Word study
Move
14 Hebrew and 4 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: moved, move, moving, moves. 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 “move” 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)
- הָלַךְ hâlakgo, come, walktranslated this way 18 times of its 1,461 uses · Strong’s H1980Verb · Translated: go 338, went 173, walk 116, Come 84Full study and all 1,299 verses →
Genesis 36:6 Later, Esau took his wives and sons and daughters and all the people of his household, along with his livestock, all his other animals, and all the property he had acquired in Canaan, and he moved to a land far away from his brother Jacob.
- נָסַע nâsapull out or up, set out, journeytranslated this way 8 times of its 146 uses · Strong’s H5265Verb · Translated: set 91, journeyed 4, moved 4, pulled 4Full study and all 139 verses →
Genesis 37:17 “They have moved on from here,” the man answered. “I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’” So Joseph set out after his brothers and found them at Dothan.
Exodus 14:19 And the angel of God, who had gone before the camp of Israel, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from before them and stood behind them,
- מוֹט môṭtotter, shake, sliptranslated this way 7 times of its 36 uses · Strong’s H4131Verb · Translated: shaken 11, moved 7, fall 2, toppled 2Full study and all 35 verses →
1 Chronicles 16:30 tremble before Him, all the earth. The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved.
Psalm 10:6 He says to himself, “I will not be moved; from age to age I am free of distress.”
- עָבַר âbarpass over, through, by, pass ontranslated this way 6 times of its 542 uses · Strong’s H5674Verb · Translated: pass 62, crossed 57, cross 52, passed 35Full study and all 487 verses →
Numbers 22:26 And the angel of the LORD moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn to the right or left.
Joshua 10:29 Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Makkedah to Libnah and fought against Libnah.
- רָמַשׂ râmascreep, move lightly, move abouttranslated this way 5 times of its 16 uses · Strong’s H7430Verb · Translated: crawls 8, moves 3, creature that crawls 2, moved 1Full study and all 16 verses →
Genesis 1:21 So God created the great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters teemed according to their kinds, and every winged bird after its kind. And God saw that it was good.
Leviticus 11:46 This is the law regarding animals, birds, all living creatures that move in the water, and all creatures that crawl along the ground.
- נָסַג nâsagretreattranslated this way 5 times of its 9 uses · Strong’s H5253Verb · Translated: move 4, moves 1, turning away 1, turned away 1Full study and all 9 verses →
Deuteronomy 19:14 You must not move your neighbor’s boundary marker, which was set up by your ancestors to mark the inheritance you shall receive in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess.
Proverbs 22:28 Do not move an ancient boundary stone which your fathers have placed.
- סוּר sûrturn asidetranslated this way 5 times of its 294 uses · Strong’s H5493Verb · Translated: removed 46, remove 38, turn away 23, turn aside 16Full study and all 277 verses →
Genesis 48:17 When Joseph saw that his father had placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head, he was displeased and took his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s.
Numbers 16:26 And he warned the congregation, “Move away now from the tents of these wicked men. Do not touch anything that belongs to them, or you will be swept away because of all their sins.”
- עָתַק âthaqmove, proceed, advancetranslated this way 4 times of its 9 uses · Strong’s H6275Verb · Translated: moved 3Full study and all 9 verses →
Genesis 12:8 From there Abram moved on to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There he built an altar to the LORD, and he called on the name of the LORD.
Job 9:5 He moves mountains without their knowledge and overturns them in His anger.
- שָׁרַץ shâratsswarm, teemtranslated this way 3 times of its 12 uses · Strong’s H8317Verb · Translated: teem 2, teemed 2, spread 2, moves 2Full study and all 12 verses →
Leviticus 11:29 The following creatures that move along the ground are unclean for you: the mole, the mouse, any kind of great lizard,
Leviticus 11:41 Every creature that moves along the ground is detestable; it must not be eaten.
- בּוֹא bôcome in, come, go in, gotranslated this way 3 times of its 2,442 uses · Strong’s H935Verb · Translated: come 358, came 298, bring 209, brought 201Full study and all 2,217 verses →
- סָבַב sâbabturn about, go around, surroundtranslated this way 3 times of its 153 uses · Strong’s H5437Verb · Translated: turned 16, surrounded 13, surround 10, turn 8Full study and all 144 verses →
1 Samuel 5:8 So they called together all the rulers of the Philistines and asked, “What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” “It must be moved to Gath,” they replied. So they carried away the ark of the God of Israel.
2 Samuel 18:30 “Move aside,” said the king, “and stand here.” So he stepped aside.
- מוּשׁ mûshdepart, removetranslated this way 2 times of its 20 uses · Strong’s H4185Verb · Translated: depart 4, leave 3, departed 2, removed 2Full study and all 19 verses →
Numbers 14:44 But they dared to go up to the ridge of the hill country, though neither Moses nor the ark of the covenant of the LORD moved from the camp.
Zechariah 14:4 On that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half the mountain moving to the north and half to the south.
- עָלָה âlâhgo up, ascend, climbtranslated this way 2 times of its 873 uses · Strong’s H5927Verb · Translated: go 118, went 107, brought 56, come 42Full study and all 807 verses →
Numbers 16:24 “Tell the congregation to move away from the dwellings of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”
Numbers 16:27 So they moved away from the dwellings of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Meanwhile, Dathan and Abiram had come out and stood at the entrances to their tents with their wives and children and infants.
- יָצָא yâtsâgo or come outtranslated this way 2 times of its 1,035 uses · Strong’s H3318Verb · Translated: brought 108, went 103, go 82, came 78Full study and all 975 verses →
Greek words (New Testament)
- μεταβαίνω metabaínōI leave, depart, remove, pass overtranslated this way 5 times of its 12 uses · Strong’s G3327Verb · Translated: leave 3, Moving 2, Move 2Full study and all 11 verses →
Matthew 12:9 Moving on from there, Jesus entered their synagogue,
Luke 10:7 Stay at the same house, eating and drinking whatever you are offered. For the worker is worthy of his wages. Do not move around from house to house.
- σπλαγχνίζομαι splanchnízomaiI have pity ontranslated this way 3 times of its 12 uses · Strong’s G4697Verb · Translated: compassion 8, Moved with compassion 3, filled with compassion 1Full study and all 12 verses →
Matthew 9:36 When He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
Mark 1:41 Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” He said. “Be clean!”
- κινέω kinéōI move, stir, excitetranslated this way 3 times of its 8 uses · Strong’s G2795Verb · Translated: move 2, shaking 2, stirred 1, stirring 1Full study and all 8 verses →
Matthew 23:4 They tie up heavy, burdensome loads and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
Acts 17:28 ‘For in Him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are His offspring.’
- ἐμβριμάομαι embrimáomaiI snort, express indignant displeasuretranslated this way 2 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s G1690Verb · Translated: deeply moved 2, warned them sternly 1, stern warning 1, scolded 1Full study and all 5 verses →
John 11:33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.
John 11:38 Jesus, once again deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance.
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.