Word study

Scorch

3 Hebrew and 2 Greek words behind this English word

The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: scorched, scorching, scorches, scorch. 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 “scorch” 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)

  • שָׁדַף shâdaphscorch, blighttranslated this way 3 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s H7710Verb  ·  Translated: scorched 3

    Genesis 41:6 After them, seven other heads of grain sprouted, thin and scorched by the east wind.

    Genesis 41:23 After them, seven other heads of grain sprouted— withered, thin, and scorched by the east wind.

    Full study and all 3 verses →
  • לָהַט lâhaṭblaze up, flametranslated this way 3 times of its 11 uses · Strong’s H3857Verb  ·  Translated: scorches 2, flames 2

    Deuteronomy 32:22 For a fire has been kindled by My anger, and it burns to the depths of Sheol; it consumes the earth and its produce, and scorches the foundations of the mountains.

    Joel 1:19 To You, O LORD, I call, for fire has consumed the open pastures and flames have scorched all the trees of the field.

    Full study and all 11 verses →
  • כָּוָה kâvâhburn, scorch, brandtranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s H3554Verb  ·  Translated: scorching 1, scorched 1

    Proverbs 6:28 Can a man walk on hot coals without scorching his feet?

    Isaiah 43:2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you go through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched; the flames will not set you ablaze.

    Full study and all 2 verses →

Greek words (New Testament)

  • καυματίζω kaumatízōI burn, scorchtranslated this way 4 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s G2739Verb  ·  Translated: scorched 3, scorch 1

    Matthew 13:6 But when the sun rose, the seedlings were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.

    Mark 4:6 But when the sun rose, the seedlings were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.

    Full study and all 4 verses →
  • καύσων kaúsōna scorching heat, hot windtranslated this way 2 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s G2742Noun  ·  Translated: scorching heat 2, hot 1

    Matthew 20:12 ‘These men who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the scorching heat of the day.’

    James 1:11 For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its flower falls and its beauty is lost. So too, the rich man will fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

    Full study and all 3 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.