Word study
Refrain
7 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: refrain, refrained, refrains. 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 “refrain” 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)
- חָדַל châdalceasetranslated this way 6 times of its 57 uses · Strong’s H2308Verb · Translated: stopped 9, stop 6, refrain 5, cease 4Full study and all 55 verses →
Deuteronomy 23:22 But if you refrain from making a vow, you will not be guilty of sin.
1 Kings 22:6 So the king of Israel assembled the prophets, about four hundred men, and asked them, “Should I go to war against Ramoth-gilead, or should I refrain?” “Go up,” they replied, “and the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king.”
- עָגַן âganshut oneself in or offtranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s H5702Verb · Translated: refrain 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Ruth 1:13 would you wait for them to grow up? Would you refrain from having husbands? No, my daughters, it is much more bitter for me than for you, because the hand of the LORD has gone out against me.”
- רָפָה râphâhsink, relaxtranslated this way 1 time of its 44 uses · Strong’s H7503Verb · Translated: leave 4, abandon 3, go 3, Withdraw 2Full study and all 43 verses →
Psalm 37:8 Refrain from anger and abandon wrath; do not fret— it can only bring harm.
- רָחַק râchaqbe, or become, far, distanttranslated this way 1 time of its 57 uses · Strong’s H7368Verb · Translated: far 19, far away 6, removed 3, remove 3Full study and all 56 verses →
Ecclesiastes 3:5 a time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
- פָּרַע pâraact as leader, lead (?)translated this way 1 time of its 16 uses · Strong’s H6544Verb · Translated: hang loose 2Full study and all 15 verses →
Ezekiel 24:14 I, the LORD, have spoken; the time is coming, and I will act. I will not refrain or show pity, nor will I relent. I will judge you according to your ways and deeds,’ declares the Lord GOD.”
- לָקַח lâqachtaketranslated this way 1 time of its 938 uses · Strong’s H3947Verb · Translated: take 247, took 245, taken 40, get 26Full study and all 890 verses →
- עָצָר âtsârrestrain, retaintranslated this way 1 time of its 44 uses · Strong’s H6113Verb · Translated: halted 6, slave 5, shut 4, confined 3Full study and all 44 verses →
Job 29:9 The princes refrained from speaking and covered their mouths with their hands.
Greek words (New Testament)
- φείδομαι pheídomaiI spare, abstaintranslated this way 1 time of its 10 uses · Strong’s G5339Verb · Translated: spare 9, refrain 1Full study and all 9 verses →
2 Corinthians 12:6 Even if I wanted to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will credit me with more than he sees in me or hears from me,
- τηρέω tēréōI keep, guard, observetranslated this way 1 time of its 69 uses · Strong’s G5083Verb · Translated: keep 23, kept 12, keeps 7, held 4Full study and all 63 verses →
2 Corinthians 11:9 And when I was with you and in need, I was not a burden to anyone; for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my needs. I have refrained from being a burden to you in any way, and I will continue to do so.
- οὐδείς oudeísno one, none, nothingtranslated this way 1 time of its 181 uses · Strong’s G3762Adjective · Translated: no one 90, nothing 44, no 13, none 8Full study and all 173 verses →
2 Timothy 2:4 A soldier refrains from entangling himself in civilian affairs, in order to please the one who enlisted him.
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.