Word study
Noble
8 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: nobles, noble. 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 “noble” 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)
- חֹר chôrnobletranslated this way 13 times of its 13 uses · Strong’s H2715Noun · Translated: nobles 13Full study and all 13 verses →
1 Kings 21:8 Then Jezebel wrote letters in Ahab’s name, sealed them with his seal, and sent them to the elders and nobles who lived with Naboth in his city.
Nehemiah 2:16 The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, for I had not yet told the Jews or priests or nobles or officials or any other workers.
- נָדִיב nâdîbinclined, generous, nobletranslated this way 12 times of its 29 uses · Strong’s H5081Adjective · Translated: nobles 9, willing 4, princes 4, prince 3Full study and all 26 verses →
Numbers 21:18 The princes dug the well; the nobles of the people hollowed it out with their scepters and with their staffs.” From the wilderness the Israelites went on to Mattanah,
Job 12:21 He pours out contempt on nobles and disarms the mighty.
- רַבְרְבָן rabrebânlord, nobletranslated this way 8 times of its 8 uses · Strong’s H7261Noun · Translated: nobles 6, along with his nobles 2Full study and all 8 verses →
Daniel 4:36 At the same time my sanity was restored, my honor and splendor returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored to my throne, and surpassing greatness was added to me.
Daniel 5:1 Later, King Belshazzar held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles, and he drank wine with them.
- אַדִּיר addîrmajestictranslated this way 6 times of its 27 uses · Strong’s H117Adjective · Translated: majestic 7, mighty 6, nobles 5, leaders 3Full study and all 25 verses →
Judges 5:13 Then the survivors came down to the nobles; the people of the LORD came down to me against the mighty.
2 Chronicles 23:20 And he took with him the commanders of hundreds, the nobles, the rulers of the people, and all the people of the land, and they brought the king down from the house of the LORD and entered the royal palace through the Upper Gate. They seated King Joash on the royal throne,
- חַיִל chayilstrength, efficiency, wealth, armytranslated this way 5 times of its 233 uses · Strong’s H2428Noun · Translated: army 73, valor 49, wealth 26, strength 9Full study and all 219 verses →
Ruth 2:1 Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side, a prominent man of noble character from the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz.
Proverbs 12:4 A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown, but she who causes shame is like decay in his bones.
- פַּרְתַּם partamgrandeetranslated this way 2 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s H6579Noun · Translated: along with the nobles 1, most noble 1, nobility 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Esther 1:3 In the third year of his reign, Xerxes held a feast for all his officials and servants. The military leaders of Persia and Media were there, along with the nobles and princes of the provinces.
Esther 6:9 Let the robe and the horse be entrusted to one of the king’s most noble princes. Let them array the man the king wants to honor and parade him on the horse through the city square, proclaiming before him, ‘This is what is done for the man whom the king is delighted to honor!’”
- נָגִיד nâgîdleadertranslated this way 2 times of its 43 uses · Strong’s H5057Noun · Translated: ruler 17, leader 6, prince 5, chief official 3Full study and all 43 verses →
Job 29:10 The voices of the nobles were hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roofs of their mouths.
Proverbs 8:6 Listen, for I speak of noble things, and the opening of my lips will reveal right.
- 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 →
Greek words (New Testament)
- καλός kalósbeautiful, good, worthytranslated this way 4 times of its 99 uses · Strong’s G2570Adjective · Translated: good 64, better 9, right 5, noble 4Full study and all 89 verses →
Luke 8:15 But the seeds on good soil are those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, cling to it, and by persevering produce a crop.
Galatians 4:18 Nevertheless, it is good to be zealous if it serves a noble purpose — at any time, and not only when I am with you.
- μεγιστᾶνες megistânesa great one, a lordtranslated this way 2 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s G3175Noun · Translated: nobles 2, great 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Mark 6:21 On Herod’s birthday, her opportunity arose. Herod held a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee.
Revelation 6:15 Then the kings of the earth, the nobles, the commanders, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and free man hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains.
- εὐγενής eugenḗsof noble birth, nobletranslated this way 2 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s G2104Adjective · Translated: noble birth 2, more noble-minded 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Luke 19:12 So He said, “A man of noble birth went to a distant country to lay claim to his kingship and then return.
Acts 17:11 Now the Bereans were more noble-minded than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if these teachings were true.
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.