Word study
Question
4 Hebrew and 5 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: questioned, question, questions. 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 “question” 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)
- שָׁאַל shâalask, inquiretranslated this way 7 times of its 165 uses · Strong’s H7592Verb · Translated: ask 31, asked 28, inquired 16, requested 7Full study and all 156 verses →
Genesis 43:7 They replied, “The man questioned us in detail about ourselves and our family: ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ And we answered him accordingly. How could we possibly know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother here’?”
Nehemiah 1:2 Hanani, one of my brothers, arrived with men from Judah. So I questioned them about the remnant of the Jews who had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem.
- דָּבָר dâbârspeech, wordtranslated this way 4 times of its 1,244 uses · Strong’s H1697Noun · Translated: word 342, words 299, acts 51, Chronicles 42Full study and all 1,120 verses →
1 Samuel 17:29 “What have I done now?” said David. “Was it not just a question?”
1 Kings 10:3 And Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too difficult for the king to explain.
- אָמַר âmarutter, saytranslated this way 2 times of its 4,555 uses · Strong’s H559Verb · Translated: said 1,531, says 576, say 352, replied 341Full study and all 3,827 verses →
- חִידָה chîdâhriddle, enigmatic, perplexing saying or questiontranslated this way 2 times of its 17 uses · Strong’s H2420Noun · Translated: riddle 10, riddles 2, difficult questions 2, things hidden 1Full study and all 17 verses →
1 Kings 10:1 Now when the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to test him with difficult questions.
2 Chronicles 9:1 Now when the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon, she came to test him with difficult questions. She arrived in Jerusalem with a very large caravan— with camels bearing spices, gold in abundance, and precious stones. And she came to Solomon and spoke with him about all that was on her mind.
Greek words (New Testament)
- ἐπερωτάω eperōtáōI interrogate, question, demand oftranslated this way 18 times of its 56 uses · Strong’s G1905Verb · Translated: asked 25, questioned 12, ask 7, question 5Full study and all 56 verses →
Matthew 22:23 That same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus and questioned Him.
Mark 7:5 So the Pharisees and scribes questioned Jesus: “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders? Instead, they eat with defiled hands.”
- ἐρωτάω erōtáōI ask, question, requesttranslated this way 5 times of its 63 uses · Strong’s G2065Verb · Translated: ask 20, asked 18, question 3, asking 3Full study and all 61 verses →
Matthew 16:13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, He questioned His disciples: “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
John 8:7 When they continued to question Him, He straightened up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to cast a stone at her.”
- λόγος lógosa word, speech, divine utterance, analogytranslated this way 3 times of its 311 uses · Strong’s G3056Noun · Translated: word 142, words 52, message 32, account 10Full study and all 298 verses →
Matthew 21:24 “I will also ask you one question,” Jesus replied, “and if you answer Me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things.
Mark 11:29 “I will ask you one question,” Jesus replied, “and if you answer Me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things.
- ζήτημα zḗtēmaa question, disputetranslated this way 2 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s G2213Noun · Translated: question 1, dispute 1, questions 1, contentions 1Full study and all 5 verses →
Acts 15:2 And after engaging these men in sharp debate, Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers , to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question.
Acts 23:29 I found that the accusation involved questions about their own law, but there was no charge worthy of death or imprisonment.
- ἀνακρίνω anakrínōI examine, inquire intotranslated this way 2 times of its 16 uses · Strong’s G350Verb · Translated: examined 5, judges 2, raising questions 2Full study and all 14 verses →
1 Corinthians 10:25 Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience,
1 Corinthians 10:27 If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat anything set before you without raising questions of conscience.
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.