Word study
Reach
13 Hebrew and 4 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: reached, reach, reaches, reaching. 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 “reach” 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)
- בּוֹא bôcome in, come, go in, gotranslated this way 41 times of its 2,442 uses · Strong’s H935Verb · Translated: come 358, came 298, bring 209, brought 201Full study and all 2,217 verses →
Genesis 18:21 I will go down to see if their actions fully justify the outcry that has reached Me. If not, I will find out.”
Exodus 3:9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached Me, and I have seen how severely the Egyptians are oppressing them.
- שָׁלַח shâlachsendtranslated this way 22 times of its 829 uses · Strong’s H7971Verb · Translated: sent 334, send 126, go 43, sending 19Full study and all 783 verses →
Genesis 3:22 Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil. And now, lest he reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever...”
Exodus 4:4 “Stretch out your hand and grab it by the tail,” the LORD said to Moses, who reached out his hand and caught the snake, and it turned back into a staff in his hand.
- נָגַע nâgatouch, reach, striketranslated this way 9 times of its 144 uses · Strong’s H5060Verb · Translated: touches 35, touched 20, touch 19, Whoever touches 6Full study and all 136 verses →
Genesis 28:12 And Jacob had a dream about a ladder that rested on the earth with its top reaching up to heaven, and God’s angels were going up and down the ladder.
2 Samuel 5:8 On that day he said, “Whoever attacks the Jebusites must use the water shaft to reach the lame and blind who are despised by David.” That is why it is said, “The blind and the lame will never enter the palace.”
- מְטָא meṭâreach, attaintranslated this way 4 times of its 8 uses · Strong’s H4291Verb · Translated: reached 3, reach 1, issued 1, happened 1Full study and all 8 verses →
Daniel 4:11 The tree grew large and strong; its top reached the sky, and it was visible to the ends of the earth.
Daniel 4:20 The tree you saw that grew large and strong, whose top reached the sky and was visible to all the earth,
- פָּגַע pâgameet, encounter, reachtranslated this way 4 times of its 45 uses · Strong’s H6293Verb · Translated: strike 5, struck 4, reached 3, met 2Full study and all 43 verses →
Genesis 28:11 On reaching a certain place, he spent the night there because the sun had set. And taking one of the stones from that place, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep.
Joshua 16:7 From Janoah it went down to Ataroth and Naarah, and then reached Jericho and came out at the Jordan.
- הָיָה hâyâhfall out, come to pass, become, betranslated this way 3 times of its 2,848 uses · Strong’s H1961Verb · Translated: will be 206, become 178, came 169, was 151Full study and all 2,573 verses →
- שָׁמַע shâmaheartranslated this way 3 times of its 1,132 uses · Strong’s H8085Verb · Translated: heard 311, hear 253, listen 218, obey 60Full study and all 1,063 verses →
Genesis 45:16 When the news reached Pharaoh’s house that Joseph’s brothers had come, Pharaoh and his servants were pleased.
Joshua 9:1 Now when news of this reached all the kings west of the Jordan — those in the hill country, the foothills, and all along the coast of the Great Sea toward Lebanon (the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites)—
- מָצָא mâtsâattain to, findtranslated this way 3 times of its 436 uses · Strong’s H4672Verb · Translated: found 197, find 87, finds 13, present 7Full study and all 411 verses →
Job 3:22 who rejoice and greatly exult when they reach the grave?
Isaiah 10:14 My hand reached as into a nest to seize the wealth of the nations. Like one gathering abandoned eggs, I gathered all the earth. No wing fluttered, no beak opened or chirped.’”
- עַד adas far as, even to, up to, until, whiletranslated this way 3 times of its 1,111 uses · Strong’s H5704Preposition · Translated: until 348, to 278, far 48, forever 43Full study and all 1,024 verses →
Numbers 21:30 But we have overthrown them; Heshbon is destroyed as far as Dibon. We demolished them as far as Nophah, which reaches to Medeba.”
- עָלָה âlâhgo up, ascend, climbtranslated this way 3 times of its 873 uses · Strong’s H5927Verb · Translated: go 118, went 107, brought 56, come 42Full study and all 807 verses →
- רָחוֹק râchôqdistant, fartranslated this way 2 times of its 84 uses · Strong’s H7350Adjective · Translated: far 20, afar 13, distant 11, distance 10Full study and all 84 verses →
Deuteronomy 30:11 For this commandment I give you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach.
Ecclesiastes 7:24 What exists is out of reach and very deep. Who can fathom it?
- עַל alheighttranslated this way 2 times of its 4,859 uses · Strong’s H5921Preposition · Translated: on 777, over 297, in 218, against 216Full study and all 3,996 verses →
- נָשַׂג nâsagreach, overtaketranslated this way 2 times of its 47 uses · Strong’s H5381Verb · Translated: overtake 16, overtook 6, afford 6, prospers 3Full study and all 45 verses →
Job 41:26 The sword that reaches him has no effect, nor does the spear or dart or arrow.
Isaiah 59:9 Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We hope for light, but there is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in gloom.
Greek words (New Testament)
- γίνομαι gínomaiI come into being, am borntranslated this way 4 times of its 544 uses · Strong’s G1096Verb · Translated: become 58, came 42, became 34, happened 28Full study and all 515 verses →
Luke 1:44 For as soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.
- καταντάω katantáōI come down, arrive at, reachtranslated this way 4 times of its 13 uses · Strong’s G2658Verb · Translated: came 4, reached 2, reach 2Full study and all 13 verses →
Acts 18:19 When they reached Ephesus, Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue there and reasoned with the Jews.
1 Corinthians 14:36 Did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only ones it has reached?
- ἐκτείνω ekteínōI stretch out, cast forthtranslated this way 4 times of its 15 uses · Strong’s G1614Verb · Translated: Stretch 5, reached 3, stretched 3Full study and all 13 verses →
Matthew 8:3 Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” He said. “Be clean!” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
Mark 1:41 Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” He said. “Be clean!”
- ἔρχομαι érchomaiI come, gotranslated this way 3 times of its 619 uses · Strong’s G2064Verb · Translated: come 193, came 128, coming 65, comes 53Full study and all 584 verses →
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.