Word study
Risk
6 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: risked, risk, risking. 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 “risk” 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)
- נֶפֶשׁ nepheshsoul, living being, life, self, person, desire, appetite, emotion, and passiontranslated this way 4 times of its 666 uses · Strong’s H5315Noun · Translated: soul 178, life 119, lives 30, person 22Full study and all 622 verses →
2 Samuel 23:17 saying, “Far be it from me, O LORD, to do this! Is this not the blood of the men who risked their lives?” So he refused to drink it. Such were the exploits of the three mighty men.
1 Chronicles 11:19 saying, “Far be it from me, my God, to do this! How can I drink the blood of these men who risked their lives?” Because they had brought it at the risk of their lives, David refused to drink it. Such were the exploits of the three mighty men.
- חָרַף châraphreproachtranslated this way 1 time of its 41 uses · Strong’s H2778Verb · Translated: taunted 9, defy 7, taunt 4, taunts 3Full study and all 40 verses →
Judges 5:18 Zebulun was a people who risked their lives; Naphtali, too, on the heights of the battlefield.
- שָׁלַךְ shâlakthrow, fling, casttranslated this way 1 time of its 126 uses · Strong’s H7993Verb · Translated: cast 27, threw 20, throw 16, thrown 10Full study and all 121 verses →
Judges 9:17 for my father fought for you and risked his life to deliver you from the hand of Midian,
- שׂוּם sûmput, place, settranslated this way 1 time of its 560 uses · Strong’s H7760Verb · Translated: put 84, set 71, make 45, made 39Full study and all 533 verses →
Judges 12:3 When I saw that you would not save me, I risked my life and crossed over to the Ammonites, and the LORD delivered them into my hand. Why then have you come today to fight against me?”
- גֶּשֶׁם geshembodytranslated this way 1 time of its 5 uses · Strong’s H1655Noun · Translated: body 3, bodies 1, risked their lives 1Full study and all 5 verses →
Daniel 3:28 Nebuchadnezzar declared, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent His angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him. They violated the king’s command and risked their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.
- נָשָׂא nâsâlift, take, carrytranslated this way 1 time of its 642 uses · Strong’s H5375Verb · Translated: bear 49, lift 45, lifted 41, carried 38Full study and all 601 verses →
Job 13:14 Why do I put myself at risk and take my life in my own hands?
Greek words (New Testament)
- παραδίδωμι paradídōmiI hand over, deliver, betraytranslated this way 1 time of its 119 uses · Strong’s G3860Verb · Translated: betray 19, handed 19, delivered 10, hand 9Full study and all 117 verses →
Acts 15:26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
- ὑποτίθημι hypotíthēmiI lay down, suggest totranslated this way 1 time of its 2 uses · Strong’s G5294Verb · Translated: risked 1, pointing 1Full study and all 2 verses →
Romans 16:4 who have risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them.
- παραβουλεύομαι parabouleúomaiI expose myself to danger, am recklesstranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s G3851Verb · Translated: risking 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Philippians 2:30 because he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to make up for your deficit of service to me.
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.