Word study
Red
5 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “red”. 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 “Red” 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)
- סוּף sûphreeds, rushestranslated this way 23 times of its 27 uses · Strong’s H5488Noun · Translated: Red 22, reeds 2, toward the red 1, rushes 1Full study and all 27 verses →
Exodus 10:19 And the LORD changed the wind to a very strong west wind that carried off the locusts and blew them into the Red Sea. Not a single locust remained anywhere in Egypt.
Numbers 14:25 Now since the Amalekites and Canaanites are living in the valleys, turn back tomorrow and head for the wilderness along the route to the Red Sea.”
- אָדַם âdambe redtranslated this way 9 times of its 10 uses · Strong’s H119Verb · Translated: dyed red 6, red 3, more ruddy 1Full study and all 10 verses →
Exodus 25:5 ram skins dyed red and fine leather; acacia wood;
Proverbs 23:31 Do not gaze at wine while it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly.
- אָדֹם âdômredtranslated this way 7 times of its 8 uses · Strong’s H122Adjective · Translated: red 7, ruddy 1Full study and all 7 verses →
Genesis 25:30 He said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am famished.” (That is why he was also called Edom.)
Numbers 19:2 “This is the statute of the law that the LORD has commanded: Instruct the Israelites to bring you an unblemished red heifer that has no defect and has never been placed under a yoke.
- אֲדַמְדָּם ădamdâmreddishtranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s H125Adjective · Translated: red 2Full study and all 2 verses →
Leviticus 13:49 and if the mark in the fabric, leather, weave, knit, or leather article is green or red, then it is contaminated with mildew and must be shown to the priest.
Leviticus 14:37 He is to examine the house, and if the mildew on the walls consists of green or red depressions that appear to be beneath the surface of the wall,
- יָם yâmseatranslated this way 2 times of its 378 uses · Strong’s H3220Noun · Translated: sea 254, west 51, seas 20, west side 7Full study and all 327 verses →
Joshua 24:6 When I brought your fathers out of Egypt and you reached the Red Sea, the Egyptians pursued them with chariots and horsemen as far as the Red Sea.
Greek words (New Testament)
- πυῤῥάζω pyrrházōI am redtranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G4449Verb · Translated: red 2Full study and all 2 verses →
Matthew 16:2 But He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘The weather will be fair, for the sky is red,’
Matthew 16:3 and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but not the signs of the times.
- ἐρυθρός erythrósredtranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G2063Adjective · Translated: Red 2Full study and all 2 verses →
Acts 7:36 He led them out and performed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, at the Red Sea, and for forty years in the wilderness.
Hebrews 11:29 By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to follow, they were drowned.
- πυῤῥός pyrrhósred, fire-coloredtranslated this way 2 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s G4450Adjective · Translated: Pyrrhus 1, bright red 1, red 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Revelation 6:4 Then another horse went forth. It was bright red, and its rider was granted permission to take away peace from the earth and to make men slay one another. And he was given a great sword.
Revelation 12:3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: a huge red dragon with seven heads, ten horns, and seven royal crowns on his heads.
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.
What the Bible says about Red: passages by topic →
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.