Word study
Reply
8 Hebrew and 5 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: replied, reply, replies. 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 “reply” 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)
- אָמַר âmarutter, saytranslated this way 395 times of its 4,555 uses · Strong’s H559Verb · Translated: said 1,531, says 576, say 352, replied 341Full study and all 3,827 verses →
Genesis 3:10 “I heard Your voice in the garden,” he replied, “and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.”
Genesis 3:13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” “The serpent deceived me,” she replied, “and I ate.”
- עָנָה ânâhanswer, respondtranslated this way 49 times of its 317 uses · Strong’s H6030Verb · Translated: answered 79, answer 75, replied 47, respond 14Full study and all 308 verses →
Genesis 23:5 The Hittites replied to Abraham,
Numbers 22:18 But Balaam replied to the servants of Balak, “If Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything small or great to go beyond the command of the LORD my God.
- דָבַר dâbarspeaktranslated this way 6 times of its 1,113 uses · Strong’s H1696Verb · Translated: speak 209, said 157, spoken 142, spoke 110Full study and all 1,025 verses →
Exodus 6:12 But in the LORD’s presence Moses replied, “If the Israelites will not listen to me, then why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I am unskilled in speech?”
Leviticus 10:19 But Aaron replied to Moses, “Behold, this very day they presented their sin offering and their burnt offering before the LORD. Since these things have happened to me, if I had eaten the sin offering today, would it have been acceptable in the sight of the LORD?”
- עֲנָה ănâhanswertranslated this way 6 times of its 20 uses · Strong’s H6032Verb · Translated: replied 6, answered 3, said 3, declared 2Full study and all 19 verses →
Daniel 2:5 The king replied to the astrologers, “My word is final: If you do not tell me the dream and its interpretation, you will be cut into pieces and your houses will be reduced to rubble.
Daniel 2:8 The king replied, “I know for sure that you are stalling for time because you see that my word is final.
- שׁוּב shûbturn back, returntranslated this way 5 times of its 1,007 uses · Strong’s H7725Verb · Translated: return 218, returned 105, restore 62, turn 56Full study and all 920 verses →
1 Chronicles 21:12 between three years of famine, three months of being swept away before your enemies and overtaken by their swords, or three days of the sword of the LORD— days of plague upon the land, with the angel of the LORD ravaging every part of Israel.’ Now then, decide how I should reply to Him who sent me.”
Esther 4:13 he sent back to her this reply: “Do not imagine that because you are in the king’s palace you alone will escape the fate of all the Jews.
- שָׁלַח shâlachsendtranslated this way 3 times of its 829 uses · Strong’s H7971Verb · Translated: sent 334, send 126, go 43, sending 19Full study and all 783 verses →
2 Kings 14:9 But Jehoash king of Israel replied to Amaziah king of Judah: “A thistle in Lebanon sent a message to a cedar in Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son in marriage.’ Then a wild beast in Lebanon came along and trampled the thistle.
2 Chronicles 2:11 Then Hiram king of Tyre wrote a letter in reply to Solomon: “Because the LORD loves His people, He has set you over them as king.”
- מַעֲנֶה maănehanswer, responsetranslated this way 3 times of its 7 uses · Strong’s H4617Noun · Translated: answer 2, refute 1, further reply 1, fitting reply 1Full study and all 7 verses →
Job 32:5 But when he saw that the three men had no further reply, his anger was kindled.
Proverbs 15:23 A man takes joy in a fitting reply — and how good is a timely word!
- דָּבָר dâbârspeech, wordtranslated this way 2 times of its 1,244 uses · Strong’s H1697Noun · Translated: word 342, words 299, acts 51, Chronicles 42Full study and all 1,120 verses →
2 Samuel 24:13 So Gad went and said to David, “Do you choose to endure three years of famine in your land, three months of fleeing the pursuit of your enemies, or three days of plague upon your land? Now then, think it over and decide how I should reply to Him who sent me.”
Greek words (New Testament)
- ἀποκρίνομαι apokrínomaiI answer, replytranslated this way 87 times of its 206 uses · Strong’s G611Verb · Translated: replied 84, answered 64, said 14, answer 13Full study and all 206 verses →
Matthew 3:15 “Let it be so now,” Jesus replied. “It is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness in this way.” Then John permitted Him.
Mark 3:33 But Jesus replied, “Who are My mother and My brothers?”
- ἔπω épōto speak or say (by word or writing)translated this way 69 times of its 962 uses · Strong’s G2036Verb · Translated: said 426, asked 95, told 88, replied 69Full study and all 891 verses →
Matthew 2:5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
Matthew 9:15 Jesus replied, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while He is with them? But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.
- λέγω légōI say, speaktranslated this way 25 times of its 993 uses · Strong’s G3004Verb · Translated: said 216, tell 164, say 105, saying 86Full study and all 936 verses →
Matthew 8:7 “I will go and heal him,” Jesus replied.
Matthew 8:20 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.”
- φημί phēmíI saytranslated this way 15 times of its 62 uses · Strong’s G5346Verb · Translated: said 25, replied 15, declared 6, asked 3Full study and all 61 verses →
Matthew 4:7 Jesus replied, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
Mark 9:12 He replied, “Elijah does indeed come first, and he restores all things. Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected?
- ἐρέω eréōI say, speaktranslated this way 2 times of its 96 uses · Strong’s G2046Verb · Translated: say 24, spoken 17, said 15, tell 9Full study and all 96 verses →
Matthew 25:40 And the King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’
Luke 13:25 After the master of the house gets up and shuts the door, you will stand outside knocking and saying, ‘Lord, open the door for us.’ But he will reply, ‘I do not know where you are from.’
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.