Word study
Marriage
4 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “marriage”. 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 “marriage” 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)
- אִשָּׁה ishshâhwoman, wife, femaletranslated this way 14 times of its 711 uses · Strong’s H802Noun · Translated: wife 251, woman 172, wives 92, women 88Full study and all 638 verses →
Genesis 34:21 “These men are at peace with us. Let them live and trade in our land; indeed, it is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters in marriage and give our daughters to them.
Deuteronomy 22:16 and say to the elders, “I gave my daughter in marriage to this man, but he has come to hate her.
- נָתַן nâthangive, put, settranslated this way 4 times of its 1,957 uses · Strong’s H5414Verb · Translated: give 326, gave 206, given 187, put 135Full study and all 1,785 verses →
Genesis 29:26 Laban replied, “It is not our custom here to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older.
- אָרַשׂ ârasbetrothtranslated this way 4 times of its 11 uses · Strong’s H781Verb · Translated: pledged in marriage 4, betrothed 3, betroth 3, become pledged 1Full study and all 10 verses →
Exodus 22:16 If a man seduces a virgin who is not pledged in marriage and sleeps with her, he must pay the full dowry for her to be his wife.
Deuteronomy 22:23 If there is a virgin pledged in marriage to a man, and another man encounters her in the city and sleeps with her,
- כָּנָף kânâphwing, extremitytranslated this way 2 times of its 96 uses · Strong’s H3671Noun · Translated: wings 53, wing 12, corners 4, corner 3Full study and all 79 verses →
Deuteronomy 22:30 A man is not to marry his father’s wife, so that he will not dishonor his father’s marriage bed.
Deuteronomy 27:20 ‘Cursed is he who sleeps with his father’s wife, for he has violated his father’s marriage bed.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
Greek words (New Testament)
- γαμίσκω gamískōI give in marriagetranslated this way 6 times of its 7 uses · Strong’s G1061Verb · Translated: given in marriage 5, giving in marriage 1, marry 1Full study and all 7 verses →
Matthew 22:30 In the resurrection, people will neither marry nor be given in marriage. Instead, they will be like the angels in heaven.
Mark 12:25 When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage. Instead, they will be like the angels in heaven.
- μνηστεύω mnēsteúōI ask in marriagetranslated this way 3 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s G3423Verb · Translated: pledged in marriage 2, pledged to him in marriage 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Matthew 1:18 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged in marriage to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.
Luke 1:27 to a virgin pledged in marriage to a man named Joseph, who was of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.
- γάμος gámosa marriage, wedding, wedding-feasttranslated this way 3 times of its 16 uses · Strong’s G1062Noun · Translated: wedding banquet 6, wedding 4, marriage 3, banquet 2Full study and all 16 verses →
Hebrews 13:4 Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.
Revelation 19:7 Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him the glory. For the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready.
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 marriage: 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.