Word study
Possess
4 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: possess, possessed, possessing, possesses. 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 “possess” 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)
- יָרַשׁ yârashtake possession of, inherit, dispossesstranslated this way 80 times of its 230 uses · Strong’s H3423Verb · Translated: possess 72, drive 27, take possession 21, driven 12Full study and all 204 verses →
Genesis 15:7 The LORD also told him, “I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”
Numbers 33:53 You are to take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given you the land to possess.
- אֲחֻזָּה ăchuzzâhpossessiontranslated this way 5 times of its 60 uses · Strong’s H272Noun · Translated: property 26, possession 16, site 5, possess 4Full study and all 54 verses →
Genesis 36:43 Magdiel, and Iram. These were the chiefs of Edom, according to their settlements in the land they possessed. Esau was the father of the Edomites.
Leviticus 25:24 Thus for every piece of property you possess, you must provide for the redemption of the land.
- נָחַל nâchalget or take as a possessiontranslated this way 2 times of its 58 uses · Strong’s H5157Verb · Translated: inheritance 11, inherit 7, receive an inheritance 3, possess 2Full study and all 56 verses →
Exodus 23:30 Little by little I will drive them out ahead of you, until you become fruitful and possess the land.
Isaiah 14:2 The nations will escort Israel and bring it to its homeland. Then the house of Israel will possess the nations as menservants and maidservants in the LORD’s land. They will make captives of their captors and rule over their oppressors.
- חֲסַן chăsantake . . . possession oftranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s H2631Verb · Translated: possess 2Full study and all 2 verses →
Daniel 7:18 But the saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom and possess it forever — yes, forever and ever.’
Daniel 7:22 until the Ancient of Days arrived and pronounced judgment in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for them to possess the kingdom.
Greek words (New Testament)
- ἔχω échōI have, hold, possesstranslated this way 5 times of its 624 uses · Strong’s G2192Verb · Translated: has 63, have 52, with 35, you have 29Full study and all 560 verses →
Mark 3:22 And the scribes who had come down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and, “By the prince of the demons He drives out demons.”
- δαιμονίζομαι daimonízomaiI am demon-possessedtranslated this way 3 times of its 13 uses · Strong’s G1139Verb · Translated: demon-possessed 6, demon-possessed man 3, possessed by a demon 1, possessed 1Full study and all 13 verses →
Matthew 4:24 News about Him spread all over Syria, and people brought to Him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering acute pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and He healed them.
Mark 1:32 That evening, after sunset, people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed,
- ὑπάρχω hypárchōI am, exist, am in possessiontranslated this way 2 times of its 52 uses · Strong’s G5225Verb · Translated: possessions 10, is 5, was 3, to be 3Full study and all 52 verses →
1 Corinthians 13:3 If I give all I possess to the poor and exult in the surrender of my body, but have not love, I gain nothing.
2 Peter 1:8 For if you possess these qualities and continue to grow in them, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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.