Word study
Much
12 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “much”. 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 “much” 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)
- אַף aphalso, yeatranslated this way 21 times of its 110 uses · Strong’s H637Conjunction · Translated: and 12, indeed 10, much more 9, much less 7Full study and all 102 verses →
Deuteronomy 31:27 For I know how rebellious and stiff-necked you are. If you are already rebelling against the LORD while I am still alive, how much more will you rebel after my death!
1 Samuel 14:30 How much better it would have been if the troops had eaten freely today from the plunder they took from their enemies! Would not the slaughter of the Philistines have been much greater?”
- רַב rabmuch, many, greattranslated this way 14 times of its 445 uses · Strong’s H7227Adjective · Translated: many 171, great 65, captain 24, long 14Full study and all 426 verses →
Numbers 16:3 They came together against Moses and Aaron and told them, “You have taken too much upon yourselves! For everyone in the entire congregation is holy, and the LORD is in their midst. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?”
Deuteronomy 3:19 But your wives, your children, and your livestock— I know that you have much livestock— may remain in the cities I have given you,
- רָבָה râbâhbe, or become, much, many, greattranslated this way 13 times of its 219 uses · Strong’s H7235Verb · Translated: multiply 39, multiplied 23, many 15, much 10Full study and all 207 verses →
Exodus 16:18 When they measured it by the omer, he who gathered much had no excess, and he who gathered little had no shortfall. Each one gathered as much as he needed to eat.
Joshua 13:1 Now Joshua was old and well along in years, and the LORD said to him, “You are old and well along in years, but very much of the land remains to be possessed.
- מְאֹד meôdmuchness, force, abundance, exceedinglytranslated this way 3 times of its 195 uses · Strong’s H3966Adverb · Translated: greatly 28, very 12, was very 8, exceedingly 8Full study and all 186 verses →
Genesis 26:16 Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Depart from us, for you are much too powerful for us.”
1 Samuel 16:21 When David came to Saul and entered his service, Saul loved him very much, and David became his armor-bearer.
- אֹכֶל ôkelfoodtranslated this way 2 times of its 41 uses · Strong’s H400Noun · Translated: food 33, excess food 2Full study and all 38 verses →
Genesis 44:1 Then Joseph instructed his steward: “Fill the men’s sacks with as much food as they can carry, and put each one’s silver in the mouth of his sack.
Exodus 16:18 When they measured it by the omer, he who gathered much had no excess, and he who gathered little had no shortfall. Each one gathered as much as he needed to eat.
- אֲשֶׁר ăsherparticle of relationtranslated this way 2 times of its 3,225 uses · Strong’s H834Pronoun · Translated: that 886, who 451, as 247, which 160Full study and all 2,844 verses →
- גָּדוֹל gâdôlgreattranslated this way 2 times of its 501 uses · Strong’s H1419Adjective · Translated: great 262, large 33, high 20, loud 14Full study and all 477 verses →
1 Kings 3:6 Solomon replied, “You have shown much loving devotion to Your servant, my father David, because he walked before You in faithfulness, righteousness, and uprightness of heart. And You have maintained this loving devotion by giving him a son to sit on his throne this very day.
- רֹב rôbmultitude, abundance, greatnesstranslated this way 2 times of its 142 uses · Strong’s H7230Noun · Translated: many 28, abundance 22, great 18, abundant 10Full study and all 138 verses →
1 Chronicles 22:8 but this word of the LORD came to me: ‘You have shed much blood and waged great wars. You are not to build a house for My Name because you have shed so much blood on the ground before Me.
Ecclesiastes 1:18 For with much wisdom comes much sorrow, and as knowledge grows, grief increases.
- כַּבִּיר kabbîrgreat, mighty, muchtranslated this way 2 times of its 9 uses · Strong’s H3524Adjective · Translated: mighty 5, blustering 1, men much older 1, much 1Full study and all 8 verses →
Job 15:10 Both the gray-haired and the aged are on our side — men much older than your father.
Job 31:25 if I have rejoiced in my great wealth because my hand had gained so much,
- מָה mâhwhat? how? aughttranslated this way 2 times of its 708 uses · Strong’s H4100Interrogative · Translated: what 313, why 183, how 80, many 5Full study and all 618 verses →
- שָׂבַע sâbabe sated, satisfied, surfeitedtranslated this way 2 times of its 97 uses · Strong’s H7646Verb · Translated: satisfied 39, filled 11, satisfy 10, fill 7Full study and all 93 verses →
Proverbs 25:16 If you find honey, eat just what you need, lest you have too much and vomit it up.
Proverbs 30:9 Otherwise, I may have too much and deny You, saying, ‘Who is the LORD?’ Or I may become poor and steal, profaning the name of my God.
- יָד yâdhandtranslated this way 2 times of its 1,403 uses · Strong’s H3027Noun · Translated: hand 664, hands 349, through 64, power 22Full study and all 1,290 verses →
Greek words (New Testament)
- πολύς polýsmuch, many, oftentranslated this way 32 times of its 338 uses · Strong’s G4183Adjective · Translated: many 172, great 37, large 32, much 31Full study and all 307 verses →
Matthew 6:30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
Mark 4:5 Some fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly because the soil was shallow.
- πόσος pósoshow much, how great, how manytranslated this way 12 times of its 27 uses · Strong’s G4214Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun · Translated: much 12, many 10Full study and all 27 verses →
Matthew 7:11 So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!
Luke 11:13 So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
- ὅσος hósoshow much, how great, how manytranslated this way 10 times of its 88 uses · Strong’s G3745Personal / Relative Pronoun · Translated: whatever 13, all who 10, much 10, all 6Full study and all 79 verses →
Mark 5:19 But Jesus would not allow him. “Go home to your own people,” He said, “and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and what mercy He has shown you.”
Luke 8:39 “Return home and describe how much God has done for you.” So the man went away and proclaimed all over the town how much Jesus had done for him.
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.