Word study
Resolve
5 Hebrew and 5 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: resolved, resolve. 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 “resolve” 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 5 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 →
- זָמַם zâmamconsider, purpose, devisetranslated this way 3 times of its 13 uses · Strong’s H2161Verb · Translated: resolved 3, planned 2Full study and all 13 verses →
Psalm 17:3 You have tried my heart; You have visited me in the night. You have tested me and found no evil; I have resolved not to sin with my mouth.
Zechariah 8:14 For this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Just as I resolved to bring disaster upon you when your fathers provoked Me to anger, and I did not relent,” says the LORD of Hosts,
- שׂוּם sûmput, place, settranslated this way 3 times of its 560 uses · Strong’s H7760Verb · Translated: put 84, set 71, make 45, made 39Full study and all 533 verses →
Jeremiah 42:17 So all who resolve to go to Egypt to reside there will die by sword and famine and plague. Not one of them will survive or escape the disaster I will bring upon them.’
Daniel 11:17 He will resolve to come with the strength of his whole kingdom, and will reach an agreement with the king of the South. He will give him a daughter in marriage in order to overthrow the kingdom, but his plan will not succeed or help him.
- כָּלָה kâlâhbe complete, at an end, finished, accomplished, spenttranslated this way 1 time of its 206 uses · Strong’s H3615Verb · Translated: finished 54, fail 12, consumed 9, completed 7Full study and all 200 verses →
Ruth 3:18 “Wait, my daughter,” said Naomi, “until you find out how things go, for he will not rest unless he has resolved the matter today.”
- שֶׁבֶת shebethcessationtranslated this way 1 time of its 3 uses · Strong’s H7674Adjective · Translated: man for his lost work 1, resolve 1, Sits Still 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Proverbs 20:3 It is honorable for a man to resolve a dispute, but any fool will quarrel.
Greek words (New Testament)
- βούλομαι boúlomaiI will, intend, desiretranslated this way 2 times of its 35 uses · Strong’s G1014Verb · Translated: want 8, wanted 4, chooses 3, wanting 3Full study and all 35 verses →
Matthew 1:19 Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and was unwilling to disgrace her publicly, he resolved to divorce her quietly.
Acts 18:27 When Apollos resolved to cross over to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. On his arrival, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed.
- κρίνω krínōI judge, decide, think goodtranslated this way 2 times of its 114 uses · Strong’s G2919Verb · Translated: judge 43, judged 12, judges 7, decided 5Full study and all 98 verses →
1 Corinthians 2:2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
1 Corinthians 7:37 But the man who is firmly established in his heart and under no constraint, with control over his will and resolve in his heart not to marry the virgin, he will do well.
- βουλεύω bouleúōI deliberate, take counseltranslated this way 1 time of its 6 uses · Strong’s G1011Verb · Translated: consider 1, plotted 1, made plans 1, resolved 1Full study and all 6 verses →
Acts 5:33 When the Council members heard this, they were enraged, and they resolved to put the apostles to death.
- τίθημι títhēmiI put, placetranslated this way 1 time of its 98 uses · Strong’s G5087Verb · Translated: put 18, placed 12, lay 12, laid 10Full study and all 94 verses →
Acts 19:21 After these things had happened, Paul resolved in the Spirit to go to Jerusalem, passing through Macedonia and Achaia. “After I have been there,” he said, “I must see Rome as well.”
- ἔννοια énnoiathought, intention, purposetranslated this way 1 time of its 2 uses · Strong’s G1771Noun · Translated: intentions 1, resolve 1Full study and all 2 verses →
1 Peter 4:1 Therefore, since Christ suffered in His body, arm yourselves with the same resolve, because anyone who has suffered in his body is done with sin.
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.