Word study
Learn
5 Hebrew and 7 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: learned, learn, learning. 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 “learn” 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)
- יָדַע yâdaknowtranslated this way 18 times of its 914 uses · Strong’s H3045Verb · Translated: know 453, known 53, knows 48, knew 38Full study and all 863 verses →
Genesis 9:24 When Noah awoke from his drunkenness and learned what his youngest son had done to him,
Leviticus 5:1 “If someone sins by failing to testify when he hears a public charge about something he has witnessed, whether he has seen it or learned of it, he shall bear the iniquity.
- לָמַד lâmadexercise in, learntranslated this way 18 times of its 82 uses · Strong’s H3925Verb · Translated: teach 29, learn 14, taught 13, trains 3Full study and all 78 verses →
Deuteronomy 4:10 The day you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, the LORD said to me, “Gather the people before Me to hear My words, so that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach them to their children.”
Psalm 119:7 I will praise You with an upright heart when I learn Your righteous judgments.
- שָׁמַע shâmaheartranslated this way 7 times of its 1,132 uses · Strong’s H8085Verb · Translated: heard 311, hear 253, listen 218, obey 60Full study and all 1,063 verses →
- רָאָה rââhseetranslated this way 2 times of its 1,266 uses · Strong’s H7200Verb · Translated: see 354, saw 285, seen 124, look 45Full study and all 1,181 verses →
Genesis 28:6 Now Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him to Paddan-aram to take a wife there, commanding him, “Do not marry a Canaanite woman,”
Genesis 42:1 When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why are you staring at one another?”
- נָגַד nâgadbe conspicuoustranslated this way 2 times of its 360 uses · Strong’s H5046Verb · Translated: tell 83, told 67, reported 31, declare 18Full study and all 339 verses →
1 Samuel 27:4 And when Saul learned that David had fled to Gath, he no longer searched for him.
Esther 3:6 And when he learned the identity of Mordecai’s people, he scorned the notion of laying hands on Mordecai alone. Instead, he sought to destroy all of Mordecai’s people, the Jews, throughout the kingdom of Xerxes.
Greek words (New Testament)
- μανθάνω manthánōI learn, ascertaintranslated this way 21 times of its 25 uses · Strong’s G3129Verb · Translated: learn 10, learned 9Full study and all 24 verses →
Matthew 9:13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Mark 13:28 Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its branches become tender and sprout leaves, you know that summer is near.
- γινώσκω ginṓskōI come to know, learn, realizetranslated this way 6 times of its 220 uses · Strong’s G1097Verb · Translated: know 95, understand 19, known 15, knew 12Full study and all 205 verses →
John 12:9 Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews learned that Jesus was there. And they came not only because of Him, but also to see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead.
Acts 9:24 but Saul learned of their plot. Day and night they watched the city gates in order to kill him.
- ἐπιγινώσκω epiginṓskōI come to know, discern, recognizetranslated this way 5 times of its 44 uses · Strong’s G1921Verb · Translated: recognized 6, recognize 4, know 4, realized 3Full study and all 40 verses →
Luke 7:37 When a sinful woman from that town learned that Jesus was dining there, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume.
Acts 9:30 When the brothers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.
- ἀκριβόω akribóōI examine carefully, inquire strictlytranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G198Verb · Translated: learned 2Full study and all 2 verses →
Matthew 2:7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and learned from them the exact time the star had appeared.
Matthew 2:16 When Herod saw that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was filled with rage. Sending orders, he put to death all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, according to the time he had learned from the Magi.
- ἀκούω akoúōI hear, listentranslated this way 2 times of its 422 uses · Strong’s G191Verb · Translated: heard 192, hear 98, listen 37, hearing 21Full study and all 394 verses →
Matthew 2:22 But when he learned that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee,
- συνετός synetósintelligent, prudent, wisetranslated this way 2 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s G4908Adjective · Translated: learned 2, intelligence 1, intelligent 1Full study and all 4 verses →
Matthew 11:25 At that time Jesus declared, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.
Luke 10:21 At that time Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and declared, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was well-pleasing in Your sight.
- γράμμα grámmaa letter, writings, learningtranslated this way 2 times of its 14 uses · Strong’s G1121Noun · Translated: letters 3, written code 3, bill 2, learning 2Full study and all 13 verses →
John 7:15 The Jews were amazed and asked, “How did this man attain such learning without having studied?”
Acts 26:24 At this stage of Paul’s defense, Festus exclaimed in a loud voice, “You are insane, Paul! Your great learning is driving you to madness!”
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.