Word study
Precious
8 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “precious”. 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 “precious” 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)
- יָקָר yâqârprecious, rare, splendid, weightytranslated this way 22 times of its 35 uses · Strong’s H3368Adjective · Translated: precious 20, costly 3Full study and all 35 verses →
2 Samuel 12:30 Then he took the crown from the head of their king. It weighed a talent of gold and was set with precious stones, and it was placed on David’s head. And David took a great amount of plunder from the city.
1 Kings 10:2 She arrived in Jerusalem with a very large caravan— with camels bearing spices, gold in great abundance, and precious stones. And she came to Solomon and spoke to him all that was on her mind.
- יָקַר yâqarbe precious, prized, appraisedtranslated this way 6 times of its 11 uses · Strong’s H3365Verb · Translated: precious 6, esteemed 1, costly 1, Seldom 1Full study and all 11 verses →
1 Samuel 26:21 Then Saul replied, “I have sinned. Come back, David my son. I will never harm you again, because today you considered my life precious. I have played the fool and have committed a grave error!”
2 Kings 1:13 So the king sent a third captain with his fifty men. And the third captain went up, fell on his knees before Elijah, and begged him, “Man of God, may my life and the lives of these fifty servants of yours please be precious in your sight.
- חֶמְדָּה chemdâhid.translated this way 5 times of its 23 uses · Strong’s H2532Noun · Translated: pleasant 3, precious 3, highly precious 2, riches 2Full study and all 23 verses →
Daniel 10:11 He said to me, “Daniel, you are a man who is highly precious. Consider carefully the words that I am about to say to you. Stand up, for I have now been sent to you.” And when he had said this to me, I stood up trembling.
Hosea 13:15 Although he flourishes among his brothers, an east wind will come — a wind from the LORD rising up from the desert. His fountain will fail, and his spring will run dry. The wind will plunder his treasury of every precious article.
- טוֹב ṭôbpleasant, agreeable, goodtranslated this way 4 times of its 538 uses · Strong’s H2896Adjective · Translated: good 249, better 72, prosperity 19, good things 12Full study and all 499 verses →
2 Kings 20:13 And Hezekiah received the envoys and showed them all that was in his treasure house — the silver, the gold, the spices, and the precious oil, as well as his armory— all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his palace or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.
- חָמַד châmaddesire, take pleasure intranslated this way 4 times of its 23 uses · Strong’s H2530Verb · Translated: covet 6, delight 2, desire 2, precious 2Full study and all 22 verses →
Ezra 8:27 20 gold bowls valued at 1,000 darics, and two articles of fine polished bronze, as precious as gold.
Psalm 19:10 They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.
- מִגְדָּנָה migdânâhchoice of excellent thingtranslated this way 2 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s H4030Noun · Translated: precious gifts 1, precious things 1, valuable gifts 1, valuables 1Full study and all 4 verses →
Genesis 24:53 Then he brought out jewels of silver and gold, and articles of clothing, and he gave them to Rebekah. He also gave precious gifts to her brother and her mother.
2 Chronicles 21:3 Their father had given them many gifts of silver and gold and precious things, as well as the fortified cities in Judah; but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram because he was the firstborn.
- מַחְמָד machmâddesire, desirable thingtranslated this way 2 times of its 12 uses · Strong’s H4261Noun · Translated: desire 3, precious 2, treasures 2Full study and all 12 verses →
1 Kings 20:6 But about this time tomorrow I will send my servants to search your palace and the houses of your servants. They will seize and carry away all that is precious to you.’”
Hosea 9:6 For even if they flee destruction, Egypt will gather them and Memphis will bury them. Their precious silver will be taken over by thistles, and thorns will overrun their tents.
- יָחִיד yâchîdonly one, solitarytranslated this way 2 times of its 12 uses · Strong’s H3173Adjective · Translated: your only 3, child 3, precious life 2, lonely 2Full study and all 12 verses →
Psalm 22:20 Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of wild dogs.
Psalm 35:17 How long, O Lord, will You look on? Rescue my soul from their ravages, my precious life from these lions.
Greek words (New Testament)
- τίμιος tímiosof great price, precious, honoredtranslated this way 9 times of its 13 uses · Strong’s G5093Adjective · Translated: precious 8, honored 2, value 1, with 1Full study and all 12 verses →
1 Corinthians 3:12 If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw,
James 5:7 Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer awaits the precious fruit of the soil — how patient he is for the fall and spring rains.
- πολύτιμος polýtimosof great valuetranslated this way 2 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s G4186Adjective · Translated: precious 1, expensive 1, more precious 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Matthew 13:46 When he found one very precious pearl, he went away and sold all he had and bought it.
1 Peter 1:7 so that the proven character of your faith — more precious than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire — may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
- ἔντιμος éntimosprecious, honored, honorabletranslated this way 2 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s G1784Adjective · Translated: precious 2, highly valued 1, more distinguished 1, honor 1Full study and all 5 verses →
1 Peter 2:4 As you come to Him, the living stone, rejected by men but chosen and precious in God’s sight,
1 Peter 2:6 For it stands in Scripture: “See, I lay in Zion a stone, a chosen and precious cornerstone; and the one who believes in Him will never be put to shame.”
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.