Word study
Press
4 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: pressed, pressing, press, presses. 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 “press” 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)
- כָּתִית kâthîthbeatentranslated this way 4 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s H3795Adjective · Translated: pressed 4Full study and all 4 verses →
Exodus 27:20 And you are to command the Israelites to bring you pure oil of pressed olives for the light, to keep the lamps burning continually.
Leviticus 24:2 “Command the Israelites to bring you pure oil of pressed olives for the light, to keep the lamps burning continually.
- פָּצַר pâtsarpush, presstranslated this way 3 times of its 7 uses · Strong’s H6484Verb · Translated: pressed 2, but 1, Jacob pressed 1, persuaded 1Full study and all 7 verses →
Genesis 19:9 “Get out of the way!” they replied. And they declared, “This one came here as a foreigner, and he is already acting like a judge! Now we will treat you worse than them.” And they pressed in on Lot and moved in to break down the door.
2 Kings 2:17 But when they pressed him to the point of embarrassment, he said, “Send them.” And they sent fifty men, who searched for three days but did not find Elijah.
- לָחַץ lâchatssqueeze, presstranslated this way 2 times of its 19 uses · Strong’s H3905Verb · Translated: oppressed 6, oppress 3, oppressors 3Full study and all 18 verses →
Numbers 22:25 And the donkey saw the angel of the LORD and pressed herself against the wall, crushing Balaam’s foot against it. So he beat her once again.
Psalm 56:1 For the choirmaster. To the tune of “A Dove on Distant Oaks.” A Miktam of David, when the Philistines seized him in Gath. Be merciful to me, O God, for men are hounding me; all day they press their attack.
- צוּק tsûqconstrain, bring into straits, press upontranslated this way 2 times of its 11 uses · Strong’s H6693Verb · Translated: inflict 3, oppressor 2Full study and all 10 verses →
Judges 14:17 She wept the whole seven days of the feast, and finally on the seventh day, because she had pressed him so much, he told her the answer. And in turn she explained the riddle to her people.
Judges 16:16 Finally, after she had pressed him daily with her words and pleaded until he was sick to death,
Greek words (New Testament)
- συνθλίβω synthlíbōI crowd upontranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G4918Verb · Translated: pressed around 1, pressing 1Full study and all 2 verses →
Mark 5:24 So Jesus went with him, and a large crowd followed and pressed around Him.
Mark 5:31 His disciples answered, “You can see the crowd pressing in on You, and yet You ask, ‘Who touched Me?’”
- θλίβω thlíbōI make narrow, persecute, press hardtranslated this way 2 times of its 10 uses · Strong’s G2346Verb · Translated: afflicted 2, oppressed 2Full study and all 10 verses →
2 Corinthians 4:8 We are hard pressed on all sides, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;
2 Corinthians 7:5 For when we arrived in Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were pressed from every direction — conflicts on the outside, fears within.
- διώκω diṓkōI pursue, persecutetranslated this way 2 times of its 45 uses · Strong’s G1377Verb · Translated: persecute 13, persecuted 11, pursue 7, persecuting 4Full study and all 44 verses →
Philippians 3:12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
Philippians 3:14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize of God’s heavenly calling in Christ Jesus.
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.