Word study

Sake

3 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word

The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “sake”. 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 “sake” 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)

  • מַעַן maanpurpose, intenttranslated this way 44 times of its 254 uses · Strong’s H4616Conjunction  ·  Translated: so that 90, sake 44, that 21, to 18

    Genesis 18:24 What if there are fifty righteous ones in the city? Will You really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous ones who are there?

    1 Kings 11:12 Nevertheless, for the sake of your father David, I will not do it during your lifetime; I will tear it out of the hand of your son.

    Full study and all 240 verses →
  • עָבוּר âbûrcrossed, transit, accounttranslated this way 10 times of its 43 uses · Strong’s H5668Noun  ·  Translated: sake 10, account 6, so that 6, because 4

    Genesis 12:13 Please say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake, and on account of you my life will be spared.”

    1 Samuel 12:22 Indeed, for the sake of His great name, the LORD will not abandon His people, because He was pleased to make you His own.

    Full study and all 42 verses →
  • עַל alheighttranslated this way 2 times of its 4,859 uses · Strong’s H5921Preposition  ·  Translated: on 777, over 297, in 218, against 216Full study and all 3,996 verses →

Greek words (New Testament)

  • διά diáthrough, on account oftranslated this way 18 times of its 607 uses · Strong’s G1223Preposition  ·  Translated: through 201, by 83, because of 56, for 37

    Matthew 15:3 Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?

    Mark 13:20 If the Lord had not cut short those days, nobody would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom He has chosen, He has cut them short.

    Full study and all 553 verses →
  • ἕνεκα hénekafor the sake of, on account of, whereforetranslated this way 9 times of its 23 uses · Strong’s G1752Preposition  ·  Translated: sake 9, because of 4, account 4, reason 3

    Matthew 10:39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

    Mark 8:35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and for the gospel will save it.

    Full study and all 21 verses →
  • ὑπέρ hypérin behalf of, abovetranslated this way 5 times of its 145 uses · Strong’s G5228Preposition  ·  Translated: for 88, behalf 9, about 7, more 5

    Romans 9:3 For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my own flesh and blood,

    2 Corinthians 12:10 That is why, for the sake of Christ, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

    Full study and all 131 verses →
How to study a word well
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
  4. 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.
  5. See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
  6. Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
  7. 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.