Word study
Saints
3 Hebrew and 1 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “saints”. 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 “saints” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- חָסִיד châsîdkind, pioustranslated this way 16 times of its 31 uses · Strong’s H2623Noun · Translated: saints 16, godly 9, faithful 3, Holy 1Full study and all 31 verses →
Psalm 30:4 Sing to the LORD, O you His saints, and praise His holy name.
Proverbs 2:8 to guard the paths of justice and protect the way of His saints.
- קַדִּישׁ qaddîshholytranslated this way 5 times of its 13 uses · Strong’s H6922Adjective · Translated: holy 7, saints 4, favor of the saints 1, for 1Full study and all 12 verses →
Daniel 7:18 But the saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom and possess it forever — yes, forever and ever.’
Daniel 7:21 As I watched, this horn was waging war against the saints and prevailing against them,
- קָדוֹשׁ qâdôshsacred, holytranslated this way 2 times of its 116 uses · Strong’s H6918Adjective · Translated: holy 111, saints 2, holiness 1, holy place 1Full study and all 106 verses →
Psalm 16:3 As for the saints in the land, they are the excellence in whom all my delight resides.
Psalm 34:9 Fear the LORD, you His saints, for those who fear Him lack nothing.
Greek words (New Testament)
- ἅγιος hágiosset apart, holy, sacredtranslated this way 60 times of its 231 uses · Strong’s G40Adjective · Translated: Holy 149, saints 60, of 5, Holy Place 5Full study and all 221 verses →
Matthew 27:52 The tombs broke open, and the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised.
Acts 9:13 But Ananias answered, “Lord, many people have told me about this man and all the harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem.
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 saints: 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.