Word study
Persist
6 Hebrew and 2 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: persist, persisted, persists. 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 “persist” 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)
- הָלַךְ hâlakgo, come, walktranslated this way 2 times of its 1,461 uses · Strong’s H1980Verb · Translated: go 338, went 173, walk 116, Come 84Full study and all 1,299 verses →
- עָמַד âmadtake one's stand, standtranslated this way 2 times of its 508 uses · Strong’s H5975Verb · Translated: stood 99, stand 95, standing 50, stands 12Full study and all 485 verses →
Deuteronomy 25:8 Then the elders of his city shall summon him and speak with him. If he persists and says, “I do not want to marry her,”
Ecclesiastes 8:3 Do not hasten to leave his presence, and do not persist in a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases.
- בָּרַךְ bârakkneel, blesstranslated this way 1 time of its 323 uses · Strong’s H1288Verb · Translated: blessed 155, bless 114, blesses 13, pronounce blessings 3Full study and all 289 verses →
Numbers 24:10 Then Balak’s anger burned against Balaam, and he struck his hands together and said to Balaam, “I summoned you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have persisted in blessing them these three times.
- יָסַף yâsaphaddtranslated this way 1 time of its 202 uses · Strong’s H3254Verb · Translated: again 36, add 23, longer 20, severely 12Full study and all 198 verses →
2 Samuel 18:22 Ahimaaz son of Zadok, however, persisted and said to Joab, “No matter what, please let me also run behind the Cushite!” “My son,” Joab replied, “why do you want to run, since you will not receive a reward?”
- עָשָׂה âsâhdo, maketranslated this way 1 time of its 2,478 uses · Strong’s H6213Verb · Translated: done 292, made 265, make 143, did 112Full study and all 2,206 verses →
- רָעַע râabe evil, badtranslated this way 1 time of its 97 uses · Strong’s H7489Verb · Translated: wicked 9, harm 8, evil 8, evildoers 8Full study and all 97 verses →
1 Samuel 12:25 But if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will be swept away.”
Greek words (New Testament)
- ἐπιμένω epiménōI remain, tarry, persist intranslated this way 1 time of its 16 uses · Strong’s G1961Verb · Translated: stayed 3, continue 3, stay 2, spend 2Full study and all 16 verses →
Romans 11:23 And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.
- ἁμαρτάνω hamartánōI sintranslated this way 1 time of its 43 uses · Strong’s G264Verb · Translated: sinned 12, sin 10, sins 5, sinning 4Full study and all 37 verses →
1 Timothy 5:20 But those who persist in sin should be rebuked in front of everyone, so that the others will stand in fear of sin.
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.