Word study

Purple

2 Hebrew and 2 Greek words behind this English word

The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “purple”. 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 “purple” 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)

  • אַרְגָּמָן argâmânpurple, red-purple, i.e. purple thread & clothtranslated this way 38 times of its 38 uses · Strong’s H713Noun  ·  Translated: purple 37, like purple 1

    Exodus 25:4 blue, purple, and scarlet yarn; fine linen and goat hair;

    Numbers 4:13 Then they shall remove the ashes from the bronze altar, spread a purple cloth over it,

    Full study and all 38 verses →
  • אַרְגְּוָן argevânpurple, red-purpletranslated this way 3 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s H711Noun  ·  Translated: purple 3

    Daniel 5:7 The king called out for the enchanters, astrologers, and diviners to be brought in, and he said to these wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this inscription and tells me its interpretation will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around his neck, and he will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”

    Daniel 5:16 But I have heard about you, that you are able to give interpretations and solve difficult problems. Therefore, if you can read this inscription and give me its interpretation, you will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around your neck, and you will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”

    Full study and all 3 verses →

Greek words (New Testament)

  • πορφύρα porphýraa purple garmenttranslated this way 4 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s G4209Noun  ·  Translated: purple 3, purple robe 1

    Mark 15:17 They dressed Him in a purple robe, twisted together a crown of thorns, and set it on His head.

    Luke 16:19 Now there was a rich man dressed in purple and fine linen, who lived each day in joyous splendor.

    Full study and all 4 verses →
  • πορφυροῦς porphyroûspurpletranslated this way 4 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s G4210Adjective  ·  Translated: purple 4

    John 19:2 The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns, set it on His head, and dressed Him in a purple robe.

    Revelation 17:4 The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls. She held in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality.

    Full study and all 4 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. 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.