Word study

Recall

1 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word

The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: recalling, recall. 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 “recall” or one of its forms.

Compare the Greek words side by side

Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)

  • זָכַר zâkarremembertranslated this way 2 times of its 227 uses · Strong’s H2142Verb  ·  Translated: remember 122, remembered 35, recorder 9, remembers 6

    Genesis 41:9 Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “Today I recall my failures.

    Job 11:16 For you will forget your misery, recalling it only as waters gone by.

    Full study and all 221 verses →

Greek words (New Testament)

  • μνημονεύω mnēmoneúōI remember, make mention oftranslated this way 2 times of its 21 uses · Strong’s G3421Verb  ·  Translated: remember 13

    1 Thessalonians 1:3 and continually recalling before our God and Father your work of faith, your labor of love, and your enduring hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

    1 Thessalonians 2:9 Surely you recall, brothers, our labor and toil. We worked night and day so that we would not be a burden to anyone while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.

    Full study and all 21 verses →
  • μιμνήσκω mimnḗskōI remember, recalltranslated this way 2 times of its 23 uses · Strong’s G3403Verb  ·  Translated: remember 10, remembered 8, remembering 2, Recalling 2

    2 Timothy 1:4 Recalling your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy.

    2 Peter 3:2 by recalling what was foretold by the holy prophets and commanded by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.

    Full study and all 23 verses →
  • μνήμη mnḗmēmemory, remembrance, mentiontranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s G3420Noun  ·  Translated: able to recall 1

    2 Peter 1:15 And I will make every effort to ensure that after my departure, you will be able to recall these things at all times.

    Full study and its 1 verse →
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.