Word study
Quietly
5 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “quietly”. 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 “quietly” 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)
- גָּנַב gânabstealtranslated this way 1 time of its 38 uses · Strong’s H1589Verb · Translated: steal 8, stolen 8, stole 2, deceived 2Full study and all 36 verses →
2 Samuel 19:3 So they returned to the city quietly that day, as people steal away in humiliation after fleeing a battle.
- רָגֵעַ râgêarestful, quiettranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s H7282Adjective · Translated: live quietly 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Psalm 35:20 For they do not speak peace, but they devise deceitful schemes against those who live quietly in the land.
- שָׁקַט shâqaṭbe quiet, undisturbedtranslated this way 1 time of its 40 uses · Strong’s H8252Verb · Translated: quiet 10, rest 8, peace 6, still 3Full study and all 40 verses →
Isaiah 18:4 For this is what the LORD has told me: “I will quietly look on from My dwelling place, like shimmering heat in the sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”
- דּוּמָם dûmâmsilencetranslated this way 1 time of its 3 uses · Strong’s H1748Adverb · Translated: silence 1, quietly 1, silent 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Lamentations 3:26 It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.
- דָּמַם dâmambe or grow dumb, silent, stilltranslated this way 1 time of its 30 uses · Strong’s H1826Verb · Translated: still 4, silenced 4, rest 3, perish 2Full study and all 29 verses →
Ezekiel 24:17 Groan quietly; do not mourn for the dead. Put on your turban and strap your sandals on your feet; do not cover your lips or eat the bread of mourners.”
Greek words (New Testament)
- λάθρα láthrasecretlytranslated this way 1 time of its 4 uses · Strong’s G2977Adverb · Translated: secretly 2, quietly 1, aside 1Full study and all 4 verses →
Matthew 1:19 Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and was unwilling to disgrace her publicly, he resolved to divorce her quietly.
- ἡσυχάζω hēsycházōI rest, am silent, live quietlytranslated this way 1 time of its 5 uses · Strong’s G2270Verb · Translated: remained silent 1, rested 1, further 1, quieted 1Full study and all 5 verses →
1 Thessalonians 4:11 and to aspire to live quietly, to attend to your own matters, and to work with your own hands, as we instructed you.
- ἡσυχία hēsychíaquietness, silencetranslated this way 1 time of its 4 uses · Strong’s G2271Noun · Translated: quiet 2, quietly 1, quietness 1Full study and all 4 verses →
2 Thessalonians 3:12 We command and urge such people by our Lord Jesus Christ to begin working quietly to earn their own living.
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.