Word study
Partner
3 Hebrew and 4 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: partner, partners, partnered. 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 “partner” 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)
- אַלּוּף allûphtametranslated this way 1 time of its 31 uses · Strong’s H441Noun · Translated: chiefs 18, companion 2Full study and all 25 verses →
Proverbs 2:17 who abandons the partner of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God.
- חָלַק châlaqdivide, sharetranslated this way 1 time of its 65 uses · Strong’s H2505Verb · Translated: divided 14, divide 9, distributed 4, dividing 3Full study and all 64 verses →
Proverbs 29:24 A partner to a thief hates his own soul; he receives the oath but does not testify.
- שָׁלַם shâlambe complete, soundtranslated this way 1 time of its 109 uses · Strong’s H7999Verb · Translated: repay 20, fulfill 14, make restitution 7, made peace 6Full study and all 106 verses →
Isaiah 42:19 Who is blind but My servant, or deaf like the messenger I am sending? Who is blind like My covenant partner, or blind like the servant of the LORD?
Greek words (New Testament)
- κοινωνός koinōnósa sharer, partnertranslated this way 5 times of its 10 uses · Strong’s G2844Noun · Translated: partners 3, partner 2Full study and all 10 verses →
Matthew 23:30 And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’
Luke 5:10 and so were his partners James and John, the sons of Zebedee. “Do not be afraid,” Jesus said to Simon. “From now on you will catch men.”
- συγκοινωνός synkoinōnósa partaker with, co-partnertranslated this way 2 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s G4791Noun · Translated: share 1, partners 1, partner 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Philippians 1:7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart. For in my chains and in my defense and confirmation of the gospel, you are all partners in grace with me.
Revelation 1:9 I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance that are in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and my testimony about Jesus.
- μέτοχος métochosa sharer, partnertranslated this way 1 time of its 5 uses · Strong’s G3353Adjective · Translated: share 2, partners 1, companions 1, else 1Full study and all 5 verses →
Luke 5:7 So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.
- κοινωνέω koinōnéōI share, communicate, have fellowship withtranslated this way 1 time of its 8 uses · Strong’s G2841Verb · Translated: share 4, shared 1, partnered 1, have 1Full study and all 8 verses →
Philippians 4:15 And as you Philippians know, in the early days of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church but you partnered with me in the matter of giving and receiving.
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.