Word study

Long

27 Hebrew and 13 Greek words behind this English word

The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: long, longed, longing, longs. 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 “long” 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)

  • אֹרֶךְ ôreklengthtranslated this way 63 times of its 91 uses · Strong’s H753Noun  ·  Translated: long 62, length 17

    Genesis 6:15 And this is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high.

    Exodus 25:10 And they are to construct an ark of acacia wood, two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high.

    Full study and all 89 verses →
  • עַד adas far as, even to, up to, until, whiletranslated this way 42 times of its 1,111 uses · Strong’s H5704Preposition  ·  Translated: until 348, to 278, far 48, forever 43

    Exodus 10:3 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and told him, “This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, so that they may worship Me.

    Numbers 14:11 And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people treat Me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in Me, despite all the signs I have performed among them?

    Full study and all 1,024 verses →
  • יוֹם yômdaytranslated this way 32 times of its 2,013 uses · Strong’s H3117Noun  ·  Translated: day 1,009, days 524, today 141, time 72

    Genesis 26:8 When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down from the window and was surprised to see Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah.

    Full study and all 1,744 verses →
  • רַב rabmuch, many, greattranslated this way 20 times of its 445 uses · Strong’s H7227Adjective  ·  Translated: many 171, great 65, captain 24, long 14

    Genesis 21:34 And Abraham resided in the land of the Philistines for a long time.

    Exodus 2:23 After a long time, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned and cried out under their burden of slavery, and their cry for deliverance from bondage ascended to God.

    Full study and all 426 verses →
  • כֹּל kôlthe whole, alltranslated this way 20 times of its 5,107 uses · Strong’s H3605Noun  ·  Translated: all 1,589, and all 471, whole 223, every 196Full study and all 4,112 verses →
  • אָרַךְ ârakbe longtranslated this way 11 times of its 33 uses · Strong’s H748Verb  ·  Translated: prolong 6, live long 5, long 3, lingered 2

    Exodus 20:12 Honor your father and mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

    Deuteronomy 4:26 I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live long upon it, but will be utterly destroyed.

    Full study and all 33 verses →
  • חָיָה châyâhlivetranslated this way 9 times of its 265 uses · Strong’s H2421Verb  ·  Translated: live 96, lived 24, was 17, revive 14

    1 Samuel 10:24 Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see the one the LORD has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people.” And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!”

    2 Samuel 16:16 And David’s friend Hushai the Archite went to Absalom and said to him, “Long live the king! Long live the king!”

    Full study and all 254 verses →
  • אַמָּה ammâhell, cubittranslated this way 6 times of its 230 uses · Strong’s H520Noun  ·  Translated: cubits 174, cubit 32, two cubits 5, cubits long 5

    Exodus 27:14 Make the curtains on one side fifteen cubits long, with three posts and three bases,

    1 Kings 6:24 One wing of the first cherub was five cubits long, and the other wing was five cubits long as well. So the full wingspan was ten cubits.

    Full study and all 132 verses →
  • עוֹלָם ôlâmlong duration, antiquity, futuritytranslated this way 6 times of its 341 uses · Strong’s H5769Noun  ·  Translated: forever 114, everlasting 60, endures forever 43, permanent 38

    Joshua 24:2 And Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Long ago your fathers, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates and worshiped other gods.

    Psalm 77:5 I considered the days of old, the years long in the past.

    Full study and all 324 verses →
  • מָתַי mâthaywhen?translated this way 6 times of its 20 uses · Strong’s H4970Interrogative  ·  Translated: when 12, long 5, and when 1, how 1

    1 Samuel 1:14 and said to her, “How long will you be drunk? Put away your wine!”

    Psalm 6:3 My soul is deeply distressed. How long, O LORD, how long?

    Full study and all 19 verses →
  • אָז âzat that time, thentranslated this way 6 times of its 119 uses · Strong’s H227Adverb  ·  Translated: then 63, time 23, long ago 5, and 4

    Psalm 93:2 Your throne was established long ago; You are from all eternity.

    Isaiah 44:8 Do not tremble or fear. Have I not told you and declared it long ago? You are My witnesses! Is there any God but Me? There is no other Rock; I know not one.”

    Full study and all 116 verses →
  • רָחוֹק râchôqdistant, fartranslated this way 5 times of its 84 uses · Strong’s H7350Adjective  ·  Translated: far 20, afar 13, distant 11, distance 10

    2 Kings 19:25 Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it; in days of old I planned it. Now I have brought it to pass, that you should crush fortified cities into piles of rubble.

    Proverbs 7:19 For my husband is not at home; he has gone on a long journey.

    Full study and all 84 verses →
  • קֶדֶם qedemfront, east, aforetimetranslated this way 4 times of its 85 uses · Strong’s H6924Noun  ·  Translated: east 35, old 13, eastern 5, east side 4

    Nehemiah 12:46 For long ago, in the days of David and Asaph, there were directors for the singers and for the songs of praise and thanksgiving to God.

    Psalm 74:2 Remember Your congregation, which You purchased long ago and redeemed as the tribe of Your inheritance — Mount Zion, where You dwell.

    Full study and all 82 verses →
  • אָוָה âvâhincline, desiretranslated this way 4 times of its 25 uses · Strong’s H183Verb  ·  Translated: desires 4, desire 3, desired 3, crave 2

    2 Samuel 23:15 David longed for water and said, “Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem!”

    1 Chronicles 11:17 David longed for water and said, “Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem!”

    Full study and all 25 verses →
  • עוֹד ôda going round, continuancetranslated this way 3 times of its 390 uses · Strong’s H5750Adverb  ·  Translated: longer 80, still 63, again 52, more 38

    Genesis 8:22 As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall never cease.”

    Job 27:3 as long as my breath is still within me and the breath of God remains in my nostrils,

    Full study and all 372 verses →
  • חַי chayalive, livingtranslated this way 3 times of its 485 uses · Strong’s H2416Noun  ·  Translated: life 112, lives 62, living 59, live 53

    Deuteronomy 4:9 Only be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves, so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen, and so that they do not slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and grandchildren.

    1 Samuel 25:6 and say to him, ‘Long life to you, and peace to you and to your house and to all that belongs to you.

    Full study and all 441 verses →
  • רִאשׁוֹן rishônformer, first, chieftranslated this way 3 times of its 171 uses · Strong’s H7223Adjective  ·  Translated: first 85, beginning 10, former 9, former things 6

    Deuteronomy 4:32 Indeed, ask now from one end of the heavens to the other about the days that long preceded you, from the day that God created man on earth: Has anything as great as this ever happened or been reported?

    2 Samuel 20:18 Then the woman said, “Long ago they used to say, ‘Seek counsel at Abel,’ and that is how disputes were settled.

    Full study and all 164 verses →
  • כָּסַף kâsaphlongtranslated this way 2 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s H3700Verb  ·  Translated: long 1, desire 1, greedy 1, longs 1

    Genesis 31:30 Now you have gone off because you long for your father’s house. But why have you stolen my gods?”

    Psalm 84:2 My soul longs, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

    Full study and all 4 verses →
  • רָבָה râbâhbe, or become, much, many, greattranslated this way 2 times of its 219 uses · Strong’s H7235Verb  ·  Translated: multiply 39, multiplied 23, many 15, much 10

    Genesis 38:12 After a long time Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died. When Judah had finished mourning, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite went up to his sheepshearers at Timnah.

    1 Samuel 7:2 And from that day a long time passed, twenty years in all, as the ark remained at Kiriath-jearim. And all the house of Israel mournfully sought the LORD.

    Full study and all 207 verses →
  • מָשַׁךְ mâshakdraw, dragtranslated this way 2 times of its 34 uses · Strong’s H4900Verb  ·  Translated: draw 3, drew 2, tall 2, Extend 2

    Exodus 19:13 No hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot with arrows — whether man or beast, he must not live.’ Only when the ram’s horn sounds a long blast may they approach the mountain.”

    Joshua 6:5 And when there is a long blast of the ram’s horn and you hear its sound, have all the people give a mighty shout. Then the wall of the city will collapse and all your people will charge straight into the city.”

    Full study and all 34 verses →
  • אִם imiftranslated this way 2 times of its 889 uses · Strong’s H518Conjunction  ·  Translated: if 398, but if 95, or 64, and if 36

    Exodus 21:19 then the one who struck him shall go unpunished, as long as the other can get up and walk around outside with his staff. Nevertheless, he must compensate the man for his lost work and see that he is completely healed.

    Full study and all 761 verses →
  • חָמֵשׁ châmêshfivetranslated this way 2 times of its 249 uses · Strong’s H2568Number  ·  Translated: five 148, fifteenth 16, fifteen 14, 25 000 14

    Exodus 27:15 and the curtains on the other side fifteen cubits long, with three posts and three bases.

    Ezekiel 48:10 This will be the holy portion for the priests. It will be 25,000 cubits long on the north side, 10,000 cubits wide on the west side, 10,000 cubits wide on the east side, and 25,000 cubits long on the south side. In the center will be the sanctuary of the LORD.

    Full study and all 192 verses →
  • עַל alheighttranslated this way 2 times of its 4,859 uses · Strong’s H5921Preposition  ·  Translated: on 777, over 297, in 218, against 216Full study and all 3,996 verses →
  • חָכָה châkâhwait, awaittranslated this way 2 times of its 14 uses · Strong’s H2442Verb  ·  Translated: wait 6, waits 2

    Job 3:21 who long for death that does not come, and search for it like hidden treasure,

    Isaiah 30:18 Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore He rises to show you compassion, for the LORD is a just God. Blessed are all who wait for Him.

    Full study and all 13 verses →
  • שָׁאַף shâaphgasp, pant, pant after, long fortranslated this way 2 times of its 14 uses · Strong’s H7602Verb  ·  Translated: pant 4, trample 3

    Job 7:2 Like a slave he longs for shade; like a hireling he waits for his wages.

    Job 36:20 Do not long for the night, when people vanish from their homes.

    Full study and all 14 verses →
  • תָּאַב tâablongtranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s H8373Verb  ·  Translated: long 2

    Psalm 119:40 How I long for Your precepts! Revive me in Your righteousness.

    Psalm 119:174 I long for Your salvation, O LORD, and Your law is my delight.

    Full study and all 2 verses →
  • נָשָׂא nâsâlift, take, carrytranslated this way 2 times of its 642 uses · Strong’s H5375Verb  ·  Translated: bear 49, lift 45, lifted 41, carried 38Full study and all 601 verses →

Greek words (New Testament)

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.