Word study
Overpower
10 Hebrew and 2 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: overpower, overpowered, overpowers. 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 “overpower” 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)
- יָכֹל yâkôlbe able, have power, prevail, enduretranslated this way 4 times of its 116 uses · Strong’s H3201Verb · Translated: able 17, could 11, prevail 10, can 9Full study and all 113 verses →
Genesis 32:25 When the man saw that he could not overpower Jacob, he struck the socket of Jacob’s hip and dislocated it as they wrestled.
Judges 16:5 The lords of the Philistines went to her and said, “Entice him and find out the source of his great strength and how we can overpower him to tie him up and subdue him. Then each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver.”
- שָׁלַט shâlaṭdomineer, be master oftranslated this way 2 times of its 8 uses · Strong’s H7980Verb · Translated: oppressed 1, overpower 1, overpowered 1, rule 1Full study and all 7 verses →
Esther 9:1 On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, the king’s command and edict were to be executed. On this day the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but their plan was overturned and the Jews overpowered those who hated them.
- תָּקַף tâqaphprevail over, overpowertranslated this way 2 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s H8630Verb · Translated: overpower 1, overwhelming 1, overpowered 1, stronger 1Full study and all 4 verses →
Job 14:20 You forever overpower him, and he passes on; You change his countenance and send him away.
Ecclesiastes 4:12 And though one may be overpowered, two can resist. Moreover, a cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
- נָפַל nâphalfall, lietranslated this way 1 time of its 432 uses · Strong’s H5307Verb · Translated: fall 104, fell 77, fallen 54, falls 21Full study and all 403 verses →
Genesis 43:18 But the brothers were frightened that they had been taken to Joseph’s house. “We have been brought here because of the silver that was returned in our bags the first time,” they said. “They intend to overpower us and take us as slaves, along with our donkeys.”
- לָחַם lâchamfight, do battletranslated this way 1 time of its 175 uses · Strong’s H3898Verb · Translated: fight 77, fought 45, fighting 16, waged war 6Full study and all 170 verses →
Isaiah 7:1 Now in the days that Ahaz son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, Rezin king of Aram marched up to wage war against Jerusalem. He was accompanied by Pekah son of Remaliah the king of Israel, but he could not overpower the city.
- חָזַק châzaqbe or grow firm, strong, strengthentranslated this way 1 time of its 290 uses · Strong’s H2388Verb · Translated: strong 37, made repairs 22, strengthened 16, repaired 15Full study and all 264 verses →
Deuteronomy 22:25 But if the man encounters a betrothed woman in the open country, and he overpowers her and lies with her, only the man who has done this must die.
- גָּבַר gâbarbe strong, mightytranslated this way 1 time of its 25 uses · Strong’s H1396Verb · Translated: prevailed 6, prevail 4, great 2, strengthen 2Full study and all 24 verses →
2 Samuel 11:23 The messenger said to David, “The men overpowered us and came out against us in the field, but we drove them back to the entrance of the gate.
- חָזָק châzâqstrong, stout, mightytranslated this way 1 time of its 55 uses · Strong’s H2389Adjective · Translated: mighty 20, strong 18, powerful 2, hard 2Full study and all 53 verses →
Jeremiah 31:11 For the LORD has ransomed Jacob and redeemed him from the hand that had overpowered him.
- רָדָה râdâhhave dominion, rule, dominatetranslated this way 1 time of its 26 uses · Strong’s H7287Verb · Translated: rule 12, dominion 2, supervisors 2Full study and all 25 verses →
Lamentations 1:13 He sent fire from on high, and it overpowered my bones. He spread a net for my feet and turned me back. He made me desolate, faint all the day long.
- שְׁלֵט shelêṭhave power, ruletranslated this way 1 time of its 7 uses · Strong’s H7981Verb · Translated: highest ruler 2, made you ruler 1, rule 1, made him ruler 1Full study and all 7 verses →
Daniel 6:24 At the command of the king, the men who had falsely accused Daniel were brought and thrown into the den of lions— they and their children and wives. And before they had reached the bottom of the den, the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones.
Greek words (New Testament)
- νικάω nikáōI conquer, overcometranslated this way 2 times of its 28 uses · Strong’s G3528Verb · Translated: overcomes 10, overcome 8, conquer 2, conquered 2Full study and all 24 verses →
Luke 11:22 But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted, and then he divides up his plunder.
Revelation 11:7 When the two witnesses have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will wage war with them, and will overpower and kill them.
- κατακυριεύω katakyrieúōI exercise authority over, overpowertranslated this way 1 time of its 4 uses · Strong’s G2634Verb · Translated: lord 2, overpowered 1, lording 1Full study and all 4 verses →
Acts 19:16 Then the man with the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. The attack was so violent that they ran out of the house naked and wounded.
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.