Word study

Lips

3 Hebrew and 2 Greek words behind this English word

The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “lips”. 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 “lips” 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)

  • שָׂפָה sâphâhlip, speech, edgetranslated this way 99 times of its 167 uses · Strong’s H8193Noun  ·  Translated: lips 98, speech 12, rim 10, edge 9

    Leviticus 5:4 Or if someone swears thoughtlessly with his lips to do anything good or evil— in whatever matter a man may rashly pronounce an oath— even if he is unaware of it, when he realizes it, he is guilty in the matter.

    Numbers 30:12 But if her husband nullifies them on the day he hears of them, then nothing that came from her lips, whether her vows or pledges, shall stand. Her husband has nullified them, and the LORD will absolve her.

    Full study and all 159 verses →
  • פֶּה pehmouthtranslated this way 10 times of its 423 uses · Strong’s H6310Noun  ·  Translated: mouth 207, mouths 43, command 38, lips 10

    Exodus 13:9 It shall be a sign for you on your hand and a reminder on your forehead that the Law of the LORD is to be on your lips. For with a mighty hand the LORD brought you out of Egypt.

    Deuteronomy 31:21 And when many troubles and afflictions have come upon them, this song will testify against them, because it will not be forgotten from the lips of their descendants. For I know their inclination, even before I bring them into the land that I swore to give them.”

    Full study and all 396 verses →
  • שָׂפָם sâphâmmoustachetranslated this way 2 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s H8222Noun  ·  Translated: lips 2, mouth 1, mustache 1, mouths 1

    Ezekiel 24:17 Groan quietly; do not mourn for the dead. Put on your turban and strap your sandals on your feet; do not cover your lips or eat the bread of mourners.”

    Ezekiel 24:22 Then you will do as I have done: You will not cover your lips or eat the bread of mourners.

    Full study and all 5 verses →

Greek words (New Testament)

  • χεῖλος cheîlosa lip, mouth, shoretranslated this way 6 times of its 7 uses · Strong’s G5491Noun  ·  Translated: lips 6, seashore 1

    Matthew 15:8 ‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me.

    Mark 7:6 Jesus answered them, “Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me.

    Full study and all 7 verses →
  • στόμα stómathe mouth, speechtranslated this way 4 times of its 59 uses · Strong’s G4750Noun  ·  Translated: mouth 35, mouths 12, lips 4, testimony 2

    Luke 4:22 All spoke well of Him and marveled at the gracious words that came from His lips. “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?” they asked.

    Acts 15:7 After much discussion, Peter got up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you that the Gentiles would hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe.

    Full study and all 58 verses →
How to study a word well
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
  4. 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.
  5. See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
  6. Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
  7. 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.