Word study
Return
10 Hebrew and 9 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: return, returned, returns, returning. 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 “return” 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)
- שׁוּב shûbturn back, returntranslated this way 352 times of its 1,007 uses · Strong’s H7725Verb · Translated: return 218, returned 105, restore 62, turn 56Full study and all 920 verses →
Genesis 3:19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your bread, until you return to the ground — because out of it were you taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”
Exodus 4:18 Then Moses went back to his father-in-law Jethro and said to him, “Please let me return to my brothers in Egypt to see if they are still alive.” “Go in peace,” Jethro replied.
- בּוֹא bôcome in, come, go in, gotranslated this way 49 times of its 2,442 uses · Strong’s H935Verb · Translated: come 358, came 298, bring 209, brought 201Full study and all 2,217 verses →
Genesis 8:11 And behold, the dove returned to him in the evening with a freshly plucked olive leaf in her beak. So Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth.
Genesis 24:62 Now Isaac had just returned from Beer-lahai-roi, for he was living in the Negev.
- הָלַךְ hâlakgo, come, walktranslated this way 20 times of its 1,461 uses · Strong’s H1980Verb · Translated: go 338, went 173, walk 116, Come 84Full study and all 1,299 verses →
Genesis 30:25 Now after Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me on my way so I can return to my homeland.
Deuteronomy 16:7 And you shall roast it and eat it in the place the LORD your God will choose, and in the morning you shall return to your tents.
- עָלָה âlâhgo up, ascend, climbtranslated this way 10 times of its 873 uses · Strong’s H5927Verb · Translated: go 118, went 107, brought 56, come 42Full study and all 807 verses →
Genesis 44:17 But Joseph replied, “Far be it from me to do this. The man who was found with the cup will be my slave. The rest of you may return to your father in peace.”
Genesis 44:24 Now when we returned to your servant my father, we relayed your words to him.
- תּוּב tûbreturntranslated this way 4 times of its 8 uses · Strong’s H8421Verb · Translated: returned 4, restored 2, responded 1, answer 1Full study and all 7 verses →
Ezra 5:5 But the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, so that they were not stopped until a report was sent to Darius and written instructions about this matter were returned.
Daniel 4:36 At the same time my sanity was restored, my honor and splendor returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored to my throne, and surpassing greatness was added to me.
- סָבַב sâbabturn about, go around, surroundtranslated this way 3 times of its 153 uses · Strong’s H5437Verb · Translated: turned 16, surrounded 13, surround 10, turn 8Full study and all 144 verses →
2 Samuel 14:24 But the king added, “He may return to his house, but he must not see my face.” So Absalom returned to his own house, but he did not see the face of the king.
1 Chronicles 16:43 Then all the people departed for their homes, and David returned home to bless his household.
- פָּנָה pânâhturntranslated this way 2 times of its 128 uses · Strong’s H6437Verb · Translated: turned 27, turn 21, facing 11, turn back 4Full study and all 122 verses →
Joshua 22:4 And now that the LORD your God has given your brothers rest as He promised them, you may return to your homes in the land that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you across the Jordan.
Isaiah 13:14 Like a hunted gazelle, like a sheep without a shepherd, each will return to his own people, each will flee to his native land.
- אֵל êlmotion totranslated this way 2 times of its 4,199 uses · Strong’s H413Preposition · Translated: to 1,941, to me 285, to you 149, to him 137Full study and all 3,455 verses →
Genesis 19:27 Early the next morning, Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the LORD.
- תַּחַת tachaththe under parttranslated this way 2 times of its 465 uses · Strong’s H8478Preposition · Translated: place 126, under 106, for 34, beneath 29Full study and all 421 verses →
- אָסַף âsaphgather, removetranslated this way 2 times of its 193 uses · Strong’s H622Verb · Translated: gathered 56, gather 27, assembled 13, assemble 8Full study and all 183 verses →
Numbers 11:30 Then Moses returned to the camp, along with the elders of Israel.
Jeremiah 47:6 ‘Alas, O sword of the LORD, how long until you rest? Return to your sheath; cease and be still!’
Greek words (New Testament)
- ἔρχομαι érchomaiI come, gotranslated this way 33 times of its 619 uses · Strong’s G2064Verb · Translated: come 193, came 128, coming 65, comes 53Full study and all 584 verses →
Matthew 12:44 Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ On its return, it finds the house vacant, swept clean, and put in order.
Mark 9:14 When they returned to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them.
- ὑποστρέφω hypostréphōI turn back, returntranslated this way 30 times of its 34 uses · Strong’s G5290Verb · Translated: returned 22, return 6, returning 2Full study and all 34 verses →
Luke 1:56 Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.
Acts 1:12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, which is near the city, a Sabbath day’s journey away.
- ἐπιστρέφω epistréphōI turn back totranslated this way 10 times of its 36 uses · Strong’s G1994Verb · Translated: turn 8, turned 7, return 5, turning 5Full study and all 35 verses →
Matthew 10:13 If the home is worthy, let your peace rest on it, but if it is not, let your peace return to you.
Mark 13:16 And let no one in the field return for his cloak.
- ἀνακάμπτω anakámptōI returntranslated this way 3 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s G344Verb · Translated: return 3, come back 1Full study and all 4 verses →
Matthew 2:12 And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they withdrew to their country by another route.
Luke 10:6 If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you.
- ἀπέρχομαι apérchomaiI come or go away from, depart, returntranslated this way 3 times of its 114 uses · Strong’s G565Verb · Translated: went 30, go 21, went away 19, left 5Full study and all 113 verses →
Luke 1:23 And when the days of his service were complete, he returned home.
John 4:3 He left Judea and returned to Galilee.
- παραγίνομαι paragínomaiI appear, come, arrive attranslated this way 3 times of its 35 uses · Strong’s G3854Verb · Translated: came 8, arrived 7, come 4, arrival 4Full study and all 35 verses →
Luke 14:21 The servant returned and reported all this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the city, and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’
Acts 24:17 After several years, then, I returned to Jerusalem to bring alms to my people and to present offerings.
- ἐπανέρχομαι epanérchomaiI return, come back againtranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G1880Verb · Translated: return 1, returned 1Full study and all 2 verses →
Luke 10:35 The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Take care of him,’ he said, ‘and on my return I will repay you for any additional expense.’
Luke 19:15 When he returned from procuring his kingship, he summoned the servants to whom he had given the money, to find out what each one had earned.
- ἀναστρέφω anastréphōI overturn, turn upside down, return, mid. and pass: I conduct myself, livetranslated this way 2 times of its 9 uses · Strong’s G390Verb · Translated: conduct 2, live 2Full study and all 9 verses →
Acts 5:22 But on arriving at the jail, the officers did not find them there. So they returned with the report:
Acts 15:16 ‘After this I will return and rebuild the fallen tent of David. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it,
- ζάω záōI livetranslated this way 2 times of its 140 uses · Strong’s G2198Verb · Translated: live 51, living 28, alive 18, lives 15Full study and all 124 verses →
Romans 14:9 For this reason Christ died and returned to life, that He might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.
Revelation 2:8 To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These are the words of the First and the Last, who died and returned to life.
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.