Word study
Pale
6 Hebrew and 1 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “pale”. 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 “pale” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- שְׁנָא shenâtranslated this way 4 times of its 20 uses · Strong’s H8133Verb · Translated: changed 5, different 5, change 2Full study and all 20 verses →
Daniel 5:6 his face grew pale and his thoughts so alarmed him that his hips gave way and his knees knocked together.
Daniel 5:9 Then King Belshazzar became even more terrified, his face grew even more pale, and his nobles were bewildered.
- קָבַץ qâbatsgather, collecttranslated this way 2 times of its 126 uses · Strong’s H6908Verb · Translated: gather 42, gathered 25, assembled 10, assemble 9Full study and all 121 verses →
Joel 2:6 Nations writhe in horror before them; every face turns pale.
Nahum 2:10 She is emptied! Yes, she is desolate and laid waste! Hearts melt, knees knock, bodies tremble, and every face grows pale!
- חוֹר chôrwhite stufftranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s H2355Noun · Translated: turn pale 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Isaiah 19:9 The workers in flax will be dismayed, and the weavers of fine linen will turn pale.
- חָוַר châvarbe or grow white, paletranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s H2357Verb · Translated: grow pale 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Isaiah 29:22 Therefore the LORD who redeemed Abraham says of the house of Jacob: “No longer will Jacob be ashamed and no more will his face grow pale.
- יֵרָקוֹן yêrâqônmildew, paleness, lividneestranslated this way 1 time of its 6 uses · Strong’s H3420Noun · Translated: mildew 5, pale 1Full study and all 6 verses →
Jeremiah 30:6 Ask now, and see: Can a male give birth? Why then do I see every man with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor and every face turned pale?
- מַשְׁחִית mashchîthruin, destructiontranslated this way 1 time of its 11 uses · Strong’s H4889Noun · Translated: destroy 3, destruction 3Full study and all 11 verses →
Daniel 10:8 So I was left alone, gazing at this great vision. No strength remained in me; my face grew deathly pale, and I was powerless.
Greek words (New Testament)
- χλωρός chlōrósgreen, paletranslated this way 1 time of its 4 uses · Strong’s G5515Adjective · Translated: green 2, pale green 1, plant 1Full study and all 4 verses →
Revelation 6:8 Then I looked and saw a pale green horse. Its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed close behind. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill by sword, by famine, by plague, and by the beasts of the earth.
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.