Word study

Principle

2 Greek words behind this English word

The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: principles, principle. 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 “principle” or one of its forms.

Compare the Greek words side by side

Greek words (New Testament)

  • στοιχεῖον stoicheîona heavenly body, an elementtranslated this way 3 times of its 7 uses · Strong’s G4747Noun  ·  Translated: principles 2, spiritual forces 2, elements 2, basic principles 1

    Galatians 4:3 So also, when we were children, we were enslaved under the basic principles of the world.

    Hebrews 5:12 Although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to reteach you the basic principles of God’s word. You need milk, not solid food!

    Full study and all 7 verses →
  • νόμος nómosa law, the Mosaic Lawtranslated this way 2 times of its 189 uses · Strong’s G3551Noun  ·  Translated: law 178, of 5, principle 2, laws 2

    Romans 3:27 Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of works? No, but on that of faith.

    Romans 7:21 So this is the principle I have discovered: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.

    Full study and all 154 verses →
How to study a word well
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
  4. 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.
  5. See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
  6. Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
  7. 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. Short definition: Dodson Greek Lexicon (2010, public domain). Full entry: G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922, public domain). Strong’s Greek Dictionary (1890) in the edition by Ulrik Sandborg-Petersen (CC0). 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.