Word study
Rob
6 Hebrew and 1 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: robes, rob, robbed, robed, robbing, robs. 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 “rob” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- גָּזַל gâzaltear away, seize, robtranslated this way 5 times of its 28 uses · Strong’s H1497Verb · Translated: snatched 3, seized 2, rob 2, robbed 2Full study and all 28 verses →
Leviticus 19:13 You must not defraud your neighbor or rob him. You must not withhold until morning the wages due a hired hand.
Judges 9:25 The leaders of Shechem set up an ambush against Abimelech on the hilltops, and they robbed all who passed by them on the road. So this was reported to Abimelech.
- קָבַע qâbarobtranslated this way 5 times of its 6 uses · Strong’s H6906Verb · Translated: rob 3, plunder 1, robbing 1, still robbing 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Proverbs 22:23 for the LORD will take up their case and will plunder those who rob them.
Malachi 3:8 Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you ask, ‘How do we rob You?’ In tithes and offerings.
- בֶּגֶד begedtreacherytranslated this way 3 times of its 213 uses · Strong’s H899Noun · Translated: clothes 76, garments 61, clothing 16, garment 13Full study and all 189 verses →
1 Samuel 19:24 Then Saul stripped off his robes and also prophesied before Samuel. And he collapsed and lay naked all that day and night. That is why it is said, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”
1 Kings 22:30 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you wear your royal robes.” So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle.
- שַׁכּוּל shakkûlbereaved, robbed of offspringtranslated this way 3 times of its 7 uses · Strong’s H7909Adjective · Translated: robbed of her cubs 3, lost 2, bereaved 1, childless 1Full study and all 7 verses →
2 Samuel 17:8 He continued, “You know your father and his men. They are mighty men, and as fierce as a wild bear robbed of her cubs. Moreover, your father is a man of war who will not spend the night with the troops.
Proverbs 17:12 It is better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than a fool in his folly.
- מַחֲלָצָה machălâtsâhrobe of statetranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s H4254Noun · Translated: festive robes 1, splendid robes 1Full study and all 2 verses →
Isaiah 3:22 their festive robes, capes, cloaks, and purses;
Zechariah 3:4 So the angel said to those standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes!” Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have removed your iniquity, and I will clothe you with splendid robes.”
- סַרְבַּל sarbalmantletranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s H5622Noun · Translated: wearing robes 1, robes 1Full study and all 2 verses →
Daniel 3:21 So they were tied up, wearing robes, trousers, turbans, and other clothes, and they were thrown into the blazing fiery furnace.
Daniel 3:27 and when the satraps, prefects, governors, and royal advisers had gathered around, they saw that the fire had no effect on the bodies of these men. Not a hair of their heads was singed, their robes were unaffected, and there was no smell of fire on them.
Greek words (New Testament)
- στολή stolḗa long robetranslated this way 6 times of its 9 uses · Strong’s G4749Noun · Translated: robes 4, robe 3, long robes 2Full study and all 9 verses →
Mark 12:38 In His teaching Jesus also said, “Watch out for the scribes. They like to walk around in long robes, to receive greetings in the marketplaces,
Luke 20:46 “Beware of the scribes. They like to walk around in long robes, and they love the greetings in the marketplaces, the chief seats in the synagogues, and the places of honor at banquets.
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.