Word study
Outer
4 Hebrew and 2 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “outer”. 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 “outer” 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)
- חִיצוֹן chîtsônouter, externaltranslated this way 21 times of its 24 uses · Strong’s H2435Adjective · Translated: outer 14, outside 3, outer sanctuaries 2, faced the outer 2Full study and all 24 verses →
1 Kings 6:29 Then he carved the walls all around the temple, in both the inner and outer sanctuaries, with carved engravings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers.
2 Chronicles 33:14 After this, Manasseh rebuilt the outer wall of the City of David from west of Gihon in the valley to the entrance of the Fish Gate, and he brought it around the hill of Ophel and heightened it considerably. He also stationed military commanders in all the fortified cities of Judah.
- הֵיכָל hêkâlpalace, templetranslated this way 6 times of its 78 uses · Strong’s H1964Noun · Translated: temple 56, palace 7, outer sanctuary 6, palaces 4Full study and all 74 verses →
Ezekiel 41:1 Then the man brought me into the outer sanctuary and measured the side pillars to be six cubits wide on each side.
Ezekiel 41:15 Next he measured the length of the building facing the temple courtyard at the rear of the temple, including its galleries on each side; it was a hundred cubits. The outer sanctuary, the inner sanctuary, and the porticoes facing the court,
- חוּץ chûtsthe outsidetranslated this way 4 times of its 156 uses · Strong’s H2351Noun · Translated: outside 70, streets 38, out 11, street 11Full study and all 152 verses →
2 Chronicles 32:5 Then Hezekiah worked resolutely to rebuild all the broken sections of the wall and to raise up towers on it. He also built an outer wall and reinforced the supporting terraces of the City of David, and he produced an abundance of weapons and shields.
Ezekiel 41:9 The outer wall of the side rooms was five cubits thick, and the open area between the side rooms of the temple
- חָצֵר châtsêrenclosure, courttranslated this way 2 times of its 184 uses · Strong’s H2691Noun · Translated: courtyard 61, court 43, villages 28, along with their villages 19Full study and all 161 verses →
Ezekiel 42:10 On the south side along the length of the wall of the outer court were chambers adjoining the courtyard and opposite the building,
Ezekiel 46:22 In the four corners of the outer court there were enclosed courts, each forty cubits long and thirty cubits wide. Each of the four corner areas had the same dimensions.
Greek words (New Testament)
- ἐξώτερος exṓterosoutmost, outertranslated this way 3 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s G1857Adjective · Translated: outer 3Full study and all 3 verses →
Matthew 8:12 But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Matthew 22:13 Then the king told the servants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
- ἱμάτιον himátionouter garmenttranslated this way 2 times of its 56 uses · Strong’s G2440Noun · Translated: cloak 13, garments 12, clothes 8, cloaks 7Full study and all 55 verses →
John 13:4 So He got up from the supper, laid aside His outer garments, and wrapped a towel around His waist.
John 13:12 When Jesus had washed their feet and put on His outer garments, He reclined with them again and asked, “Do you know what I have done for you?
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.