses · Strong’s H68Noun · Translated: stones 92, stone 86, gemstones 7, weights 5Full study and all 217 verses →
Isaiah 54:12 I will make your pinnacles of rubies, your gates of sparkling jewels, and all your walls of precious stones.
Zechariah 9:16 On that day the LORD their God will save them as the flock of His people; for like jewels in a crown they will sparkle over His land.
- חָרוּז chârûzstring of beadstranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s H2737Noun · Translated: strings of jewels 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Song of Solomon 1:10 Your cheeks are beautiful with ornaments, your neck with strings of jewels.
- מִלֵּאת millêthsettingtranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s H4402Noun · Translated: jewels 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Song of Solomon 5:12 His eyes are like doves beside the streams of water, bathed in milk and mounted like jewels.
- חֲלִי chălîornamenttranslated this way 1 time of its 2 uses · Strong’s H2481Noun · Translated: ornament 1, jewels 1Full study and all 2 verses →
Song of Solomon 7:1 How beautiful are your sandaled feet, O daughter of the prince! The curves of your thighs are like jewels, the handiwork of a master.
- עָנָק ânâqnecklace, neck-pendanttranslated this way 1 time of its 3 uses · Strong’s H6060Noun · Translated: chains 1, pendant 1, jewel 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Song of Solomon 4:9 You have captured my heart, my sister, my bride; you have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your neck.
- צְבִי tsebîbeauty, honourtranslated this way 1 time of its 33 uses · Strong’s H6643Noun · Translated: gazelle 8, glory 6, beautiful 6, gazelles 4Full study and all 32 verses →
Isaiah 13:19 And Babylon, the jewel of the kingdoms, the glory of the pride of the Chaldeans, will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah.
Greek words (New Testament)
- λίθος líthosa stonetranslated this way 1 time of its 53 uses · Strong’s G3037Noun · Translated: stone 36, stones 14, millstone 1, stone's 1Full study and all 53 verses →
Revelation 21:11 shining with the glory of God. Its radiance was like a most precious jewel, like a jasper, as clear as crystal.
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.