Word study

Loose

4 Hebrew and 2 Greek words behind this English word

The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: loose, loosed. 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 “loose” 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)

  • פָּרַע pâraact as leader, lead (?)translated this way 2 times of its 16 uses · Strong’s H6544Verb  ·  Translated: hang loose 2

    Leviticus 13:45 A diseased person must wear torn clothes and let his hair hang loose, and he must cover his mouth and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean!’

    Leviticus 21:10 The priest who is highest among his brothers, who has had the anointing oil poured on his head and has been ordained to wear the priestly garments, must not let his hair hang loose or tear his garments.

    Full study and all 15 verses →
  • מָסַס mâsasdissolve, melttranslated this way 1 time of its 20 uses · Strong’s H4549Verb  ·  Translated: melt 7, melted 3

    Judges 15:14 When Samson arrived in Lehi, the Philistines came out shouting against him. And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him. The ropes on his arms became like burnt flax, and the bonds broke loose from his hands.

    Full study and all 20 verses →
  • הָפַךְ hâphakturn, overturntranslated this way 1 time of its 93 uses · Strong’s H2015Verb  ·  Translated: turned 27, turn 7, changed 4, overthrew 3

    Job 30:15 Terrors are turned loose against me; they drive away my dignity as by the wind, and my prosperity has passed like a cloud.

    Full study and all 91 verses →
  • פָּתַח pâthachopentranslated this way 1 time of its 141 uses · Strong’s H6605Verb  ·  Translated: open 50, opened 40, engrave 4, opens 3

    Isaiah 5:27 None of them grows weary or stumbles; no one slumbers or sleeps. No belt is loose and no sandal strap is broken.

    Full study and all 133 verses →

Greek words (New Testament)

  • λύω lýōI loose, untie, release, destroytranslated this way 4 times of its 42 uses · Strong’s G3089Verb  ·  Translated: untie 8, released 7, untying 4, broken 3

    Matthew 16:19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

    Matthew 18:18 Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

    Full study and all 39 verses →
  • ἀνίημι aníēmiI let go, loosen, release, give up, neglecttranslated this way 1 time of its 4 uses · Strong’s G447Verb  ·  Translated: came loose 1, loosened 1, Give 1, leave 1

    Acts 16:26 Suddenly a strong earthquake shook the foundations of the prison. At once all the doors flew open and everyone’s chains came loose.

    Full study and all 4 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.