Word study
Neck
6 Hebrew and 1 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: neck, necks. 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 “neck” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- צַוָּאר tsavvârneck, back of necktranslated this way 34 times of its 39 uses · Strong’s H6677Noun · Translated: neck 26, necks 8Full study and all 38 verses →
Genesis 27:16 She also put the skins of the young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.
Deuteronomy 28:48 you will serve your enemies the LORD will send against you in famine, thirst, nakedness, and destitution. He will place an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you.
- עֹרֶף ôrephback of neck, necktranslated this way 13 times of its 23 uses · Strong’s H6203Noun · Translated: necks 9, neck 4, backs 4, back 3Full study and all 23 verses →
Genesis 49:8 Judah, your brothers shall praise you. Your hand shall be on the necks of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down to you.
Leviticus 5:8 He is to bring them to the priest, who shall first present the one for the sin offering. He is to twist its head at the front of its neck without severing it;
- עָרַף âraphbreak the necktranslated this way 5 times of its 6 uses · Strong’s H6202Verb · Translated: break its neck 2, neck 2, neck has been broken 1, break 1Full study and all 6 verses →
Exodus 13:13 You must redeem every firstborn donkey with a lamb, and if you do not redeem it, you are to break its neck. And every firstborn of your sons you must redeem.
Deuteronomy 21:4 bring the heifer to a valley with running water that has not been plowed or sown, and break its neck there by the stream.
- גַּרְגְּרוֹת gargerôthnecktranslated this way 4 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s H1621Noun · Translated: around your neck 2, neck 2Full study and all 4 verses →
Proverbs 1:9 For they are a garland of grace on your head and a pendant around your neck.
Proverbs 3:3 Never let loving devotion or faithfulness leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.
- צַוַּאר tsavvarnecktranslated this way 3 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s H6676Noun · Translated: neck 3Full study and all 3 verses →
Daniel 5:7 The king called out for the enchanters, astrologers, and diviners to be brought in, and he said to these wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this inscription and tells me its interpretation will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around his neck, and he will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”
Daniel 5:16 But I have heard about you, that you are able to give interpretations and solve difficult problems. Therefore, if you can read this inscription and give me its interpretation, you will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around your neck, and you will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”
- נֶפֶשׁ nepheshsoul, living being, life, self, person, desire, appetite, emotion, and passiontranslated this way 2 times of its 666 uses · Strong’s H5315Noun · Translated: soul 178, life 119, lives 30, person 22Full study and all 622 verses →
Psalm 69:1 For the choirmaster. To the tune of “Lilies.” Of David. Save me, O God, for the waters are up to my neck.
Psalm 105:18 They bruised his feet with shackles and placed his neck in irons,
Greek words (New Testament)
- τράχηλος tráchēlosthe necktranslated this way 4 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s G5137Noun · Translated: neck 3, necks 1Full study and all 4 verses →
Matthew 18:6 But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.
Mark 9:42 But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be thrown into the sea.
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.