Word study
Scatter
9 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: scattered, scatter, scatters, scattering. 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 “scatter” 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)
- פּוּץ pûtsbe dispersed, scatteredtranslated this way 47 times of its 67 uses · Strong’s H6327Verb · Translated: scattered 30, scatter 15, disperse 5, deserted 2Full study and all 66 verses →
Genesis 10:18 the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Later the Canaanite clans were scattered,
Exodus 5:12 So the people scattered all over the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw.
- זָרָה zârâhscatter, fan, winnowtranslated this way 25 times of its 39 uses · Strong’s H2219Verb · Translated: scatter 18, scattered 7, spread 3, winnow 3Full study and all 38 verses →
Exodus 32:20 Then he took the calf they had made, burned it in the fire, ground it to powder, and scattered the powder over the face of the water. Then he forced the Israelites to drink it.
Leviticus 26:33 But I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out a sword after you as your land becomes desolate and your cities are laid waste.
- פָּזַר pâzarscattertranslated this way 9 times of its 10 uses · Strong’s H6340Verb · Translated: scattered 7, scattered abroad 1, scatters 1, gives freely 1Full study and all 10 verses →
Esther 3:8 Then Haman informed King Xerxes, “There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the peoples of every province of your kingdom. Their laws are different from everyone else’s, and they do not obey the king’s laws. So it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them.
Psalm 53:5 There they are, overwhelmed with dread, where there was nothing to fear. For God has scattered the bones of those who besieged you. You put them to shame, for God has despised them.
- פָּרַשׂ pârasspread out, spreadtranslated this way 4 times of its 65 uses · Strong’s H6566Verb · Translated: spread 44, spreading 3, scattered 3, spreads 3Full study and all 64 verses →
Job 36:30 See how He scatters His lightning around Him and covers the depths of the sea.
Psalm 68:14 When the Almighty scattered the kings in the land, it was like the snow falling on Zalmon.
- הָלַךְ hâlakgo, come, walktranslated this way 2 times of its 1,461 uses · Strong’s H1980Verb · Translated: go 338, went 173, walk 116, Come 84Full study and all 1,299 verses →
- זָרַק zâraqto toss or throwtranslated this way 2 times of its 35 uses · Strong’s H2236Verb · Translated: splattered 12, splatter 10, sprinkled 2Full study and all 33 verses →
2 Chronicles 34:4 Then in his presence the altars of the Baals were torn down, and he cut to pieces the incense altars that were above them. He shattered the Asherah poles, the carved idols, and the cast images, crushed them to dust, and scattered them over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them.
Ezekiel 10:2 And the LORD said to the man clothed in linen, “Go inside the wheelwork beneath the cherubim. Fill your hands with burning coals from among the cherubim and scatter them over the city.” And as I watched, he went in.
- פָּרַד pâraddividetranslated this way 2 times of its 26 uses · Strong’s H6504Verb · Translated: separated 3, spread 3, separates 3, divided 2Full study and all 26 verses →
Job 4:11 The old lion perishes for lack of prey, and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
Psalm 92:9 For surely Your enemies, O LORD, surely Your enemies will perish; all evildoers will be scattered.
- נָפַץ nâphatsshattertranslated this way 2 times of its 22 uses · Strong’s H5310Verb · Translated: shatter 11, shattered 2Full study and all 17 verses →
Isaiah 11:12 He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; He will collect the scattered of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
Isaiah 33:3 The peoples flee the thunder of Your voice; the nations scatter when You rise.
- נָדַח nâdachimpel, thrust, banishtranslated this way 2 times of its 54 uses · Strong’s H5080Verb · Translated: banished 13, exiles 5, driven 4, banish 4Full study and all 53 verses →
Jeremiah 43:5 Instead, Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces took the whole remnant of Judah, those who had returned to the land of Judah from all the nations to which they had been scattered,
Zephaniah 3:19 Behold, at that time, I will deal with all who afflict you. I will save the lame and gather the scattered; and I will appoint praise and fame for the disgraced throughout the earth.
Greek words (New Testament)
- διασκορπίζω diaskorpízōI scatter, winnow, disperse, wastetranslated this way 7 times of its 9 uses · Strong’s G1287Verb · Translated: scattered 5, scattered seed 2, squandered 1, wasting 1Full study and all 9 verses →
Matthew 25:24 Finally, the servant who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Master, I knew that you are a hard man, reaping where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.
Mark 14:27 Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, for it is written: ‘I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’
- σκορπίζω skorpízōI dispersetranslated this way 5 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s G4650Verb · Translated: scatters 3, scattered 1, scattered abroad 1Full study and all 5 verses →
Matthew 12:30 He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.
Luke 11:23 He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.
- διασπείρω diaspeírōI scatter like seedtranslated this way 3 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s G1289Verb · Translated: scattered 3Full study and all 3 verses →
Acts 8:1 And Saul was there, giving approval to Stephen’s death. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.
Acts 8:4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.
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.