Word study
Seat
6 Hebrew and 5 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: seat, seated, seats, seating. 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 “seat” 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)
- כַּפֹּרֶת kappôrethpropitiatorytranslated this way 24 times of its 25 uses · Strong’s H3727Noun · Translated: mercy seat 24, of it 1Full study and all 20 verses →
Exodus 25:17 And you are to construct a mercy seat of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide.
Leviticus 16:2 And the LORD said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron not to enter freely into the Most Holy Place behind the veil in front of the mercy seat on the ark, or else he will die, because I appear in the cloud above the mercy seat.
- יָשַׁב yâshabsit, remain, dwelltranslated this way 15 times of its 1,049 uses · Strong’s H3427Verb · Translated: lived 103, dwell 89, live 84, sit 70Full study and all 960 verses →
Genesis 43:33 They were seated before Joseph in order by age, from the firstborn to the youngest, and the men looked at one another in astonishment.
Exodus 18:13 The next day Moses took his seat to judge the people, and they stood around him from morning until evening.
- מוֹשָׁב môshâbseat, assembly, dwelling-place, dwelling, dwellerstranslated this way 7 times of its 42 uses · Strong’s H4186Noun · Translated: live 9, dwellings 4, seat 4, settlements 4Full study and all 42 verses →
1 Samuel 20:18 Then Jonathan said to David, “Tomorrow is the New Moon, and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty.
1 Kings 10:5 the food at his table, the seating of his servants, the service and attire of his attendants, his cupbearers, and the burnt offerings he presented at the house of the LORD, it took her breath away.
- כִּסֵּא kissêseattranslated this way 2 times of its 133 uses · Strong’s H3678Noun · Translated: throne 107, thrones 10, chair 4, seat 2Full study and all 124 verses →
Judges 3:20 Then Ehud approached him while he was sitting alone in the coolness of his upper room. “I have a word from God for you,” Ehud said, and the king rose from his seat.
Proverbs 9:14 She sits at the door of her house, on a seat in the heights of the city,
- מָקוֹם mâqômstanding, spot, conditiontranslated this way 2 times of its 381 uses · Strong’s H4725Noun · Translated: place 279, home 16, places 11, wherever 7Full study and all 364 verses →
1 Kings 10:19 The throne had six steps, and its back had a rounded top. There were armrests on both sides of the seat, with a lion standing beside each armrest.
2 Chronicles 9:18 The throne had six steps, and a footstool of gold was attached to it. There were armrests on both sides of the seat, with a lion standing beside each armrest.
- רֹאשׁ rôshheadtranslated this way 2 times of its 570 uses · Strong’s H7218Noun · Translated: head 200, heads 113, chief 31, top 29Full study and all 530 verses →
1 Kings 21:9 In the letters she wrote: “Proclaim a fast and give Naboth a seat of honor among the people.
1 Kings 21:12 They proclaimed a fast and gave Naboth a seat of honor among the people.
Greek words (New Testament)
- κάθημαι káthēmaiI sit, am seatedtranslated this way 24 times of its 84 uses · Strong’s G2521Verb · Translated: sitting 26, seated 23, Sit 11, sat 10Full study and all 82 verses →
Mark 3:34 Looking at those seated in a circle around Him, He said, “Here are My mother and My brothers!
Luke 22:56 A servant girl saw him seated in the firelight and looked intently at him. “This man also was with Him,” she said.
- βῆμα bēmathe space covered by a step of the foot, a tribunaltranslated this way 10 times of its 12 uses · Strong’s G968Noun · Translated: judgment seat 10, foot of ground 1, throne 1Full study and all 12 verses →
Matthew 27:19 While Pilate was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him this message: “Have nothing to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered terribly in a dream today because of Him.”
John 19:13 When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat on the judgment seat at a place called the Stone Pavement, which in Hebrew is Gabbatha.
- πρωτοκαθεδρία prōtokathedríaa chief seattranslated this way 4 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s G4410Noun · Translated: chief seats 4Full study and all 4 verses →
Matthew 23:6 They love the places of honor at banquets, the chief seats in the synagogues,
Mark 12:39 and to have the chief seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets.
- καθίζω kathízōI set, make to sittranslated this way 3 times of its 46 uses · Strong’s G2523Verb · Translated: sat 20, sit 12, sitting 4, seated 2Full study and all 45 verses →
Ephesians 1:20 which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms,
2 Thessalonians 2:4 He will oppose and exalt himself above every so-called god or object of worship. So he will seat himself in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.
- καθέδρα kathédraa seat, chairtranslated this way 3 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s G2515Noun · Translated: seats 2, seat 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Matthew 21:12 Then Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those selling doves.
Mark 11:15 When they arrived in Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began to drive out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those selling doves.
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.