Word study
Refuge
9 Hebrew words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: refuge, refugees. 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 “refuge” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- חָסָה châsâhseek refugetranslated this way 34 times of its 37 uses · Strong’s H2620Verb · Translated: take refuge 21, find refuge 3, refuge 2, seek refuge 2Full study and all 36 verses →
Deuteronomy 32:37 He will say: “Where are their gods, the rock in which they took refuge,
Judges 9:15 But the thornbush replied, ‘If you really are anointing me as king over you, come and find refuge in my shade. But if not, may fire come out of the thornbush and consume the cedars of Lebanon.’
- מִקְלָט miqlâṭrefuge, asylumtranslated this way 20 times of its 20 uses · Strong’s H4733Noun · Translated: refuge 20Full study and all 20 verses →
Numbers 35:6 Six of the cities you give the Levites are to be appointed as cities of refuge, to which a manslayer may flee. In addition to these, give the Levites forty-two other cities.
Joshua 20:2 “Tell the Israelites to designate the cities of refuge, as I instructed you through Moses,
- מַחֲסֶה machăsehrefuge, sheltertranslated this way 18 times of its 20 uses · Strong’s H4268Noun · Translated: refuge 17, shelter 2, place of refuge 1Full study and all 20 verses →
Psalm 46:1 For the choirmaster. Of the sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. A song. God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in times of trouble.
Proverbs 14:26 He who fears the LORD is secure in confidence, and his children shall have a place of refuge.
- מָעוֹז mâôzplace or means of safety, protectiontranslated this way 8 times of its 35 uses · Strong’s H4581Noun · Translated: stronghold 10, refuge 8, fortress 4, protection 3Full study and all 34 verses →
Psalm 31:2 Incline Your ear to me; come quickly to my rescue. Be my rock of refuge, the stronghold of my deliverance.
Proverbs 10:29 The way of the LORD is a refuge to the upright, but destruction awaits those who do evil.
- מָנוֹס mânôsflight.translated this way 4 times of its 8 uses · Strong’s H4498Noun · Translated: refuge 4, escape 2, Flight 1, flee 1Full study and all 8 verses →
2 Samuel 22:3 My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation. My stronghold, my refuge, and my Savior, You save me from violence.
Psalm 59:16 But I will sing of Your strength and proclaim Your loving devotion in the morning. For You are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble.
- פָּלִיט pâlîṭescaped one, fugitivetranslated this way 2 times of its 24 uses · Strong’s H6412Noun · Translated: fugitive 5, escape 5, fugitives 4, survivors 3Full study and all 23 verses →
Numbers 21:29 Woe to you, O Moab! You are destroyed, O people of Chemosh! He gave up his sons as refugees, and his daughters into captivity to Sihon king of the Amorites.
Jeremiah 50:28 Listen to the fugitives and refugees from the land of Babylon, declaring in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, the vengeance for His temple.
- מִשְׂגָּב misgâbsecure height, retreattranslated this way 2 times of its 17 uses · Strong’s H4869Noun · Translated: fortress 9, stronghold 5, refuge 2, high-walled 1Full study and all 16 verses →
Psalm 9:9 The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.
Isaiah 33:16 he will dwell on the heights; the mountain fortress will be his refuge; his food will be provided and his water assured.
- עוּז ûztake or seek refugetranslated this way 2 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s H5756Verb · Translated: shelter 1, take refuge 1, seek shelter 1, Seek refuge 1Full study and all 5 verses →
Isaiah 10:31 Madmenah flees; the people of Gebim take refuge.
Jeremiah 4:6 Raise a signal flag toward Zion. Seek refuge! Do not delay! For I am bringing disaster from the north, and terrible destruction.
- סֵתֶר sêthercovering, hiding-place, secrecytranslated this way 2 times of its 36 uses · Strong’s H5643Noun · Translated: secret 10, secretly 5, hiding place 4, shelter 3Full study and all 36 verses →
Isaiah 16:4 Let my fugitives stay with you; be a refuge for Moab from the destroyer.” When the oppressor has gone, destruction has ceased, and the oppressors have vanished from the land,
Isaiah 32:2 Each will be like a shelter from the wind, a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in a dry land, like the shadow of a great rock in an arid land.
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 refuge: 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.