Word study
Money
1 Hebrew and 9 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “money”. 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 “money” or one of its forms.
Compare the Greek words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- כֶּסֶף kesephsilver, moneytranslated this way 61 times of its 386 uses · Strong’s H3701Noun · Translated: silver 293, money 58, price 8, like silver 4Full study and all 337 verses →
Genesis 17:23 On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or purchased with his money— every male among the members of Abraham’s household— and he circumcised them, just as God had told him.
Exodus 22:7 If a man gives his neighbor money or goods for safekeeping and they are stolen from the neighbor’s house, the thief, if caught, must pay back double.
Greek words (New Testament)
- ἀργύριον argýrionsilver, a shekel, money in generaltranslated this way 9 times of its 20 uses · Strong’s G694Noun · Translated: money 8, silver 6, pieces of silver 4, sum of money 1Full study and all 20 verses →
Matthew 25:18 But the servant who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master’s money.
Mark 14:11 They were delighted to hear this, and they promised to give him money. So Judas began to look for an opportunity to betray Jesus.
- κολλυβιστής kollybistḗsa money-changertranslated this way 3 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s G2855Noun · Translated: money changers 3Full study and all 3 verses →
Matthew 21:12 Then Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those selling doves.
Mark 11:15 When they arrived in Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began to drive out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those selling doves.
- χρῆμα chrēmamoney, richestranslated this way 3 times of its 6 uses · Strong’s G5536Noun · Translated: money 3, rich 2, bribe 1Full study and all 6 verses →
Acts 4:37 sold a field he owned, brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.
Acts 8:18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money.
- μαμμωνᾶς mammōnâsriches, money, possessionstranslated this way 2 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s G3126Noun · Translated: money 2, wealth 2Full study and all 4 verses →
Matthew 6:24 No one can serve two masters: Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
Luke 16:13 No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
- χαλκός chalkóscopper, brass, moneytranslated this way 2 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s G5475Noun · Translated: money 2, copper 1, gong 1, bronze 1Full study and all 5 verses →
Mark 6:8 He instructed them to take nothing but a staff for the journey — no bread, no bag, no money in their belts —
Mark 12:41 As Jesus was sitting opposite the treasury, He watched the crowd putting money into it. And many rich people put in large amounts.
- φιλάργυρος philárgyrosmoney-loving, avaricioustranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G5366Adjective · Translated: lovers of money 2Full study and all 2 verses →
Luke 16:14 The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all of this and were scoffing at Jesus.
2 Timothy 3:2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,
- γλωσσόκομον glōssókomonbag, purse, box, chesttranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G1101Noun · Translated: money bag 2Full study and all 2 verses →
John 12:6 Judas did not say this because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief. As keeper of the money bag, he used to take from what was put into it.
John 13:29 Since Judas kept the money bag, some thought that Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the feast, or to give something to the poor.
- ἀφιλάργυρος aphilárgyrosnot loving money, not avaricioustranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G866Adjective · Translated: free of the love of money 1, free from the love of money 1Full study and all 2 verses →
1 Timothy 3:3 not dependent on wine, not violent but gentle, peaceable, and free of the love of money.
Hebrews 13:5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for God has said: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.”
- αἰσχροκερδής aischrokerdḗsgreedytranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G146Adjective · Translated: greedy for money 2Full study and all 2 verses →
1 Timothy 3:8 Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued or given to much wine or greedy for money.
Titus 1:7 As God’s steward, an overseer must be above reproach — not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not greedy for money.
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 money: 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.