Word study
Nothing
12 Hebrew and 10 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “nothing”. 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 “nothing” 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 77 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 →
Genesis 11:6 And the LORD said, “If they have begun to do this as one people speaking the same language, then nothing they devise will be beyond them.
Exodus 9:24 The hail fell and the lightning continued flashing through it. The hail was so severe that nothing like it had ever been seen in all the land of Egypt from the time it became a nation.
- אַיִן ayinnothing, noughttranslated this way 44 times of its 744 uses · Strong’s H369Adverb · Translated: there is no 55, no 54, without 54, nothing 40Full study and all 660 verses →
Exodus 22:3 But if it happens after sunrise, there is guilt for his bloodshed. A thief must make full restitution; if he has nothing, he himself shall be sold for his theft.
Leviticus 26:6 And I will give peace to the land, and you will lie down with nothing to fear. I will rid the land of dangerous animals, and no sword will pass through your land.
- חָרַשׁ chârashcut in, engrave, plough, devisetranslated this way 6 times of its 69 uses · Strong’s H2790Verb · Translated: silent 11, plow 6, plowed 5, quiet 5Full study and all 65 verses →
Numbers 30:4 and her father hears about her vow or pledge but says nothing to her, then all the vows or pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand.
2 Samuel 19:10 But Absalom, the man we anointed over us, has died in battle. So why do you say nothing about restoring the king?”
- חִנָּם chinnâmout of favourtranslated this way 5 times of its 31 uses · Strong’s H2600Adverb · Translated: without cause 12, nothing 3, needless 2, cost me nothing 2Full study and all 30 verses →
Genesis 29:15 Laban said to him, “Just because you are my relative, should you work for nothing? Tell me what your wages should be.”
2 Samuel 24:24 “No,” replied the king, “I insist on paying a price, for I will not offer to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.
- כֹּל kôlthe whole, alltranslated this way 5 times of its 5,107 uses · Strong’s H3605Noun · Translated: all 1,589, and all 471, whole 223, every 196Full study and all 4,112 verses →
- בִּלְתִּי biltînot, excepttranslated this way 5 times of its 104 uses · Strong’s H1115Preposition-l · Translated: not 12, no 8, nothing 4, without 4Full study and all 101 verses →
1 Kings 6:6 The bottom floor was five cubits wide, the middle floor six cubits, and the third floor seven cubits. He also placed offset ledges around the outside of the temple, so that nothing would be inserted into its walls.
Isaiah 10:4 Nothing will remain but to crouch among the captives or fall among the slain. Despite all this, His anger is not turned away; His hand is still upraised.
- 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 →
Numbers 22:16 They came to Balaam and said, “This is what Balak son of Zippor says: ‘Please let nothing hinder you from coming to me,
- מְאוּמָה meûmâhanythingtranslated this way 3 times of its 17 uses · Strong’s H3972Noun · Translated: anything 10, nothing 3, bare 1, fault 1Full study and all 17 verses →
2 Chronicles 9:20 All King Solomon’s drinking cups were gold, and all the utensils of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. There was no silver, because it was accounted as nothing in the days of Solomon.
Ecclesiastes 5:15 As a man came from his mother’s womb, so he will depart again, naked as he arrived. He takes nothing for his labor to carry in his hands.
- אַךְ aksurelytranslated this way 3 times of its 138 uses · Strong’s H389Adverb · Translated: but 31, Surely 29, only 11, Nevertheless 7Full study and all 135 verses →
Jeremiah 16:19 O LORD, my strength and my fortress, my refuge in the day of distress, the nations will come to You from the ends of the earth, and they will say, “Our fathers inherited nothing but lies, worthless idols of no benefit at all.
Jeremiah 32:30 For the children of Israel and of Judah have done nothing but evil in My sight from their youth; indeed, they have done nothing but provoke Me to anger by the work of their hands, declares the LORD.
- בְּלִי belîwearing outtranslated this way 2 times of its 55 uses · Strong’s H1097Adverb · Translated: without 16, lack 6, accidentally 3, nothing 2Full study and all 54 verses →
Deuteronomy 28:55 refusing to share with any of them the flesh of his children he will eat because he has nothing left in the siege and distress that your enemy will inflict on you within all your gates.
Job 26:7 He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth upon nothing.
- אֶפֶס ephesthe two extremitiestranslated this way 2 times of its 39 uses · Strong’s H657Noun · Translated: ends 13, none 4, Nevertheless 2, and 2Full study and all 39 verses →
Isaiah 34:12 No nobles will be left to proclaim a king, and all her princes will come to nothing.
Isaiah 41:29 See, they are all a delusion; their works amount to nothing; their images are as empty as the wind.’’
- לָא lânottranslated this way 2 times of its 71 uses · Strong’s H3809Adverb · Translated: no 10, not 9, cannot 4, without 3Full study and all 56 verses →
Daniel 4:35 All the peoples of the earth are counted as nothing, and He does as He pleases with the army of heaven and the peoples of the earth. There is no one who can restrain His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’”
Daniel 6:17 A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the rings of his nobles, so that nothing concerning Daniel could be changed.
Greek words (New Testament)
- οὐδείς oudeísno one, none, nothingtranslated this way 44 times of its 181 uses · Strong’s G3762Adjective · Translated: no one 90, nothing 44, no 13, none 8Full study and all 173 verses →
Matthew 10:26 So do not be afraid of them. For there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, and nothing hidden that will not be made known.
Mark 7:15 Nothing that enters a man from the outside can defile him; but the things that come out of a man, these are what defile him.”
- μηδείς mēdeísno one, nothingtranslated this way 15 times of its 54 uses · Strong’s G3367Adjective · Translated: nothing 15, no one 14, no 7, without 6Full study and all 54 verses →
Matthew 27:19 While Pilate was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him this message: “Have nothing to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered terribly in a dream today because of Him.”
Mark 6:8 He instructed them to take nothing but a staff for the journey — no bread, no bag, no money in their belts —
- οὐ ouno, nottranslated this way 12 times of its 704 uses · Strong’s G3756Adverb · Translated: not 470, no 123, never 26, nothing 12Full study and all 643 verses →
Matthew 15:32 Then Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, “I have compassion for this crowd, because they have already been with Me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may faint along the way.”
Mark 4:22 For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be brought to light.
- οὐδέ oudéneither, nor, not eventranslated this way 3 times of its 77 uses · Strong’s G3761Conjunction · Translated: nor 32, even 15, neither 8, no 8Full study and all 71 verses →
Mark 4:22 For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be brought to light.
Luke 8:17 For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be made known and brought to light.
- μή mḗnot, lesttranslated this way 3 times of its 411 uses · Strong’s G3361Adverb · Translated: not 284, no 44, without 18, Otherwise 9Full study and all 381 verses →
Mark 8:1 In those days the crowd once again became very large, and they had nothing to eat. Jesus called the disciples to Him and said,
1 Corinthians 11:22 Don’t you have your own homes in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What can I say to you? Shall I praise you for this? No, I will not!
- οὐδέποτε oudépotenevertranslated this way 2 times of its 9 uses · Strong’s G3763Adverb · Translated: never 7, Nothing 2Full study and all 9 verses →
Matthew 9:33 And when the demon had been driven out, the man began to speak. The crowds were amazed and said, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel!”
Acts 11:8 ‘No, Lord,’ I said, ‘for nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’
- ἀργός argósidle, lazy, thoughtlesstranslated this way 2 times of its 8 uses · Strong’s G692Adjective · Translated: doing nothing 2, idle 2, careless 1, lazy 1Full study and all 7 verses →
Matthew 20:3 About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing.
Matthew 20:6 About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’ he asked.
- πᾶς pâsall, the whole, every kind oftranslated this way 2 times of its 1,133 uses · Strong’s G3956Adjective · Translated: all 462, everyone 131, every 116, everything 87Full study and all 998 verses →
Mark 7:18 “Are you still so dull?” He asked. “Do you not understand? Nothing that enters a man from the outside can defile him,
- τὶς tìsany one, some onetranslated this way 2 times of its 449 uses · Strong’s G5100Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun · Translated: some 96, anyone 96, a 65, anything 30Full study and all 420 verses →
John 6:12 And when everyone was full, He said to His disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over, so that nothing will be wasted.”
- εἰκῆ eikēwithout purpose, in vaintranslated this way 2 times of its 6 uses · Strong’s G1500Adverb · Translated: vain 3, nothing 2, without basis 1Full study and all 5 verses →
Galatians 3:4 Have you suffered so much for nothing, if it really was for nothing?
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.