Word study
Lay
16 Hebrew and 4 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: lay, laying, lays. 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 “lay” 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)
- שָׁכַב shâkablie downtranslated this way 23 times of its 207 uses · Strong’s H7901Verb · Translated: lie 46, rested 35, lies 25, lay 21Full study and all 190 verses →
Genesis 19:33 So that night they got their father drunk with wine, and the firstborn went in and slept with her father; he was not aware when she lay down or when she got up.
Deuteronomy 22:29 then the man who lay with her must pay the young woman’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she must become his wife because he has violated her. He must not divorce her as long as he lives.
- סָמַךְ sâmaklean, lay, rest, supporttranslated this way 17 times of its 48 uses · Strong’s H5564Verb · Translated: lay 17, laid 6, Sustain 3, sustained 2Full study and all 47 verses →
Exodus 29:10 You are to present the bull at the front of the Tent of Meeting, and Aaron and his sons are to lay their hands on its head.
Leviticus 1:4 He is to lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, so it can be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him.
- שָׁלַח shâlachsendtranslated this way 10 times of its 829 uses · Strong’s H7971Verb · Translated: sent 334, send 126, go 43, sending 19Full study and all 783 verses →
Genesis 22:12 “Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him,” said the angel, “for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me.”
Exodus 24:11 But God did not lay His hand on the nobles of Israel; they saw Him, and they ate and drank.
- שׂוּם sûmput, place, settranslated this way 7 times of its 560 uses · Strong’s H7760Verb · Translated: put 84, set 71, make 45, made 39Full study and all 533 verses →
Deuteronomy 7:15 And the LORD will remove from you all sickness. He will not lay upon you any of the terrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but He will inflict them on all who hate you.
- נָתַן nâthangive, put, settranslated this way 5 times of its 1,957 uses · Strong’s H5414Verb · Translated: give 326, gave 206, given 187, put 135Full study and all 1,785 verses →
Exodus 7:4 Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay My hand on Egypt, and by mighty acts of judgment I will bring the divisions of My people the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.
- יָסַד yâsadestablish, found, fixtranslated this way 5 times of its 43 uses · Strong’s H3245Verb · Translated: founded 6, laid 4, laid the foundations 3, established 3Full study and all 42 verses →
Joshua 6:26 At that time Joshua invoked this solemn oath: “Cursed before the LORD is the man who rises up and rebuilds this city, Jericho; at the cost of his firstborn he will lay its foundations; at the cost of his youngest he will set up its gates.”
1 Kings 5:17 And the king commanded them to quarry large, costly stones to lay the foundation of the temple with dressed stones.
- נוּחַ nûachresttranslated this way 4 times of its 140 uses · Strong’s H5117Verb · Translated: rest 20, leave 10, placed 9, set 7Full study and all 139 verses →
Deuteronomy 14:28 At the end of every three years, bring a tenth of all your produce for that year and lay it up within your gates.
Judges 6:20 And the angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread, lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And Gideon did so.
- אָרַב ârablie in waittranslated this way 4 times of its 41 uses · Strong’s H693Verb · Translated: ambush 9, lie in wait 9, men in ambush 4, lay in wait 4Full study and all 39 verses →
Judges 9:34 So Abimelech and all his troops set out by night and lay in wait against Shechem in four companies.
1 Samuel 15:5 Saul came to the city of Amalek and lay in wait in the valley.
- עַל alupon, over, on account of, above, to, againsttranslated this way 4 times of its 88 uses · Strong’s H5922Preposition · Translated: to 12, on 12, against 5, lay 4Full study and all 76 verses →
Daniel 2:28 But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the latter days. Your dream and the visions that came into your mind as you lay on your bed were these:
Daniel 2:29 As you lay on your bed, O king, your thoughts turned to the future, and the Revealer of Mysteries made known to you what will happen.
- רָבַץ râbatsstretch oneself out, lie down, lie stretched outtranslated this way 3 times of its 29 uses · Strong’s H7257Verb · Translated: lie 13, lay 3, lies 2, rest 2Full study and all 29 verses →
Genesis 29:2 He looked and saw a well in the field, and near it lay three flocks of sheep, because the sheep were watered from this well. And a large stone covered the mouth of the well.
Numbers 22:27 When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she lay down under Balaam, and he became furious and beat her with his staff.
- הָיָה hâyâhfall out, come to pass, become, betranslated this way 3 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 →
Genesis 37:27 Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay a hand on him; for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And they agreed.
- שָׁמֵם shâmêmbe desoleted, appalledtranslated this way 3 times of its 85 uses · Strong’s H8074Verb · Translated: appalled 17, desolate 10, deserted 5, desolation 4Full study and all 81 verses →
Leviticus 26:31 I will reduce your cities to rubble and lay waste your sanctuaries, and I will refuse to smell the pleasing aroma of your sacrifices.
Ezekiel 30:14 I will lay waste Pathros, set fire to Zoan, and execute judgment on Thebes.
- צוּר tsûrconfine, bind, besiegetranslated this way 3 times of its 38 uses · Strong’s H6696Verb · Translated: besieged 10, besiege 7, besieging 4, lay siege 3Full study and all 38 verses →
Deuteronomy 20:12 But if they refuse to make peace with you and wage war against you, lay siege to that city.
Isaiah 21:2 A dire vision is declared to me: “The traitor still betrays, and the destroyer still destroys. Go up, O Elam! Lay siege, O Media! I will put an end to all her groaning.”
- שִׁית shîthput, settranslated this way 3 times of its 80 uses · Strong’s H7896Verb · Translated: set 13, make 7, put 6, placed 5Full study and all 78 verses →
Job 9:33 Nor is there a mediator between us, to lay his hand upon us both.
Psalm 9:20 Lay terror upon them, O LORD; let the nations know they are but men. Selah
- תָּמַךְ tâmakgrasp, support, attaintranslated this way 2 times of its 21 uses · Strong’s H8551Verb · Translated: uphold 3, held 2, lay hold 2, wields 2Full study and all 20 verses →
Proverbs 3:18 She is a tree of life to those who embrace her, and those who lay hold of her are blessed.
Proverbs 4:4 he taught me and said, “Let your heart lay hold of my words; keep my commands and you will live.
- שָׁפֵל shâphêlbe or become low, be abasedtranslated this way 2 times of its 30 uses · Strong’s H8213Verb · Translated: humbled 5, humbles 2, bring 2, bring him low 2Full study and all 28 verses →
Isaiah 13:11 I will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their iniquity. I will end the haughtiness of the arrogant and lay low the pride of the ruthless.
Isaiah 26:5 For He has humbled those who dwell on high; He lays the lofty city low. He brings it down to the ground; He casts it into the dust.
Greek words (New Testament)
- τίθημι títhēmiI put, placetranslated this way 14 times of its 98 uses · Strong’s G5087Verb · Translated: put 18, placed 12, lay 12, laid 10Full study and all 94 verses →
Luke 14:29 Otherwise, if he lays the foundation and is unable to finish the work, everyone who sees it will ridicule him,
John 10:11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
- ἐπιτίθημι epitíthēmiI put, place upon, lay ontranslated this way 7 times of its 37 uses · Strong’s G2007Verb · Translated: laid 6, place 5, placed 5, lay 4Full study and all 36 verses →
Matthew 23:4 They tie up heavy, burdensome loads and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
Mark 6:5 So He could not perform any miracles there, except to lay His hands on a few of the sick and heal them.
- ἐπίθεσις epíthesislaying ontranslated this way 4 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s G1936Noun · Translated: laying 4Full study and all 4 verses →
Acts 8:18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money.
1 Timothy 4:14 Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given you through the prophecy spoken over you at the laying on of the hands of the elders.
- κλίνω klínōI rest, recline, make to yieldtranslated this way 2 times of its 7 uses · Strong’s G2827Verb · Translated: lay 2, neared its end 1, bowed 1, almost 1Full study and all 7 verses →
Matthew 8:20 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.”
Luke 9:58 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.”
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.