Word study
Lot
4 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: lot, lots. 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 “lot” 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)
- גּוֹרָל gôrâllottranslated this way 56 times of its 74 uses · Strong’s H1486Noun · Translated: lot 35, lots 17, allotted 6, allotment 4Full study and all 66 verses →
Leviticus 16:8 After Aaron casts lots for the two goats, one for the LORD and the other for the scapegoat,
Numbers 26:55 Indeed, the land must be divided by lot; they shall receive their inheritance according to the names of the tribes of their fathers.
- לוֹט LôṭLottranslated this way 31 times of its 31 uses · Strong’s H3876Noun · Translated: Lot 29, Lot along 1, Lot's 1Full study and all 30 verses →
Genesis 11:27 This is the account of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot.
Deuteronomy 2:9 Then the LORD said to me, “Do not harass the Moabites or provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land, because I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as their possession.”
- חֵלֶק chêleqportion, tract, territorytranslated this way 4 times of its 64 uses · Strong’s H2506Noun · Translated: portion 35, share 9, portions 3, plot 3Full study and all 61 verses →
Psalm 50:18 When you see a thief, you befriend him, and throw in your lot with adulterers.
Ecclesiastes 3:22 I have seen that there is nothing better for a man than to enjoy his work, because that is his lot. For who can bring him to see what will come after him?
- נָפַל nâphalfall, lietranslated this way 3 times of its 432 uses · Strong’s H5307Verb · Translated: fall 104, fell 77, fallen 54, falls 21Full study and all 403 verses →
Joshua 13:6 All the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon to Misrephoth-maim — all the Sidonians — I Myself will drive out before the Israelites. Be sure to divide it by lot as an inheritance to Israel, as I have commanded you.
Job 6:27 You would even cast lots for an orphan and barter away your friend.
Greek words (New Testament)
- κλῆρος klērosa lot, portiontranslated this way 6 times of its 10 uses · Strong’s G2819Noun · Translated: lots 5, inheritance 2, lot 1, share 1Full study and all 9 verses →
Matthew 27:35 When they had crucified Him, they divided up His garments by casting lots.
Mark 15:24 And they crucified Him. They also divided His garments by casting lots to decide what each of them would take.
- Λώτ LṓtLottranslated this way 4 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s G3091Noun · Translated: Lot 3, Lot's 1Full study and all 4 verses →
Luke 17:28 It was the same in the days of Lot: People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building.
2 Peter 2:7 and if He rescued Lot, a righteous man distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless
- λαγχάνω lanchánōI obtain by lot, cast lotstranslated this way 2 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s G2975Verb · Translated: chosen by lot 1, cast lots 1, shared 1, received 1Full study and all 4 verses →
Luke 1:9 he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.
John 19:24 So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it. Instead, let us cast lots to see who will get it.” This was to fulfill the Scripture: “They divided My garments among them, and cast lots for My clothing.” So that is what the soldiers did.
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.
What the Bible says about lot: passages by topic →
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.