Word study

Rather

3 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word

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

  • כִּי kîburning, brandingtranslated this way 5 times of its 3,991 uses · Strong’s H3588Conjunction  ·  Translated: for 1,770, that 572, because 523, when 194Full study and all 3,583 verses →
  • לֹא lônottranslated this way 3 times of its 4,657 uses · Strong’s H3808Adverb  ·  Translated: no 309, not 269, never 218, will not 156

    Genesis 27:12 What if my father touches me? Then I would be revealed to him as a deceiver, and I would bring upon myself a curse rather than a blessing.”

    Full study and all 3,775 verses →
  • בָּחַר bâcharchoosetranslated this way 2 times of its 171 uses · Strong’s H977Verb  ·  Translated: chosen 73, choose 44, chose 21, chooses 6

    Psalm 84:10 For better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

    Proverbs 8:10 Receive my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than pure gold.

    Full study and all 163 verses →

Greek words (New Testament)

  • μᾶλλον mâllonmore, rathertranslated this way 16 times of its 64 uses · Strong’s G3123Adverb  ·  Translated: more 30, rather 16, Instead 5, louder 2

    Matthew 10:6 Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel.

    John 3:19 And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil.

    Full study and all 62 verses →
  • ἀλλά allábut, excepttranslated this way 6 times of its 565 uses · Strong’s G235Conjunction  ·  Translated: but 433, Instead 49, However 9, contrary 8Full study and all 541 verses →
  • παρά paráfrom, in the presence oftranslated this way 2 times of its 160 uses · Strong’s G3844Preposition  ·  Translated: from 58, with 25, beside 9, at 9

    Luke 18:14 I tell you, this man, rather than the Pharisee, went home justified. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

    Romans 1:25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is forever worthy of praise! Amen.

    Full study and all 150 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.