Word study

Obedience

4 Hebrew and 2 Greek words behind this English word

The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “obedience”. 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 “obedience” 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)

  • שָׁמַע shâmaheartranslated this way 3 times of its 1,132 uses · Strong’s H8085Verb  ·  Translated: heard 311, hear 253, listen 218, obey 60

    Judges 2:17 Israel, however, did not listen to their judges. Instead, they prostituted themselves with other gods and bowed down to them. They quickly turned from the way of their fathers, who had walked in obedience to the LORD’s commandments; they did not do as their fathers had done.

    1 Samuel 15:22 But Samuel declared: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obedience to His voice? Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice, and attentiveness is better than the fat of rams.

    Full study and all 1,063 verses →
  • עַל alheighttranslated this way 1 time of its 4,859 uses · Strong’s H5921Preposition  ·  Translated: on 777, over 297, in 218, against 216

    Numbers 3:51 And Moses gave the redemption money to Aaron and his sons in obedience to the word of the LORD, just as the LORD had commanded him.

    Full study and all 3,996 verses →
  • כָּחַשׁ kâchashbe disappointing, deceive, fail, grow leantranslated this way 1 time of its 22 uses · Strong’s H3584Verb  ·  Translated: cower 4, denied 2, lied 2, deny 2

    Psalm 81:15 Those who hate the LORD would feign obedience, and their doom would last forever.

    Full study and all 22 verses →
  • יִקָּהָה yiqqâhâhobediencetranslated this way 1 time of its 2 uses · Strong’s H3349Noun  ·  Translated: allegiance 1, obedience 1

    Proverbs 30:17 As for the eye that mocks a father and scorns obedience to a mother, may the ravens of the valley pluck it out and young vultures devour it.

    Full study and all 2 verses →

Greek words (New Testament)

  • ὑπακοή hypakoḗobediencetranslated this way 11 times of its 15 uses · Strong’s G5218Noun  ·  Translated: obedience 11, obedient 3, make it obedient 1

    Romans 1:5 Through Him and on behalf of His name, we received grace and apostleship to call all those among the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.

    2 Corinthians 10:6 And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, as soon as your obedience is complete.

    Full study and all 14 verses →
  • φυλάσσω phylássōI keep, guard, observetranslated this way 1 time of its 31 uses · Strong’s G5442Verb  ·  Translated: guard 7, keep 5, kept 4, obey 2

    Acts 21:24 Take these men, purify yourself along with them, and pay their expenses so they can have their heads shaved. Then everyone will know that there is no truth to these rumors about you, but that you also live in obedience to the law.

    Full study and all 31 verses →
How to study a word well
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
  4. 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.
  5. See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
  6. Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
  7. 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.

What the Bible says about obedience: passages by topic →

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.