Word study
Kindle
6 Hebrew and 1 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: kindled, kindle, kindling, kindles. 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 “kindle” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- חָרָה chârâhburn, be kindledtranslated this way 11 times of its 89 uses · Strong’s H2734Verb · Translated: burned 26, angry 15, kindled 11, furious 6Full study and all 87 verses →
Exodus 22:24 My anger will be kindled, and I will kill you with the sword; then your wives will become widows and your children will be fatherless.
Numbers 11:1 Soon the people began to complain about their hardship in the hearing of the LORD, and when He heard them, His anger was kindled, and fire from the LORD blazed among them and consumed the outskirts of the camp.
- יָצַת yâtsathkindle, burntranslated this way 8 times of its 26 uses · Strong’s H3341Verb · Translated: kindle 5, fire 4, set 4, burned 3Full study and all 25 verses →
2 Kings 22:17 because they have forsaken Me and burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands. My wrath will be kindled against this place and will not be quenched.’
Isaiah 9:18 For wickedness burns like a fire that consumes the thorns and briers and kindles the forest thickets, which roll upward in billows of smoke.
- קָדַח qâdachinflametranslated this way 4 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s H6919Verb · Translated: kindle 2, kindled 1, kindles 1Full study and all 4 verses →
Deuteronomy 32:22 For a fire has been kindled by My anger, and it burns to the depths of Sheol; it consumes the earth and its produce, and scorches the foundations of the mountains.
Isaiah 50:11 Behold, all you who kindle a fire, who array yourselves with firebrands, walk in the light of your fire and of the firebrands you have lit! This is what you will receive from My hand: You will lie down in a place of torment.
- נָשַׂק nâsaqcatchtranslated this way 2 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s H5400Verb · Translated: kindled 1, kindles a fire 1, burn 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Psalm 78:21 Therefore the LORD heard and was filled with wrath; so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and His anger flared against Israel,
Isaiah 44:15 It serves as fuel for man. He takes some of it to warm himself, and he kindles a fire and bakes his bread. He also fashions it into a god and worships it; he makes an idol and bows down to it.
- בָּעַר bâarburn, consumetranslated this way 2 times of its 93 uses · Strong’s H1197Verb · Translated: purge 12, burn 10, burned 7, burning 6Full study and all 90 verses →
Ezekiel 20:48 Then all people will see that I, the LORD, have kindled it; it will not be quenched.”
Ezekiel 39:9 Then those who dwell in the cities of Israel will go out, kindle fires, and burn up the weapons— the bucklers and shields, the bows and arrows, the clubs and spears. For seven years they will use them for fuel.
- אוֹר ôrbe or become lighttranslated this way 2 times of its 40 uses · Strong’s H215Verb · Translated: shine 12, light 6, lit 2, gives light 2Full study and all 40 verses →
Isaiah 27:11 When its limbs are dry, they are broken off. Women come and use them for kindling; for this is a people without understanding. Therefore their Maker has no compassion on them, and their Creator shows them no favor.
Malachi 1:10 “Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would no longer kindle useless fires on My altar! I take no pleasure in you,” says the LORD of Hosts, “and I will accept no offering from your hands.
Greek words (New Testament)
- ἅπτω háptōI kindle, lighttranslated this way 2 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s G681Verb · Translated: lights 2, kindled 2, light 1Full study and all 5 verses →
Luke 22:55 When those present had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them.
Acts 28:2 The islanders showed us extraordinary kindness. They kindled a fire and welcomed all of us because it was raining and cold.
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.