Word study
Lower
7 Hebrew and 2 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: lower, lowered. 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 “lower” 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)
- תַּחְתּוֹן tachtônlower, lowesttranslated this way 11 times of its 13 uses · Strong’s H8481Adjective · Translated: lower 11, bottom 1, lowest story 1Full study and all 13 verses →
Joshua 16:3 Then it descended westward to the border of the Japhletites as far as the border of Lower Beth-horon and on to Gezer, and it ended at the Sea.
1 Kings 9:17 So Solomon rebuilt Gezer, Lower Beth-horon,
- תַּחְתִּי tachtîlower, lowesttranslated this way 4 times of its 19 uses · Strong’s H8482Noun · Translated: depths 9, lower 4, below 3, lowest 2Full study and all 19 verses →
Genesis 6:16 You are to make a roof for the ark, finish its walls a cubit from the top, place a door in the side of the ark, and build lower, middle, and upper decks.
Joshua 15:19 “Give me a blessing,” she answered. “Since you have given me land in the Negev, give me springs of water as well.” So Caleb gave her both the upper and lower springs.
- יָרַד yâradcome or go down, descendtranslated this way 4 times of its 372 uses · Strong’s H3381Verb · Translated: went 56, go 55, come 35, came 26Full study and all 341 verses →
Genesis 24:18 “Drink, my lord,” she replied, and she quickly lowered her jar to her hands and gave him a drink.
1 Samuel 19:12 So Michal lowered David from the window, and he ran away and escaped.
- שׁוּל shûlskirttranslated this way 3 times of its 10 uses · Strong’s H7757Noun · Translated: lower hem 3, hem 2, skirts 2, train of his robe 1Full study and all 10 verses →
Exodus 28:34 alternating the gold bells and pomegranates around the lower hem of the robe.
Exodus 39:24 They made pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and finely spun linen on the lower hem of the robe.
- מַטָּה maṭṭâhdownwardstranslated this way 2 times of its 18 uses · Strong’s H4295Adverb · Translated: bottom 5, below 3, lower 2, down 2Full study and all 17 verses →
Deuteronomy 28:43 The foreigner living among you will rise higher and higher above you, while you sink down lower and lower.
- שָׁלַח shâlachsendtranslated this way 2 times of its 829 uses · Strong’s H7971Verb · Translated: sent 334, send 126, go 43, sending 19Full study and all 783 verses →
- רָפָה râphâhsink, relaxtranslated this way 2 times of its 44 uses · Strong’s H7503Verb · Translated: leave 4, abandon 3, go 3, Withdraw 2Full study and all 43 verses →
Ezekiel 1:24 When the creatures moved, I heard the sound of their wings like the roar of many waters, like the voice of the Almighty, like the tumult of an army. When they stood still, they lowered their wings.
Ezekiel 1:25 And there came a voice from above the expanse over their heads as they stood still with their wings lowered.
Greek words (New Testament)
- χαλάω chaláōI let down, lowertranslated this way 4 times of its 7 uses · Strong’s G5465Verb · Translated: lowered 4, let down 1, i will let down 1, they let 1Full study and all 7 verses →
Mark 2:4 Since they were unable to get to Jesus through the crowd, they uncovered the roof above Him, made an opening, and lowered the paralytic on his mat.
Acts 9:25 One night, however, his disciples took him and lowered him in a basket through a window in the wall.
- ἐλαττόω elattóōI make less, make inferiortranslated this way 2 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s G1642Verb · Translated: decrease 1, made him a little lower 1, made a little lower 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Hebrews 2:7 You made him a little lower than the angels; You crowned him with glory and honor
Hebrews 2:9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because He suffered death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.
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.