Word study
Join
12 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: join, joined, joins. 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 “join” 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)
- חָבַר châbarunitetranslated this way 10 times of its 28 uses · Strong’s H2266Verb · Translated: joined 6, join 4, attached 2, fastened 2Full study and all 24 verses →
Exodus 26:3 Five of the curtains are to be joined together, and the other five joined as well.
Hosea 4:17 Ephraim is joined to idols; leave him alone!
- לָוָה lâvâhjointranslated this way 10 times of its 26 uses · Strong’s H3867Verb · Translated: join 8, lend 4, borrow 2, joined 2Full study and all 22 verses →
Numbers 18:2 But bring with you also your brothers from the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may join you and assist you and your sons before the Tent of the Testimony.
Esther 9:27 the Jews bound themselves to establish the custom that they and their descendants and all who join them should not fail to celebrate these two days at the appointed time each and every year, according to their regulation.
- יָחַד yâchadbe unitedtranslated this way 2 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s H3161Verb · Translated: join 2, Give me an undivided 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Genesis 49:6 May I never enter their council; may I never join their assembly. For they kill men in their anger, and hamstring oxen on a whim.
Isaiah 14:20 You will not join them in burial, since you have destroyed your land and slaughtered your own people. The offspring of the wicked will never again be mentioned.
- נַחַל nachaltorrent, torrent-valley, wadytranslated this way 2 times of its 138 uses · Strong’s H5158Noun · Translated: Valley 49, Brook 26, river 17, streams 8Full study and all 123 verses →
Numbers 34:5 where it will turn from Azmon, join the Brook of Egypt, and end at the Sea.
Joshua 15:4 It proceeded to Azmon, joined the Brook of Egypt, and ended at the Sea. This was their southern border.
- אָסַף âsaphgather, removetranslated this way 2 times of its 193 uses · Strong’s H622Verb · Translated: gathered 56, gather 27, assembled 13, assemble 8Full study and all 183 verses →
Joshua 10:5 So the five kings of the Amorites— the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon— joined forces and advanced with all their armies. They camped before Gibeon and made war against it.
Judges 3:13 After enlisting the Ammonites and Amalekites to join forces with him, Eglon attacked and defeated Israel, taking possession of the City of Palms.
- עִם imwithtranslated this way 2 times of its 940 uses · Strong’s H5973Preposition · Translated: with 246, with you 84, with him 61, against 39Full study and all 838 verses →
- קָבַץ qâbatsgather, collecttranslated this way 2 times of its 126 uses · Strong’s H6908Verb · Translated: gather 42, gathered 25, assembled 10, assemble 9Full study and all 121 verses →
Joshua 10:6 Then the men of Gibeon sent word to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal: “Do not abandon your servants. Come quickly and save us! Help us, because all the kings of the Amorites from the hill country have joined forces against us.”
1 Chronicles 13:2 And he said to the whole assembly of Israel, “If it seems good to you, and if this is of the LORD our God, let us send word far and wide to the rest of our brothers in all the land of Israel, and also to the priests and Levites in their cities and pasturelands, so that they may join us.
- בּוֹא bôcome in, come, go in, gotranslated this way 2 times of its 2,442 uses · Strong’s H935Verb · Translated: come 358, came 298, bring 209, brought 201Full study and all 2,217 verses →
- הָיָה hâyâhfall out, come to pass, become, betranslated this way 2 times of its 2,848 uses · Strong’s H1961Verb · Translated: will be 206, become 178, came 169, was 151Full study and all 2,573 verses →
- קָרַב qârabcome near, approachtranslated this way 2 times of its 276 uses · Strong’s H7126Verb · Translated: present 65, bring 18, approached 16, presented 14Full study and all 258 verses →
- צָמַד tsâmadbind, jointranslated this way 2 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s H6775Verb · Translated: joined in worshiping 2, strapped 1, harness 1, yoked 1Full study and all 5 verses →
Numbers 25:3 So Israel joined in worshiping Baal of Peor, and the anger of the LORD burned against them.
Numbers 25:5 So Moses told the judges of Israel, “Each of you must kill all of his men who have joined in worshiping Baal of Peor.”
- דָּבַק dâbaqcling, cleave, keep closetranslated this way 2 times of its 54 uses · Strong’s H1692Verb · Translated: cling 12, hold fast 6, overtook 4, clung 3Full study and all 52 verses →
Job 41:17 They are joined to one another; they clasp and cannot be separated.
Job 41:23 The folds of his flesh are tightly joined; they are firm and immovable.
Greek words (New Testament)
- κολλάω kolláōI glue, cleave, keep company withtranslated this way 3 times of its 12 uses · Strong’s G2853Verb · Translated: join 2, unites 2Full study and all 12 verses →
Acts 5:13 Although the people regarded them highly, no one else dared to join them.
Acts 9:26 When Saul arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple.
- συγκακοπαθέω synkakopathéōI suffer hardships together withtranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G4777Verb · Translated: join me in suffering 2Full study and all 2 verses →
2 Timothy 1:8 So do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, or of me, His prisoner. Instead, join me in suffering for the gospel by the power of God.
2 Timothy 2:3 Join me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
- συζεύγνυμι syzeúgnymiI unitetranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G4801Verb · Translated: joined together 2Full study and all 2 verses →
Matthew 19:6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”
Mark 10:9 Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”
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.