Word study
Lofty
10 Hebrew and 1 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “lofty”. 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 “lofty” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- רוּם rûmbe high, exalted, risetranslated this way 4 times of its 185 uses · Strong’s H7311Verb · Translated: exalted 23, exalt 18, lift 14, raised 10Full study and all 180 verses →
Job 22:12 Is not God as high as the heavens? Look at the highest stars, how lofty they are!
Isaiah 2:12 For the Day of the LORD of Hosts will come against all the proud and lofty, against all that is exalted— it will be humbled—
- רָמָה râmâhheight, high-placetranslated this way 4 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s H7413Noun · Translated: lofty shrines 3, hill 1, lofty shrine 1Full study and all 5 verses →
Ezekiel 16:24 you built yourself a mound and made yourself a lofty shrine in every public square.
Ezekiel 16:25 At the head of every street you built your lofty shrines and degraded your beauty. With increasing promiscuity, you spread your legs to all who passed by.
- מָרוֹם mârômheighttranslated this way 3 times of its 53 uses · Strong’s H4791Noun · Translated: high 20, heights 12, lofty 3, heaven 3Full study and all 51 verses →
Psalm 10:5 He is secure in his ways at all times; Your lofty judgments are far from him; he sneers at all his foes.
Jeremiah 51:53 Even if Babylon ascends to the heavens and fortifies her lofty stronghold, the destroyers I send will come against her,” declares the LORD.
- 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 →
Psalm 139:6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
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.
- זְבוּל zebûlelevation, height, lofty abodetranslated this way 1 time of its 5 uses · Strong’s H2073Noun · Translated: exalted 2, far from their lofty abode 1, habitation 1, places 1Full study and all 5 verses →
Psalm 49:14 Like sheep they are destined for Sheol. Death will be their shepherd. The upright will rule them in the morning, and their form will decay in Sheol, far from their lofty abode.
- שְׂאֵת seêthexaltation, dignitytranslated this way 1 time of its 14 uses · Strong’s H7613Noun · Translated: swelling 7Full study and all 13 verses →
Psalm 62:4 They fully intend to cast him down from his lofty perch; they delight in lies; with their mouths they bless, but inwardly they curse. Selah
- פָּלָא pâlâbe surpassing, extraordinarytranslated this way 1 time of its 70 uses · Strong’s H6381Verb · Translated: wonders 31, difficult 5, wonderful 3, fulfill 2Full study and all 68 verses →
Psalm 131:1 A song of ascents. Of David. My heart is not proud, O LORD, my eyes are not haughty. I do not aspire to great things or matters too lofty for me.
- גָּבֹהַּ gâbôahhhigh, exaltedtranslated this way 1 time of its 40 uses · Strong’s H1364Adjective · Translated: high 20, proud 3, haughty 2, longer 2Full study and all 36 verses →
Isaiah 10:33 Behold, the Lord GOD of Hosts will lop off the branches with terrifying power. The tall trees will be cut down, the lofty ones will be felled.
- נָשָׂא nâsâlift, take, carrytranslated this way 1 time of its 642 uses · Strong’s H5375Verb · Translated: bear 49, lift 45, lifted 41, carried 38Full study and all 601 verses →
- תָּלַל tâlalmock, deceive, trifle withtranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s H8524Adjective · Translated: lofty 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Ezekiel 17:22 This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I will take a shoot from the lofty top of the cedar, and I will set it out. I will pluck a tender sprig from its topmost shoots, and I will plant it on a high and lofty mountain.
Greek words (New Testament)
- ὑπέρογκος hypéronkosimmoderate, boastfultranslated this way 1 time of its 2 uses · Strong’s G5246Adjective · Translated: lofty 1, arrogance 1Full study and all 2 verses →
2 Peter 2:18 With lofty but empty words, they appeal to the sensual passions of the flesh and entice those who are just escaping from others who live in error.
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.