Word study
Message
6 Hebrew and 6 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “message”. 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 “message” 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)
- דָּבָר dâbârspeech, wordtranslated this way 42 times of its 1,244 uses · Strong’s H1697Noun · Translated: word 342, words 299, acts 51, Chronicles 42Full study and all 1,120 verses →
Numbers 23:5 Then the LORD put a message in Balaam’s mouth, saying, “Return to Balak and give him this message.”
Deuteronomy 18:20 But if any prophet dares to speak a message in My name that I have not commanded him to speak, or to speak in the name of other gods, that prophet must be put to death.”
- אָמַר âmarutter, saytranslated this way 12 times of its 4,555 uses · Strong’s H559Verb · Translated: said 1,531, says 576, say 352, replied 341Full study and all 3,827 verses →
- אֵל êlmotion totranslated this way 7 times of its 4,199 uses · Strong’s H413Preposition · Translated: to 1,941, to me 285, to you 149, to him 137Full study and all 3,455 verses →
- שְׁמוּעָה shemûâhreporttranslated this way 4 times of its 27 uses · Strong’s H8052Noun · Translated: report 7, news 7, rumor 6, message 4Full study and all 24 verses →
Isaiah 28:9 Whom is He trying to teach? To whom is He explaining His message? To infants just weaned from milk? To babies removed from the breast?
Jeremiah 49:14 I have heard a message from the LORD; an envoy has been sent to the nations: “Assemble yourselves to march against her! Rise up for battle!”
- דָבַר dâbarspeaktranslated this way 3 times of its 1,113 uses · Strong’s H1696Verb · Translated: speak 209, said 157, spoken 142, spoke 110Full study and all 1,025 verses →
Genesis 50:17 ‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I beg you, please forgive the transgression and sin of your brothers, for they did you wrong.’ So now, Joseph, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” When their message came to him, Joseph wept.
Numbers 23:5 Then the LORD put a message in Balaam’s mouth, saying, “Return to Balak and give him this message.”
- 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 →
2 Samuel 19:11 Then King David sent this message to Zadok and Abiathar, the priests: “Say to the elders of Judah, ‘Why should you be the last to restore the king to his palace, since the talk of all Israel has reached the king at his quarters?
Greek words (New Testament)
- λόγος lógosa word, speech, divine utterance, analogytranslated this way 32 times of its 311 uses · Strong’s G3056Noun · Translated: word 142, words 52, message 32, account 10Full study and all 298 verses →
Matthew 13:19 When anyone hears the message of the kingdom but does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path.
Mark 8:32 He spoke this message quite frankly, and Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him.
- ῥῆμα rhēmaa thing spokentranslated this way 6 times of its 60 uses · Strong’s G4487Noun · Translated: words 19, word 17, message 6, statement 4Full study and all 58 verses →
Luke 2:17 After they had seen the Child, they spread the message they had received about Him.
Acts 5:20 “Go, stand in the temple courts and tell the people the full message of this new life.”
- λέγω légōI say, speaktranslated this way 4 times of its 993 uses · Strong’s G3004Verb · Translated: said 216, tell 164, say 105, saying 86Full study and all 936 verses →
Matthew 10:7 As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’
- λαλέω laléōI speak, saytranslated this way 3 times of its 291 uses · Strong’s G2980Verb · Translated: speak 69, spoke 36, speaking 31, spoken 27Full study and all 268 verses →
John 18:21 Why are you asking Me? Ask those who heard My message. Surely they know what I said.”
Acts 16:14 Among those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.
- ἀκοή akoḗhearing, faculty of hearing, eartranslated this way 2 times of its 23 uses · Strong’s G189Noun · Translated: hearing 6, ears 4, heard 3, rumors 2Full study and all 21 verses →
John 12:38 This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet: “Lord, who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
Romans 10:16 But not all of them welcomed the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?”
- ἀγγελία angelíaa messagetranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G31Noun · Translated: message 2Full study and all 2 verses →
1 John 1:5 And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you: God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.
1 John 3:11 This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another.
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.