Word study
Possession
12 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: possession, possessions. 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 “possession” 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 34 times of its 230 uses · Strong’s H3423Verb · Translated: possess 72, drive 27, take possession 21, driven 12Full study and all 204 verses →
Numbers 13:30 Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “We must go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly conquer it!”
Deuteronomy 1:21 See, the LORD your God has placed the land before you. Go up and take possession of it as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has told you. Do not be afraid or discouraged.”
- אֲחֻזָּה ăchuzzâhpossessiontranslated this way 17 times of its 60 uses · Strong’s H272Noun · Translated: property 26, possession 16, site 5, possess 4Full study and all 54 verses →
Genesis 17:8 And to you and your descendants I will give the land where you are residing— all the land of Canaan— as an eternal possession; and I will be their God.”
Leviticus 14:34 “When you enter the land of Canaan, which I am giving you as your possession, and I put a contamination of mildew into a house in that land,
- רְכוּשׁ rekûshproperty, goodstranslated this way 13 times of its 28 uses · Strong’s H7399Noun · Translated: possessions 13, goods 6, property 3, wealth 3Full study and all 27 verses →
Genesis 12:5 And Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the possessions and people they had acquired in Haran, and set out for the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan,
Numbers 16:32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households — all Korah’s men and all their possessions.
- מוֹרָשָׁה môrâshâha possessiontranslated this way 9 times of its 9 uses · Strong’s H4181Noun · Translated: possession 9Full study and all 9 verses →
Exodus 6:8 And I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD!’”
Deuteronomy 33:4 the law that Moses gave us, the possession of the assembly of Jacob.
- סְגֻלָּה segullâhpossession, propertytranslated this way 6 times of its 8 uses · Strong’s H5459Noun · Translated: treasured possession 4, prized possession 2, personal treasures 1, treasure 1Full study and all 8 verses →
Exodus 19:5 Now if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you will be My treasured possession out of all the nations — for the whole earth is Mine.
Deuteronomy 7:6 For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His prized possession out of all peoples on the face of the earth.
- יָד yâdhandtranslated this way 5 times of its 1,403 uses · Strong’s H3027Noun · Translated: hand 664, hands 349, through 64, power 22Full study and all 1,290 verses →
Exodus 21:16 Whoever kidnaps another man must be put to death, whether he sells him or the man is found in his possession.
Leviticus 25:28 But if he cannot obtain enough to repay him, what he sold will remain in possession of the buyer until the Year of Jubilee. In the Jubilee, however, it is to be released, so that he may return to his property.
- כֹּל kôlthe whole, alltranslated this way 3 times of its 5,107 uses · Strong’s H3605Noun · Translated: all 1,589, and all 471, whole 223, every 196Full study and all 4,112 verses →
Genesis 12:20 Then Pharaoh gave his men orders concerning Abram, and they sent him away with his wife and all his possessions.
Genesis 13:1 So Abram went up out of Egypt into the Negev— he and his wife and all his possessions— and Lot was with him.
- יְרֻשָּׁה yerushshâhpossession, inheritancetranslated this way 3 times of its 12 uses · Strong’s H3425Noun · Translated: inheritance 4, as 3, possession 3, land as an inheritance 1Full study and all 12 verses →
Deuteronomy 2:12 The Horites used to live in Seir, but the descendants of Esau drove them out. They destroyed the Horites from before them and settled in their place, just as Israel did in the land that the LORD gave them as their possession.)
2 Chronicles 20:11 See how they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of the possession that You gave us as an inheritance.
- אֲשֶׁר ăsherparticle of relationtranslated this way 2 times of its 3,225 uses · Strong’s H834Pronoun · Translated: that 886, who 451, as 247, which 160Full study and all 2,844 verses →
Genesis 31:21 So he fled with all his possessions, crossed the Euphrates, and headed for the hill country of Gilead.
Genesis 32:23 He took them and sent them across the stream, along with all his possessions.
- קִנְיָן qinyânthing got or aquired, acquisitiontranslated this way 2 times of its 9 uses · Strong’s H7075Noun · Translated: possessions 2Full study and all 9 verses →
Genesis 34:23 Will not their livestock, their possessions, and all their animals become ours? Only let us consent to them, and they will dwell among us.”
Ezekiel 38:12 in order to seize the spoil and carry off the plunder, to turn a hand against the desolate places now inhabited and against a people gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and possessions and who live at the center 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 →
Numbers 32:18 We will not return to our homes until every Israelite has taken possession of his inheritance.
Zechariah 2:12 And the LORD will take possession of Judah as His portion in the Holy Land, and He will once again choose Jerusalem.
- אָחַז âchazgrasp, take hold, take possessiontranslated this way 2 times of its 65 uses · Strong’s H270Verb · Translated: seized 9, seize 4, grip 3, took hold 3Full study and all 61 verses →
Numbers 32:30 But if they do not arm themselves and go across with you, then they must accept their possession among you in the land of Canaan.”
Joshua 22:19 If indeed the land of your inheritance is unclean, then cross over to the land of the LORD’s possession, where the LORD’s tabernacle stands, and take possession of it among us. But do not rebel against the LORD or against us by building for yourselves an altar other than the altar of the LORD our God.
Greek words (New Testament)
- ὑπάρχω hypárchōI am, exist, am in possessiontranslated this way 10 times of its 52 uses · Strong’s G5225Verb · Translated: possessions 10, is 5, was 3, to be 3Full study and all 52 verses →
Matthew 19:21 Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.”
Luke 11:21 When a strong man, fully armed, guards his house, his possessions are secure.
- σκεῦος skeûosa vessel to contain liquid, utensil, tackletranslated this way 3 times of its 18 uses · Strong’s G4632Noun · Translated: vessels 4, possessions 3, vessel 3, jar 2Full study and all 18 verses →
Matthew 12:29 Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and steal his possessions, unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house.
Mark 3:27 Indeed, no one can enter a strong man’s house to steal his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can plunder his house.
- περιποίησις peripoíēsisobtaining, possessing, possessiontranslated this way 2 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s G4047Noun · Translated: possession 2, obtain 1, share 1, preserve 1Full study and all 5 verses →
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.
1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
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.