Word study
Proper
7 Hebrew and 5 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “proper”. 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 “proper” 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)
- עֵרֶךְ êrekorder, row, estimatetranslated this way 3 times of its 29 uses · Strong’s H6187Noun · Translated: valuation 10, according to your valuation 4, proper value 3, value 2Full study and all 27 verses →
Leviticus 5:15 “If someone acts unfaithfully and sins unintentionally against any of the LORD’s holy things, he must bring his guilt offering to the LORD: an unblemished ram from the flock, of proper value in silver shekels according to the sanctuary shekel; it is a guilt offering.
Leviticus 5:18 He is to bring to the priest an unblemished ram of proper value from the flock as a guilt offering. Then the priest will make atonement on his behalf for the wrong he has committed in ignorance, and he will be forgiven.
- מַעֲרָכָה maărâkâhrow, rank, battle-linetranslated this way 1 time of its 17 uses · Strong’s H4634Noun · Translated: armies 4, battle line 2, battle 2, ranks 2Full study and all 15 verses →
Judges 6:26 Then build a proper altar to the LORD your God on the top of this stronghold. And with the wood of the Asherah pole you cut down, take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering.”
- בּוֹא bôcome in, come, go in, gotranslated this way 1 time of its 2,442 uses · Strong’s H935Verb · Translated: come 358, came 298, bring 209, brought 201Full study and all 2,217 verses →
- מִשְׁפָּט mishpâṭjudgmenttranslated this way 1 time of its 406 uses · Strong’s H4941Noun · Translated: justice 111, ordinances 73, judgments 40, judgment 40Full study and all 394 verses →
1 Chronicles 15:13 It was because you Levites were not with us the first time that the LORD our God burst forth in anger against us. For we did not consult Him about the proper order.”
- כָּשֵׁר kâshêrbe advantageous, proper, suitable, succeedtranslated this way 1 time of its 3 uses · Strong’s H3787Verb · Translated: proper 1, success 1, succeed 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Esther 8:5 “If it pleases the king,” she said, “and if I have found favor in his sight, and the matter seems proper to the king, and I am pleasing in his sight, may an order be written to revoke the letters that the scheming Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, wrote to destroy the Jews in all the king’s provinces.
- קְבוּרָה qebûrâhgrave, burialtranslated this way 1 time of its 13 uses · Strong’s H6900Noun · Translated: tomb 5, grave 3, burial 2, with them 1Full study and all 12 verses →
Ecclesiastes 6:3 A man may father a hundred children and live for many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he is unsatisfied with his prosperity and does not even receive a proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.
- עֵת êthtimetranslated this way 1 time of its 270 uses · Strong’s H6256Noun · Translated: time 182, times 22, season 10, when 6Full study and all 237 verses →
Ecclesiastes 10:17 Blessed are you, O land whose king is a son of nobles, and whose princes feast at the proper time— for strength and not for drunkenness.
Greek words (New Testament)
- καιρός kairósfitting season, opportunity, timetranslated this way 5 times of its 82 uses · Strong’s G2540Noun · Translated: time 44, times 9, appointed time 4, harvest time 4Full study and all 77 verses →
Matthew 24:45 Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of his household, to give the others their food at the proper time?
Luke 1:20 And now you will be silent and unable to speak until the day this comes to pass, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled at their proper time.”
- πρέπω prépōit becomes, is fitting totranslated this way 3 times of its 7 uses · Strong’s G4241Verb · Translated: proper 3, fitting 2, consistent 1, befits 1Full study and all 7 verses →
1 Corinthians 11:13 Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered?
Ephesians 5:3 But among you, as is proper among the saints, there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed.
- εὐσχήμων euschḗmōncomely, honorabletranslated this way 1 time of its 5 uses · Strong’s G2158Adjective · Translated: prominent 2, prominence 1, proper decorum 1, presentable 1Full study and all 5 verses →
1 Corinthians 7:35 I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but in order to promote proper decorum and undivided devotion to the Lord.
- εὐσχημόνως euschēmónōsbecomingly, decorouslytranslated this way 1 time of its 3 uses · Strong’s G2156Adverb · Translated: decently 1, proper 1, properly 1Full study and all 3 verses →
1 Corinthians 14:40 But everything must be done in a proper and orderly manner.
- ἀνήκω anḗkōis due, becoming, suitable, propertranslated this way 1 time of its 3 uses · Strong’s G433Verb · Translated: character 1, fitting 1, proper 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Philemon 1:8 So although in Christ I am bold enough to order you to do what is proper,
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.