Word study
Need
7 Hebrew and 6 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: need, needs, needed. 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 “need” 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)
- לֹא lônottranslated this way 9 times of its 4,657 uses · Strong’s H3808Adverb · Translated: no 309, not 269, never 218, will not 156Full study and all 3,775 verses →
Exodus 22:13 If the animal was torn to pieces, he shall bring it as evidence; he need not make restitution for the torn carcass.
- מַחְסוֹר machsôrneed, thing needed, povertytranslated this way 5 times of its 13 uses · Strong’s H4270Noun · Translated: need 4, poverty 3, lack 2, become poor 2Full study and all 13 verses →
Deuteronomy 15:8 Instead, you are to open your hand to him and freely loan him whatever he needs.
Judges 19:20 “Peace to you,” said the old man. “Let me supply everything you need. Only do not spend the night in the square.”
- אַל alprohibition, do not . . ., let not . . .translated this way 3 times of its 662 uses · Strong’s H408Adverb · Translated: do not 400, and do not 41, not 29, no 24Full study and all 559 verses →
Joshua 7:3 On returning to Joshua, they reported, “There is no need to send all the people; two or three thousand men are enough to go up and attack Ai. Since the people of Ai are so few, you need not wear out all our people there.”
Job 5:22 You will laugh at destruction and famine, and need not fear the beasts of the earth.
- אֹכֶל ôkelfoodtranslated this way 3 times of its 41 uses · Strong’s H400Noun · Translated: food 33, excess food 2Full study and all 38 verses →
Exodus 16:16 This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Each one is to gather as much as he needs. You may take an omer for each person in your tent.’”
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.
- לָקַח lâqachtaketranslated this way 2 times of its 938 uses · Strong’s H3947Verb · Translated: take 247, took 245, taken 40, get 26Full study and all 890 verses →
Exodus 10:26 Even our livestock must go with us; not a hoof will be left behind, for we will need some of them to worship the LORD our God, and we will not know how we are to worship the LORD until we arrive.”
- אָמַר âmarutter, saytranslated this way 2 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 →
- חֲשַׁח chăshachneedtranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s H2818Noun · Translated: needed 1, need 1Full study and all 2 verses →
Ezra 6:9 Whatever is needed— young bulls, rams, and lambs for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, as well as wheat, salt, wine, and oil, as requested by the priests in Jerusalem— must be given to them daily without fail.
Daniel 3:16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.
Greek words (New Testament)
- χρεία chreíaneed, necessity, businesstranslated this way 45 times of its 48 uses · Strong’s G5532Noun · Translated: need 32, needs 11, needed 2, necessary 1Full study and all 46 verses →
Matthew 3:14 But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?”
Mark 2:17 On hearing this, Jesus told them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
- χρῄζω chrḗizōI needtranslated this way 5 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s G5535Verb · Translated: need 4, needs 1Full study and all 5 verses →
Matthew 6:32 For the Gentiles strive after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
Luke 11:8 I tell you, even though he will not get up to provide for him because of his friendship, yet because of the man’s persistence, he will get up and give him as much as he needs.
- ὑστέρημα hystérēmathat which is lacking, povertytranslated this way 4 times of its 9 uses · Strong’s G5303Noun · Translated: lacking 3, need 2, needs 2, poverty 1Full study and all 8 verses →
2 Corinthians 8:14 At the present time, your surplus will meet their need, so that in turn their surplus will meet your need. This way there will be equality.
2 Corinthians 9:12 For this ministry of service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanksgiving to God.
- ὑστερέω hysteréōI am lacking, fall short, suffer needtranslated this way 3 times of its 16 uses · Strong’s G5302Verb · Translated: lack 3, need 3Full study and all 16 verses →
Luke 15:14 After he had spent all he had, a severe famine swept through that country, and he began to be in need.
2 Corinthians 11:9 And when I was with you and in need, I was not a burden to anyone; for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my needs. I have refrained from being a burden to you in any way, and I will continue to do so.
- ἔχω échōI have, hold, possesstranslated this way 3 times of its 624 uses · Strong’s G2192Verb · Translated: has 63, have 52, with 35, you have 29Full study and all 560 verses →
Luke 22:71 “Why do we need any more testimony?” they declared. “We have heard it for ourselves from His own lips.”
Acts 23:19 The commander took the young man by the hand, drew him aside, and asked, “What do you need to tell me?”
- ἀνάγκη anánkēnecessity, constraint, compulsiontranslated this way 2 times of its 17 uses · Strong’s G318Noun · Translated: necessary 4, must 2, need 2, distress 2Full study and all 17 verses →
Luke 14:18 But one after another they all began to make excuses. The first one said, ‘I have bought a field, and I need to go see it. Please excuse me.’
Hebrews 7:27 Unlike the other high priests, He does not need to offer daily sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people; He sacrificed for sin once for all when He offered up Himself.
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.