Word study

Reserve

8 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word

The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: reserved, reserve, reserves. 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 “reserve” 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)

  • צָפַן tsâphanhide, treasure uptranslated this way 2 times of its 31 uses · Strong’s H6845Verb  ·  Translated: hide 4, hidden 2, concealed 2, treasured 2

    Job 15:20 A wicked man writhes in pain all his days; only a few years are reserved for the ruthless.

    Job 24:1 “Why does the Almighty not reserve times for judgment? Why may those who know Him never see His days?

    Full study and all 30 verses →
  • פִּקָּדוֹן piqqâdôndeposit, storetranslated this way 1 time of its 3 uses · Strong’s H6487Noun  ·  Translated: reserve 1, regard to a deposit 1, deposit 1

    Genesis 41:36 This food will be a reserve for the land during the seven years of famine to come upon the land of Egypt. Then the country will not perish in the famine.”

    Full study and all 3 verses →
  • חָשַׂךְ châsakwithhold, refraintranslated this way 1 time of its 27 uses · Strong’s H2820Verb  ·  Translated: withheld 3, restrained 3, restrain 2, restrains 2

    Job 38:23 which I hold in reserve for times of trouble, for the day of war and battle?

    Full study and all 27 verses →
  • סָפַן sâphancover, cover in, paneltranslated this way 1 time of its 6 uses · Strong’s H5603Verb  ·  Translated: paneled 2, reserved 1, roofing 1, roofed 1

    Deuteronomy 33:21 He chose the best land for himself, because a ruler’s portion was reserved for him there. He came with the leaders of the people; he administered the LORD’s justice and His ordinances for Israel.”

    Full study and all 6 verses →
  • שָׁאַר shâarremain, be left overtranslated this way 1 time of its 126 uses · Strong’s H7604Verb  ·  Translated: left 24, remained 19, remain 15, survive 8

    1 Kings 19:18 Nevertheless, I have reserved seven thousand in Israel— all whose knees have not bowed to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.”

    Full study and all 118 verses →
  • טָמַן ṭâmanhide, concealtranslated this way 1 time of its 31 uses · Strong’s H2934Verb  ·  Translated: hidden 9, hid 4, hide 4, hiding 2

    Job 20:26 Total darkness is reserved for his treasures. A fire unfanned will consume him and devour what is left in his tent.

    Full study and all 29 verses →
  • יָרֵא yârêfeartranslated this way 1 time of its 65 uses · Strong’s H3373Adjective  ·  Translated: fear 33, fears 10, feared 5, afraid 4

    Psalm 61:5 For You have heard my vows, O God; You have given me the inheritance reserved for those who fear Your name.

    Full study and all 64 verses →
  • נָטַר nâṭarkeeptranslated this way 1 time of its 8 uses · Strong’s H5201Verb  ·  Translated: angry 2

    Nahum 1:2 The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the LORD is avenging and full of wrath. The LORD takes vengeance on His foes and reserves wrath for His enemies.

    Full study and all 8 verses →

Greek words (New Testament)

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.