Word study
Roll
3 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: rolled, roll, rolling, rolls. 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 “roll” 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)
- גָּלַל gâlalroll, roll awaytranslated this way 12 times of its 18 uses · Strong’s H1556Verb · Translated: rolled 4, Roll 4, Commit 2Full study and all 18 verses →
Genesis 29:3 When all the flocks had been gathered there, the shepherds would roll away the stone from the mouth of the well and water the sheep. Then they would return the stone to its place over the mouth of the well.
Joshua 5:9 Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” So that place has been called Gilgal to this day.
- פָּלַשׁ pâlashact of mourningtranslated this way 4 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s H6428Verb · Translated: roll 3, roll in the dust 1Full study and all 4 verses →
Jeremiah 6:26 O daughter of my people, dress yourselves in sackcloth and roll in ashes. Mourn with bitter wailing, as you would for an only son, for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us.
Ezekiel 27:30 They will raise their voices for you and cry out bitterly. They will throw dust on their heads and roll in ashes.
- פָּקַד pâqadattend to, visit, muster, appointtranslated this way 2 times of its 294 uses · Strong’s H6485Verb · Translated: punish 41, numbered 26, appointed 15, counted 14Full study and all 267 verses →
1 Samuel 14:17 Saul said to the troops who were with him, “Call the roll and see who has left us.” And when they had called the roll, they saw that Jonathan and his armor-bearer were not there.
Greek words (New Testament)
- ἀποκυλίω apokylíōI roll awaytranslated this way 4 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s G617Verb · Translated: rolled away 3, roll away 1Full study and all 4 verses →
Matthew 28:2 Suddenly there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, rolled away the stone, and sat on it.
Mark 16:3 They were asking one another, “Who will roll away the stone from the entrance of the tomb?”
- ἑλίσσω helíssōI roll, roll uptranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G1667Verb · Translated: roll 1, rolled 1Full study and all 2 verses →
Hebrews 1:12 You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed; but You remain the same, and Your years will never end.”
Revelation 6:14 The sky receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved from its place.
- προσκυλίω proskylíōI roll totranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G4351Verb · Translated: rolled 2Full study and all 2 verses →
Matthew 27:60 and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut into the rock. Then he rolled a great stone across the entrance to the tomb and went away.
Mark 15:46 So Joseph bought a linen cloth, took down the body of Jesus, wrapped it in the cloth, and placed it in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance to the tomb.
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.
What the Bible says about roll: passages by topic →
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.