Word study
Poverty
5 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “poverty”. 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 “poverty” 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)
- רֵישׁ rêshpovertytranslated this way 7 times of its 7 uses · Strong’s H7389Noun · Translated: poverty 7Full study and all 7 verses →
Proverbs 6:11 and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and need like a bandit.
Proverbs 10:15 The wealth of the rich man is his fortified city, but poverty is the ruin of the poor.
- מַחְסוֹר machsôrneed, thing needed, povertytranslated this way 3 times of its 13 uses · Strong’s H4270Noun · Translated: need 4, poverty 3, lack 2, become poor 2Full study and all 13 verses →
Proverbs 14:23 There is profit in all labor, but mere talk leads only to poverty.
Proverbs 21:5 The plans of the diligent bring plenty, as surely as haste leads to poverty.
- יָרַשׁ yârashtake possession of, inherit, dispossesstranslated this way 2 times of its 230 uses · Strong’s H3423Verb · Translated: possess 72, drive 27, take possession 21, driven 12Full study and all 204 verses →
1 Samuel 2:7 The LORD sends poverty and wealth; He humbles and He exalts.
Proverbs 23:21 For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe them in rags.
- חֶסֶר cheserwant, povertytranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s H2639Noun · Translated: poverty 2Full study and all 2 verses →
Job 30:3 Gaunt from poverty and hunger, they gnawed the dry land, and the desolate wasteland by night.
Proverbs 28:22 A stingy man hastens after wealth and does not know that poverty awaits him.
- כִּכָּר kikkâra roundtranslated this way 1 time of its 68 uses · Strong’s H3603Noun · Translated: talents 35, plain 10, talent 9, loaf 3Full study and all 55 verses →
Proverbs 6:26 For the levy of the prostitute is poverty, and the adulteress preys upon your very life.
Greek words (New Testament)
- πτωχεία ptōcheíabeggary, povertytranslated this way 3 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s G4432Noun · Translated: poverty 3Full study and all 3 verses →
2 Corinthians 8:2 In the terrible ordeal they suffered, their abundant joy and deep poverty overflowed into rich generosity.
Revelation 2:9 I know your affliction and your poverty — though you are rich! And I am aware of the slander of those who falsely claim to be Jews, but are in fact a synagogue of Satan.
- ὑστέρησις hystérēsispoverty, wanttranslated this way 1 time of its 2 uses · Strong’s G5304Noun · Translated: poverty 1, need 1Full study and all 2 verses →
Mark 12:44 For they all contributed out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.”
- ὑστέρημα hystérēmathat which is lacking, povertytranslated this way 1 time of its 9 uses · Strong’s G5303Noun · Translated: lacking 3, need 2, needs 2, poverty 1Full study and all 8 verses →
Luke 21:4 For they all contributed out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.”
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 poverty: 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.