Word study
Pledge
7 Hebrew and 2 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: pledge, pledged, pledges. 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 “pledge” 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)
- אֱסָר ĕsârbond, binding obligationtranslated this way 10 times of its 10 uses · Strong’s H632Noun · Translated: pledges 6, pledge 4Full study and all 9 verses →
Numbers 30:2 If a man makes a vow to the LORD or swears an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word; he must do everything he has promised.
Numbers 30:3 And if a woman in her father’s house during her youth makes a vow to the LORD or obligates herself by a pledge,
- אָרַשׂ ârasbetrothtranslated this way 5 times of its 11 uses · Strong’s H781Verb · Translated: pledged in marriage 4, betrothed 3, betroth 3, become pledged 1Full study and all 10 verses →
Exodus 22:16 If a man seduces a virgin who is not pledged in marriage and sleeps with her, he must pay the full dowry for her to be his wife.
Deuteronomy 20:7 Has any man become pledged to a woman and not married her? Let him return home, or he may die in battle and another man marry her.”
- חֲבֹל chăbôlpledgetranslated this way 4 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s H2258Noun · Translated: pledge 4Full study and all 4 verses →
Ezekiel 18:7 He does not oppress another, but restores the pledge to the debtor. He does not commit robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing.
Ezekiel 18:12 He oppresses the poor and needy; he commits robbery and does not restore a pledge. He lifts his eyes to idols; he commits abominations.
- נָתַן nâthangive, put, settranslated this way 2 times of its 1,957 uses · Strong’s H5414Verb · Translated: give 326, gave 206, given 187, put 135Full study and all 1,785 verses →
- עֲרָבוֹן ărâbônpledgetranslated this way 2 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s H6162Noun · Translated: something as a pledge 1, pledge 1, items he had left 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Genesis 38:17 “I will send you a young goat from my flock,” Judah answered. But she replied, “Only if you leave me something as a pledge until you send it.”
Genesis 38:18 “What pledge should I give you?” he asked. She answered, “Your seal and your cord, and the staff in your hand.” So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him.
- חָבַל châbalbind, pledgetranslated this way 2 times of its 25 uses · Strong’s H2254Verb · Translated: destroy 3, security 2, broken 2, get collateral 2Full study and all 23 verses →
Job 24:3 They drive away the donkey of the fatherless and take the widow’s ox in pledge.
Amos 2:8 They lie down beside every altar on garments taken in pledge. And in the house of their God, they drink wine obtained through fines.
- תָּקַע tâqathrust, clap, give a blow, blasttranslated this way 2 times of its 65 uses · Strong’s H8628Verb · Translated: blew 15, blow 11, sound 7, sounded 4Full study and all 60 verses →
Proverbs 6:1 My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, if you have struck hands in pledge with a stranger,
Proverbs 22:26 Do not be one who gives pledges, who puts up security for debts.
Greek words (New Testament)
- μνηστεύω mnēsteúōI ask in marriagetranslated this way 3 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s G3423Verb · Translated: pledged in marriage 2, pledged to him in marriage 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Matthew 1:18 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged in marriage to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.
Luke 1:27 to a virgin pledged in marriage to a man named Joseph, who was of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.
- ἀῤῥαβών arrhabṓnan earnest, earnest-moneytranslated this way 3 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s G728Noun · Translated: pledge of what is to come 2, pledge 1Full study and all 3 verses →
2 Corinthians 1:22 placed His seal on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a pledge of what is to come.
Ephesians 1:14 who is the pledge of our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession, to the praise of His glory.
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.
What the Bible says about pledge: passages by topic →
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.