Word study
Occasion
8 Hebrew and 5 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: occasion, occasions. 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 “occasion” 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)
- יוֹם yômdaytranslated this way 1 time of its 2,013 uses · Strong’s H3117Noun · Translated: day 1,009, days 524, today 141, time 72Full study and all 1,744 verses →
- פַּעַם paambeat, foot, anvil, occurrencetranslated this way 1 time of its 105 uses · Strong’s H6471Noun · Translated: times 42, time 15, feet 9, twice 6Full study and all 102 verses →
Numbers 24:1 And when Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he did not seek omens as on previous occasions, but he turned his face toward the wilderness.
- תְּנוּאָה tenûâhoppositiontranslated this way 1 time of its 2 uses · Strong’s H8569Noun · Translated: alienation 1, occasions 1Full study and all 2 verses →
Job 33:10 Yet God finds occasions against me; He counts me as His enemy.
- תַּאֲנָה taănâhoccasion, time of copulationtranslated this way 1 time of its 2 uses · Strong’s H8385Noun · Translated: occasion to move 1, heat 1Full study and all 2 verses →
Judges 14:4 (Now his father and mother did not know this was from the LORD, who was seeking an occasion to move against the Philistines; for at that time the Philistines were ruling over Israel.)
- מוֹעֵד môêdappointed time, place, meetingtranslated this way 1 time of its 223 uses · Strong’s H4150Noun · Translated: Meeting 146, appointed feasts 20, appointed time 14, time 9Full study and all 213 verses →
1 Samuel 9:24 So the cook picked up the leg and what was attached to it and set it before Saul. Then Samuel said, “Here is what was kept back. It was set apart for you. Eat, for it has been kept for you for this occasion, from the time I said, ‘I have invited the people.’” So Saul dined with Samuel that day.
- אֲשֶׁר ăsherparticle of relationtranslated this way 1 time of its 3,225 uses · Strong’s H834Pronoun · Translated: that 886, who 451, as 247, which 160Full study and all 2,844 verses →
- נְפַל nephalfalltranslated this way 1 time of its 11 uses · Strong’s H5308Verb · Translated: fall 6, fell 3, occasion 1, came 1Full study and all 11 verses →
Ezra 7:20 And if anything else is needed for the house of your God that you may have occasion to supply, you may pay for it from the royal treasury.
- דָּבָר dâbârspeech, wordtranslated this way 1 time of its 1,244 uses · Strong’s H1697Noun · Translated: word 342, words 299, acts 51, Chronicles 42Full study and all 1,120 verses →
Greek words (New Testament)
- ἀφορμή aphormḗan occasion, opportunitytranslated this way 2 times of its 6 uses · Strong’s G874Noun · Translated: opportunity 4, occasion 2Full study and all 6 verses →
2 Corinthians 5:12 We are not commending ourselves to you again. Instead, we are giving you an occasion to be proud of us, so that you can answer those who take pride in appearances rather than in the heart.
1 Timothy 5:14 So I advise the younger widows to marry, have children, and manage their households, denying the adversary occasion for slander.
- τιμή timḗa price, honortranslated this way 1 time of its 41 uses · Strong’s G5092Noun · Translated: honor 26, price 3, proceeds 3, value 2Full study and all 40 verses →
Romans 9:21 Does not the potter have the right to make from the same lump of clay one vessel for special occasions and another for common use?
- πολυμερῶς polymerōsin many partstranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s G4181Adverb · Translated: occasions 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Hebrews 1:1 On many past occasions and in many different ways, God spoke to our fathers through the prophets.
- δέ début, on the other hand, andtranslated this way 1 time of its 1,642 uses · Strong’s G1161Conjunction · Translated: but 784, and 340, now 117, then 101Full study and all 1,541 verses →
- καιρός kairósfitting season, opportunity, timetranslated this way 1 time of its 82 uses · Strong’s G2540Noun · Translated: time 44, times 9, appointed time 4, harvest time 4Full study and all 77 verses →
Romans 13:11 And do this, understanding the occasion. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.
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.