Word study
Lift
11 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: lifted, lift, lifts, lifting. 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 “lift” 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)
- נָשָׂא nâsâlift, take, carrytranslated this way 94 times of its 642 uses · Strong’s H5375Verb · Translated: bear 49, lift 45, lifted 41, carried 38Full study and all 601 verses →
Genesis 7:17 For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and the waters rose and lifted the ark high above the earth.
Leviticus 9:22 Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them. And having made the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offering, he stepped down.
- רוּם rûmbe high, exalted, risetranslated this way 26 times of its 185 uses · Strong’s H7311Verb · Translated: exalted 23, exalt 18, lift 14, raised 10Full study and all 180 verses →
Genesis 41:44 And Pharaoh declared to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, but without your permission, no one in all the land of Egypt shall lift his hand or foot.”
Exodus 14:16 And as for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.
- עָלָה âlâhgo up, ascend, climbtranslated this way 8 times of its 873 uses · Strong’s H5927Verb · Translated: go 118, went 107, brought 56, come 42Full study and all 807 verses →
Exodus 40:36 Whenever the cloud was lifted from above the tabernacle, the Israelites would set out through all the stages of their journey.
Numbers 9:17 Whenever the cloud was lifted from above the Tent, the Israelites would set out, and wherever the cloud settled, there the Israelites would camp.
- שָׁלַח shâlachsendtranslated this way 4 times of its 829 uses · Strong’s H7971Verb · Translated: sent 334, send 126, go 43, sending 19Full study and all 783 verses →
1 Samuel 22:17 Then the king ordered the guards at his side, “Turn and kill the priests of the LORD, because they too sided with David. For they knew he was fleeing, but they did not tell me.” But the king’s servants would not lift a hand to strike the priests of the LORD.
2 Samuel 1:14 So David asked him, “Why were you not afraid to lift your hand to destroy the LORD’s anointed?”
- סוּר sûrturn asidetranslated this way 3 times of its 294 uses · Strong’s H5493Verb · Translated: removed 46, remove 38, turn away 23, turn aside 16Full study and all 277 verses →
Numbers 12:10 As the cloud lifted from above the Tent, suddenly Miriam became leprous, white as snow. Aaron turned toward her, saw that she was leprous,
1 Samuel 6:3 They replied, “If you return the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it away empty, but by all means return it to Him with a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and you will understand why His hand has not been lifted from you.”
- נָתַן nâthangive, put, settranslated this way 3 times of its 1,957 uses · Strong’s H5414Verb · Translated: give 326, gave 206, given 187, put 135Full study and all 1,785 verses →
- שָׂגַב sâgabbetranslated this way 2 times of its 20 uses · Strong’s H7682Verb · Translated: exalted 6, protect 4, high 2, lofty 2Full study and all 20 verses →
Job 5:11 He sets the lowly on high, so that mourners are lifted to safety.
Psalm 107:41 But He lifts the needy from affliction and increases their families like flocks.
- נָטַל nâṭallift, beartranslated this way 2 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s H5190Verb · Translated: offering 1, lifts 1, lifted 1, laid 1Full study and all 4 verses →
Isaiah 40:15 Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are considered a speck of dust on the scales; He lifts up the islands like fine dust.
Isaiah 63:9 In all their distress, He too was afflicted, and the Angel of His Presence saved them. In His love and compassion He redeemed them; He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.
- סְלִק seliqcome uptranslated this way 2 times of its 8 uses · Strong’s H5559Verb · Translated: came 4, turned 1, carried 1, lift 1Full study and all 7 verses →
Daniel 6:23 The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den, and when Daniel was lifted out of the den, no wounds whatsoever were found on him, because he had trusted in his God.
- קוּם qûmarise, stand up, standtranslated this way 2 times of its 594 uses · Strong’s H6965Verb · Translated: rise 68, got 61, set 44, Get 42Full study and all 570 verses →
Deuteronomy 22:4 If you see your brother’s donkey or ox fallen on the road, you must not ignore it; you must help him lift it up.
- זָקַף zâqaphraise uptranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s H2210Verb · Translated: lifts 2Full study and all 2 verses →
Psalm 145:14 The LORD upholds all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.
Psalm 146:8 the LORD opens the eyes of the blind, the LORD lifts those who are weighed down, the LORD loves the righteous.
Greek words (New Testament)
- ἐπαίρω epaírōI raise, lift uptranslated this way 10 times of its 19 uses · Strong’s G1869Verb · Translated: lifted 6, looked 3, lift 3Full study and all 19 verses →
Luke 18:13 But the tax collector stood at a distance, unwilling even to lift up his eyes to heaven. Instead, he beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’
John 4:35 Do you not say, ‘There are still four months until the harvest’? I tell you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are ripe for harvest.
- ὑψόω hypsóōI lift up, exalttranslated this way 7 times of its 20 uses · Strong’s G5312Verb · Translated: lifted 7, exalted 6, exalts 3, exalt 3Full study and all 16 verses →
Matthew 11:23 And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day.
Luke 10:15 And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades!
- αἴρω aírōI raise, lift uptranslated this way 7 times of its 100 uses · Strong’s G142Verb · Translated: take 15, picked 10, pick 8, taken away 7Full study and all 96 verses →
Matthew 4:6 “If You are the Son of God,” he said, “throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He will command His angels concerning You, and they will lift You up in their hands, so that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’”
Mark 11:23 “Truly I tell you that if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and has no doubt in his heart but believes that it will happen, it will be done for him.
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.