Word study
Power
13 Hebrew and 6 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: power, powers. 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 “power” 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)
- כֹּחַ kôachstrength, powertranslated this way 36 times of its 118 uses · Strong’s H3581Noun · Translated: strength 54, power 35, produce 2, powerless 2Full study and all 114 verses →
Exodus 9:16 But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My power to you, and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth.
Numbers 14:17 So now I pray, may the power of my Lord be magnified, just as You have declared:
- יָד yâdhandtranslated this way 24 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 4:21 The LORD instructed Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders that I have put within your power. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go.
Deuteronomy 3:24 “O Lord GOD, You have begun to show Your greatness and power to Your servant. For what god in heaven or on earth can perform such works and mighty acts as Yours?
- עֹז ôzstrength, mighttranslated this way 10 times of its 91 uses · Strong’s H5797Noun · Translated: strength 45, power 10, strong 9, mighty 9Full study and all 90 verses →
1 Samuel 2:10 Those who oppose the LORD will be shattered. He will thunder from heaven against them. The LORD will judge the ends of the earth and will give power to His king. He will exalt the horn of His anointed.”
Job 12:16 True wisdom and power belong to Him. The deceived and the deceiver are His.
- גְּבוּרָה gebûrâhstrength, mighttranslated this way 10 times of its 60 uses · Strong’s H1369Noun · Translated: strength 15, power 8, mighty acts 5, his might 5Full study and all 60 verses →
1 Chronicles 29:11 Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the splendor and the majesty, for everything in heaven and on earth belongs to You. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom, and You are exalted as head over all.
Job 26:14 Indeed, these are but the fringes of His ways; how faint is the whisper we hear of Him! Who then can understand the thunder of His power?”
- אֵל êlgodtranslated this way 3 times of its 235 uses · Strong’s H410Noun · Translated: God 208, Mighty 5, power 3, God's 3Full study and all 225 verses →
Deuteronomy 28:32 Your sons and daughters will be given to another nation, while your eyes grow weary looking for them day after day, with no power in your hand.
Proverbs 3:27 Do not withhold good from the deserving when it is within your power to act.
- זְרוֹעַ zerôaarm, shoulder, strengthtranslated this way 3 times of its 90 uses · Strong’s H2220Noun · Translated: arm 49, arms 18, strength 7, power 3Full study and all 84 verses →
Psalm 71:18 Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, until I proclaim Your power to the next generation, Your might to all who are to come.
Ezekiel 22:6 See how every prince of Israel within you has used his power to shed blood.
- קוּם qûmarise, stand up, standtranslated this way 2 times of its 594 uses · Strong’s H6965Verb · Translated: rise 68, got 61, set 44, Get 42Full study and all 570 verses →
Exodus 1:8 Then a new king, who did not know Joseph, came to power in Egypt.
- חֶזְקָה chezqâhstrength, forcetranslated this way 2 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s H2393Noun · Translated: royal power 1, but when 1, strong 1, power 1Full study and all 4 verses →
2 Chronicles 12:1 After Rehoboam had established his sovereignty and royal power, he and all Israel with him forsook the Law of the LORD.
Daniel 11:2 Now then, I will tell you the truth: Three more kings will arise in Persia, and then a fourth, who will be far richer than all the others. By the power of his wealth, he will stir up everyone against the kingdom of Greece.
- חַיִל chayilstrength, efficiency, wealth, armytranslated this way 2 times of its 233 uses · Strong’s H2428Noun · Translated: army 73, valor 49, wealth 26, strength 9Full study and all 219 verses →
Job 21:7 Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power?
Psalm 59:11 Do not kill them, or my people will forget. Scatter them by Your power, and bring them down, O Lord, our shield.
- אוֹן ônvigour, wealthtranslated this way 2 times of its 12 uses · Strong’s H202Noun · Translated: strength 3, wealth 2, power 2, vigor 2Full study and all 12 verses →
Job 40:16 See the strength of his loins and the power in the muscles of his belly.
Isaiah 40:26 Lift up your eyes on high: Who created all these? He leads forth the starry host by number; He calls each one by name. Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.
- גְּבוּרָה gebûrâhmighttranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s H1370Noun · Translated: power 2Full study and all 2 verses →
Daniel 2:20 and declared: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and power belong to Him.
Daniel 2:23 To You, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, because You have given me wisdom and power. And now You have made known to me what we have requested, for You have made known to us the dream of the king.”
- חֵסֶן chêsenpowertranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s H2632Noun · Translated: power 2Full study and all 2 verses →
Daniel 2:37 You, O king, are the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given sovereignty, power, strength, and glory.
Daniel 4:30 the king exclaimed, “Is this not Babylon the Great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?”
- עָצַם âtsambe vast, mighty, numeroustranslated this way 2 times of its 18 uses · Strong’s H6105Verb · Translated: numerous 5, more 2, more numerous 2Full study and all 18 verses →
Daniel 8:8 Thus the goat became very great, but at the height of his power, his large horn was broken off, and four prominent horns came up in its place, pointing toward the four winds of heaven.
Daniel 11:23 After an alliance is made with him, he will act deceitfully; for he will rise to power with only a few people.
Greek words (New Testament)
- δύναμις dýnamismight, power, marvelous workstranslated this way 86 times of its 116 uses · Strong’s G1411Noun · Translated: power 77, miracles 18, powers 6, miraculous powers 3Full study and all 113 verses →
Matthew 13:54 Coming to His hometown, He taught the people in their synagogue, and they were astonished. “Where did this man get such wisdom and miraculous powers?” they asked.
Mark 5:30 At once Jesus was aware that power had gone out from Him. Turning to the crowd, He asked, “Who touched My garments?”
- ἐξουσία exousíapower, authority, weighttranslated this way 10 times of its 100 uses · Strong’s G1849Noun · Translated: authority 65, power 10, right 9, authorities 7Full study and all 92 verses →
Luke 22:53 Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on Me. But this hour belongs to you and to the power of darkness.”
Acts 8:19 “Give me this power as well,” he said, “so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”
- κράτος krátosdominion, strength, powertranslated this way 5 times of its 12 uses · Strong’s G2904Noun · Translated: power 5, dominion 2Full study and all 12 verses →
Hebrews 2:14 Now since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity, so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is, the devil,
1 Peter 4:11 If anyone speaks, he should speak as one conveying the words of God. If anyone serves, he should serve with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.
- δυνατός dynatóspowerful, able, possibletranslated this way 2 times of its 31 uses · Strong’s G1415Adjective · Translated: possible 12, able 4, powerful 3, strong 3Full study and all 31 verses →
Romans 9:22 What if God, intending to show His wrath and make His power known, bore with great patience the vessels of His wrath, prepared for destruction?
2 Corinthians 10:4 The weapons of our warfare are not the weapons of the flesh. Instead, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.
- ἐνέργεια enérgeiaworking, activitytranslated this way 2 times of its 8 uses · Strong’s G1753Noun · Translated: working 3, power 2, work 1, energy 1Full study and all 8 verses →
Philippians 3:21 who, by the power that enables Him to subject all things to Himself, will transform our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body.
Colossians 2:12 And having been buried with Him in baptism, you were raised with Him through your faith in the power of God, who raised Him from the dead.
- δίδωμι dídōmiI offer, givetranslated this way 2 times of its 403 uses · Strong’s G1325Verb · Translated: give 110, given 107, gave 72, gives 14Full study and all 370 verses →
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 power: 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.