Word study
Obey
4 Hebrew and 5 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: obey, obeyed, obeying, obeys. 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 “obey” 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 100 times of its 1,132 uses · Strong’s H8085Verb · Translated: heard 311, hear 253, listen 218, obey 60Full study and all 1,063 verses →
Genesis 22:18 And through your offspring all nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
Exodus 5:2 But Pharaoh replied, “Who is the LORD that I should obey His voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and I will not let Israel go.”
- עָשָׂה âsâhdo, maketranslated this way 16 times of its 2,478 uses · Strong’s H6213Verb · Translated: done 292, made 265, make 143, did 112Full study and all 2,206 verses →
- נָצַר nâtsarwatch, guard, keeptranslated this way 7 times of its 59 uses · Strong’s H5341Verb · Translated: keep 10, guard 9, obey 7, preserve 5Full study and all 58 verses →
Psalm 105:45 that they might keep His statutes and obey His laws. Hallelujah!
Psalm 119:34 Give me understanding that I may obey Your law, and follow it with all my heart.
- שָׁמַר shâmarkeep, watch, preservetranslated this way 6 times of its 461 uses · Strong’s H8104Verb · Translated: keep 133, careful 39, kept 33, guard 25Full study and all 436 verses →
Greek words (New Testament)
- ὑπακούω hypakoúōI listen, obeytranslated this way 18 times of its 21 uses · Strong’s G5219Verb · Translated: obey 14, obeyed 2Full study and all 21 verses →
Matthew 8:27 The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the sea obey Him!”
Mark 1:27 All the people were amazed and began to ask one another, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him!”
- τηρέω tēréōI keep, guard, observetranslated this way 3 times of its 69 uses · Strong’s G5083Verb · Translated: keep 23, kept 12, keeps 7, held 4Full study and all 63 verses →
Matthew 28:20 and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Acts 15:5 But some believers from the party of the Pharisees stood up and declared, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to obey the law of Moses.”
- πείθω peíthōI persuade, urgetranslated this way 3 times of its 50 uses · Strong’s G3982Verb · Translated: convinced 10, confident 6, persuaded 4, trusted 2Full study and all 50 verses →
Galatians 5:7 You were running so well. Who has obstructed you from obeying the truth?
Hebrews 13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they watch over your souls as those who must give an account. To this end, allow them to lead with joy and not with grief, for that would be of no advantage to you.
- φυλάσσω phylássōI keep, guard, observetranslated this way 2 times of its 31 uses · Strong’s G5442Verb · Translated: guard 7, keep 5, kept 4, obey 2Full study and all 31 verses →
Luke 11:28 But He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
Acts 16:4 As they went from town to town, they delivered the decisions handed down by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey.
- πειθαρχέω peitharchéōI obey one in authoritytranslated this way 2 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s G3980Verb · Translated: obey 2, followed my advice 1, obedient 1Full study and all 4 verses →
Acts 5:29 But Peter and the other apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than men.
Acts 5:32 We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.”
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.