Word study
Last
6 Hebrew and 5 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: last, lasting, lasted, lasts. 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 “last” 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)
- אַחֲרוֹן achărôncoming aftertranslated this way 11 times of its 49 uses · Strong’s H314Adjective · Translated: last 11, end 9, come 5, Western 4Full study and all 47 verses →
Numbers 2:31 The total number of men in the camp of Dan is 157,600; they shall set out last, under their standards.”
2 Samuel 19:11 Then King David sent this message to Zadok and Abiathar, the priests: “Say to the elders of Judah, ‘Why should you be the last to restore the king to his palace, since the talk of all Israel has reached the king at his quarters?
- גָּוַע gâvaexpire perish, dietranslated this way 5 times of its 24 uses · Strong’s H1478Verb · Translated: die 6, perished 4, breathed his last 4, perish 3Full study and all 23 verses →
Genesis 25:8 And at a ripe old age he breathed his last and died, old and contented, and was gathered to his people.
Job 14:10 But a man dies and is laid low; he breathes his last, and where is he?
- הָיָה hâyâhfall out, come to pass, become, betranslated this way 4 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 →
- אַחֲרִית achărîthafter-part, endtranslated this way 4 times of its 61 uses · Strong’s H319Noun · Translated: end 21, future 6, latter 5, come 4Full study and all 60 verses →
Isaiah 2:2 In the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it.
Jeremiah 49:39 “Yet in the last days, I will restore Elam from captivity,” declares the LORD.
- אֶמֶשׁ emeshyesterdaytranslated this way 3 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s H570Adverb · Translated: last night 3, yesterday 1, night 1Full study and all 5 verses →
Genesis 19:34 The next day the older daughter said to the younger, “Look, I slept with my father last night. Let us get him drunk with wine again tonight so you can go in and sleep with him and we can preserve our father’s line.”
Genesis 31:29 I have power to do you great harm, but last night the God of your father said to me, ‘Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.’
- אָמַן âmanconfirm, supporttranslated this way 3 times of its 104 uses · Strong’s H539Verb · Translated: believe 24, faithful 14, trust 8, believed 7Full study and all 98 verses →
Deuteronomy 28:59 He will bring upon you and your descendants extraordinary disasters, severe and lasting plagues, and terrible and chronic sicknesses.
1 Samuel 25:28 Please forgive your servant’s offense, for the LORD will surely make a lasting dynasty for my lord, because he fights the LORD’s battles. May no evil be found in you as long as you live.
Greek words (New Testament)
- ἔσχατος éschatoslast, at the last, finallytranslated this way 42 times of its 52 uses · Strong’s G2078Adjective · Translated: last 42, final 5, ends 2, Finally 1Full study and all 47 verses →
Matthew 5:26 Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.
Mark 9:35 Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the last of all and the servant of all.”
- ἐκπνέω ekpnéōI breathe my last, expiretranslated this way 3 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s G1606Verb · Translated: breathed his last 3Full study and all 3 verses →
Mark 15:37 But Jesus let out a loud cry and breathed His last.
Luke 23:46 Then Jesus called out in a loud voice, “Father, into Your hands I commit My Spirit.” And when He had said this, He breathed His last.
- ὕστερον hýsteronlastly, afterwardtranslated this way 2 times of its 9 uses · Strong’s G5305Adverb · Translated: Later 5, last 2, after 1, Finally 1Full study and all 9 verses →
Matthew 22:27 And last of all, the woman died.
Luke 20:32 And last of all, the woman died.
- ποτέ potéat one time or othertranslated this way 2 times of its 22 uses · Strong’s G4218Particle · Translated: Once 6, formerly 4, last 2, time 2Full study and all 21 verses →
Romans 1:10 in my prayers at all times, asking that now at last by God’s will I may succeed in coming to you.
Philippians 4:10 Now I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it.
- πέρυσι pérysilast yeartranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G4070Adverb · Translated: Last year 2Full study and all 2 verses →
2 Corinthians 8:10 And this is my opinion about what is helpful for you in this matter: Last year you were the first not only to give, but even to have such a desire.
2 Corinthians 9:2 For I know your eagerness to help, and I have been boasting to the Macedonians that since last year you in Achaia were prepared to give . And your zeal has stirred most of them to do likewise .
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.