Word study
Purpose
4 Hebrew and 4 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: purpose, purposed, purposes. 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 “purpose” 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)
- עֵצָה êtsâhcounsel, advicetranslated this way 3 times of its 88 uses · Strong’s H6098Noun · Translated: counsel 33, advice 11, plans 11, plan 6Full study and all 84 verses →
Proverbs 19:21 Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the purpose of the LORD will prevail.
Isaiah 46:10 I declare the end from the beginning, and from ancient times what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and all My good pleasure I will accomplish.’
- חֵפֶץ chêphetsdelight, pleasuretranslated this way 2 times of its 38 uses · Strong’s H2656Noun · Translated: desire 7, delight 6, pleasure 4, desired 3Full study and all 37 verses →
Ecclesiastes 3:1 To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven:
Ecclesiastes 8:6 For there is a right time and procedure to every purpose, though a man’s misery weighs heavily upon him.
- יָעַץ yâatsadvise, counseltranslated this way 2 times of its 75 uses · Strong’s H3289Verb · Translated: counselor 11, counselors 9, advise 6, consulted 5Full study and all 69 verses →
Isaiah 14:24 The LORD of Hosts has sworn: “Surely, as I have planned, so will it be; as I have purposed, so will it stand.
Isaiah 14:27 The LORD of Hosts has purposed, and who can thwart Him? His hand is outstretched, so who can turn it back?
- מְזִמָּה mezimmâhpurpose, discretion, devicetranslated this way 2 times of its 18 uses · Strong’s H4209Noun · Translated: schemes 4, discretion 4, plan 2, purposes 2Full study and all 18 verses →
Jeremiah 23:20 The anger of the LORD will not turn back until He has fully accomplished the purposes of His heart. In the days to come you will understand this clearly.
Jeremiah 30:24 The fierce anger of the LORD will not turn back until He has fully accomplished the purposes of His heart. In the days to come you will understand this.
Greek words (New Testament)
- βουλή boulḗcounsel, deliberate wisdomtranslated this way 4 times of its 12 uses · Strong’s G1012Noun · Translated: purpose 4, will 2Full study and all 12 verses →
Luke 7:30 But the Pharisees and experts in the law rejected God’s purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John.
Acts 5:38 So in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone. Let them go! For if their purpose or endeavor is of human origin, it will fail.
- πρόθεσις próthesisthe show-bread, predeterminationtranslated this way 4 times of its 9 uses · Strong’s G4286Noun · Translated: purpose 4, plan 2, all their 1, opportunity 1Full study and all 9 verses →
Romans 8:28 And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.
Ephesians 3:11 according to the eternal purpose that He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.
- οὗτος hoûtosthis, he, she, ittranslated this way 2 times of its 1,042 uses · Strong’s G3778Demonstrative Pronoun · Translated: this 534, these 121, things 105, he 31Full study and all 976 verses →
- γνώμη gnṓmēopinion, counsel, judgment, intentiontranslated this way 2 times of its 8 uses · Strong’s G1106Noun · Translated: judgment 2, purpose 2, decided 1, conviction 1Full study and all 7 verses →
Revelation 17:13 These kings have one purpose: to yield their power and authority to the beast.
Revelation 17:17 For God has put it into their hearts to carry out His purpose by uniting to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.
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.