Word study

Require

4 Hebrew and 1 Greek words behind this English word

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

Compare the Hebrew words side by side

Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)

  • דָּרַשׁ dârashresort to, seektranslated this way 5 times of its 160 uses · Strong’s H1875Verb  ·  Translated: seek 47, inquire 29, sought 14, search 6

    Genesis 9:5 And surely I will require the life of any man or beast by whose hand your lifeblood is shed. I will demand an accounting from anyone who takes the life of his fellow man:

    Deuteronomy 23:21 If you make a vow to the LORD your God, do not be slow to keep it, because He will surely require it of you, and you will be guilty of sin.

    Full study and all 151 verses →
  • בָּקַשׁ bâqashseektranslated this way 3 times of its 222 uses · Strong’s H1245Verb  ·  Translated: seek 78, sought 21, seeking 13, search 13

    2 Samuel 4:11 How much more, when wicked men kill a righteous man in his own house and on his own bed, shall I not now require his blood from your hands and remove you from the earth!”

    Nehemiah 5:12 “We will restore it,” they replied, “and will require nothing more from them. We will do as you say.” So I summoned the priests and required of the nobles and officials an oath that they would do what they had promised.

    Full study and all 212 verses →
  • שָׁאַל shâalask, inquiretranslated this way 2 times of its 165 uses · Strong’s H7592Verb  ·  Translated: ask 31, asked 28, inquired 16, requested 7

    2 Samuel 3:13 “Good,” replied David, “I will make a covenant with you. But there is one thing I require of you: Do not appear before me unless you bring Saul’s daughter Michal when you come to see me.”

    Psalm 40:6 Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but my ears You have opened. Burnt offerings and sin offerings You did not require.

    Full study and all 156 verses →
  • פֶּה pehmouthtranslated this way 2 times of its 423 uses · Strong’s H6310Noun  ·  Translated: mouth 207, mouths 43, command 38, lips 10

    Numbers 7:7 He gave the Gershonites two carts and four oxen, as their service required,

    Numbers 7:8 and he gave the Merarites four carts and eight oxen, as their service required, all under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.

    Full study and all 396 verses →

Greek words (New Testament)

  • ζητέω zētéōI seek, search for, desiretranslated this way 2 times of its 117 uses · Strong’s G2212Verb  ·  Translated: seek 17, seeking 14, looking 11, trying 9

    Luke 12:48 But the one who unknowingly does things worthy of punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and from him who has been entrusted with much, even more will be demanded.

    1 Corinthians 4:2 Now it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.

    Full study and all 114 verses →
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.