Word study
Please
11 Hebrew and 4 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “please”. 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 “Please” 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)
- נָא nâI (we) pray, nowtranslated this way 167 times of its 254 uses · Strong’s H4994Interjection · Translated: Please 165, now 59, pray 9, beg 2Full study and all 244 verses →
Genesis 12:13 Please say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake, and on account of you my life will be spared.”
Exodus 3:18 The elders of Israel will listen to what you say, and you must go with them to the king of Egypt and tell him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness, so that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.’
- בִּי bîI pray, excuse metranslated this way 9 times of its 11 uses · Strong’s H994Preposition · Translated: Please 9, Sir 1, o 1Full study and all 11 verses →
Genesis 43:20 “Please, sir,” they said, “we really did come down here the first time to buy food.
Exodus 4:10 “Please, Lord,” Moses replied, “I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since You have spoken to Your servant, for I am slow of speech and tongue.”
- טוֹב ṭôbpleasant, agreeable, goodtranslated this way 3 times of its 538 uses · Strong’s H2896Adjective · Translated: good 249, better 72, prosperity 19, good things 12Full study and all 499 verses →
Genesis 19:8 Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them to you, and you can do to them as you please. But do not do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.”
Numbers 36:6 This is what the LORD has commanded concerning the daughters of Zelophehad: They may marry anyone they please, provided they marry within a clan of the tribe of their father.
- יָאַל yâalshew willingness, be pleased, determine, undertaketranslated this way 3 times of its 18 uses · Strong’s H2974Verb · Translated: determined 4, please 3, ventured 2, agreed 2Full study and all 18 verses →
2 Samuel 7:29 Now therefore, may it please You to bless the house of Your servant, that it may continue forever before You. For You, O Lord GOD, have spoken, and with Your blessing the house of Your servant will be blessed forever.”
2 Kings 5:23 But Naaman insisted, “Please, take two talents.” And he urged Gehazi to accept them. Then he tied up two talents of silver in two bags along with two sets of clothing and gave them to two of his servants, who carried them ahead of Gehazi.
- אָנָּא ânnâah, now! I (or we) beseech thee!translated this way 3 times of its 10 uses · Strong’s H577Interjection · Translated: Please 3, o 3, beg 1, oh 1Full study and all 10 verses →
2 Kings 20:3 “Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before You faithfully and with wholehearted devotion; I have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
Isaiah 38:3 saying, “Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before You faithfully and with wholehearted devotion; I have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
- עָרֵב ârêbbe sweet, pleasingtranslated this way 3 times of its 8 uses · Strong’s H6149Verb · Translated: please 3, sweet 2, pleasing 1, most pleasant 1Full study and all 8 verses →
Jeremiah 6:20 What use to Me is frankincense from Sheba or sweet cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable; your sacrifices do not please Me.”
Hosea 9:4 They will not pour out wine offerings to the LORD, and their sacrifices will not please Him, but will be to them like the bread of mourners; all who eat will be defiled. For their bread will be for themselves; it will not enter the house of the LORD.
- יָשַׁר yâsharbe smooth, straight, righttranslated this way 2 times of its 25 uses · Strong’s H3474Verb · Translated: pleased 4, make 3, please 2, pleasing 2Full study and all 25 verses →
Numbers 23:27 “Please come,” said Balak, “I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God that you curse them for me from there.”
Jeremiah 27:5 By My great power and outstretched arm, I made the earth and the men and beasts on the face of it, and I give it to whom I please.
- כָּרַת kârathcut off, cut downtranslated this way 2 times of its 284 uses · Strong’s H3772Verb · Translated: cut 144, made 47, make 28, fail 7Full study and all 276 verses →
Joshua 9:6 They went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and the men of Israel, “We have come from a distant land; please make a treaty with us.”
Joshua 9:11 So the elders and inhabitants of our land told us, ‘Take provisions for your journey; go to meet them and say to them: We are your servants. Please make a treaty with us.’
- רָצָה râtsâhbe pleased with, accept favourablytranslated this way 2 times of its 57 uses · Strong’s H7521Verb · Translated: accept 12, delight 6, pleased 5, accepted 4Full study and all 55 verses →
2 Chronicles 10:7 They replied, “If you will be kind to these people and please them by speaking kind words to them, they will be your servants forever.”
Proverbs 16:7 When a man’s ways please the LORD, He makes even the man’s enemies live at peace with him.
- עַיִן ayineyetranslated this way 2 times of its 764 uses · Strong’s H5869Noun · Translated: eyes 383, sight 186, eye 38, presence 13Full study and all 731 verses →
- חֵפֶץ chêphetsdelight, pleasuretranslated this way 2 times of its 38 uses · Strong’s H2656Noun · Translated: desire 7, delight 6, pleasure 4, desired 3Full study and all 37 verses →
Isaiah 58:3 “Why have we fasted, and You have not seen? Why have we humbled ourselves, and You have not noticed?” “Behold, on the day of your fast, you do as you please, and you oppress all your workers.
Isaiah 58:13 If you turn your foot from breaking the Sabbath, from doing as you please on My holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight, and the LORD’s holy day honorable, if you honor it by not going your own way or seeking your own pleasure or speaking idle words,
Greek words (New Testament)
- ἀρέσκω aréskōI please, servetranslated this way 12 times of its 17 uses · Strong’s G700Verb · Translated: please 11, pleased 3, still trying to please 1, displeasing 1Full study and all 16 verses →
Romans 8:8 Those controlled by the flesh cannot please God.
1 Corinthians 7:32 I want you to be free from concern. The unmarried man is concerned about the work of the Lord, how he can please the Lord.
- ἐρωτάω erōtáōI ask, question, requesttranslated this way 2 times of its 63 uses · Strong’s G2065Verb · Translated: ask 20, asked 18, question 3, asking 3Full study and all 61 verses →
Luke 14:18 But one after another they all began to make excuses. The first one said, ‘I have bought a field, and I need to go see it. Please excuse me.’
Luke 14:19 Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out. Please excuse me.’
- εἰς eisinto, in, among, till, fortranslated this way 2 times of its 1,383 uses · Strong’s G1519Preposition · Translated: to 481, into 306, in 179, for 133Full study and all 1,235 verses →
- ἀνθρωπάρεσκος anthrōpáreskosdesirous of pleasing mentranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G441Adjective · Translated: please 2Full study and all 2 verses →
Ephesians 6:6 And do this not only to please them while they are watching, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart.
Colossians 3:22 Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything, not only to please them while they are watching, but with sincerity of heart and fear of the Lord.
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.