Word study
Second
4 Hebrew and 2 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “second”. 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 “second” 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)
- שֵׁנִי shênîsecondtranslated this way 103 times of its 147 uses · Strong’s H8145Number · Translated: second 91, other 20, another 13, second time 7Full study and all 141 verses →
Genesis 1:8 God called the expanse “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning — the second day.
Exodus 16:1 On the fifteenth day of the second month after they had left the land of Egypt, the whole congregation of Israel set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai.
- מִשְׁנֶה mishnehdouble, copy, secondtranslated this way 18 times of its 34 uses · Strong’s H4932Noun · Translated: second 11, double 4, Second District 4, twice 2Full study and all 33 verses →
Genesis 41:43 He had Joseph ride in his second chariot, with men calling out before him, “Bow the knee!” So he placed him over all the land of Egypt.
1 Samuel 8:2 The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second was Abijah. They were judges in Beersheba.
- שְׁנַיִם shenayimtwotranslated this way 13 times of its 642 uses · Strong’s H8147Number · Translated: two 364, twelve 68, both 33, 12 25Full study and all 550 verses →
Exodus 25:35 For the six branches that extend from the lampstand, a bud must be under the first pair of branches, a bud under the second pair, and a bud under the third pair.
1 Samuel 18:21 “I will give her to David,” Saul thought, “so that she may be a snare to him, and the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” So Saul said to David, “For a second time now you can be my son-in-law.”
- אַחֲרוֹן achărôncoming aftertranslated this way 2 times of its 49 uses · Strong’s H314Adjective · Translated: last 11, end 9, come 5, Western 4Full study and all 47 verses →
Exodus 4:8 And the LORD said, “If they refuse to believe you or heed the witness of the first sign, they may believe that of the second.
Deuteronomy 24:3 and the second man hates her, writes her a certificate of divorce, hands it to her, and sends her away from his house, or if he dies,
Greek words (New Testament)
- δεύτερος deúterossecond, in the second place, for the second timetranslated this way 42 times of its 44 uses · Strong’s G1208Adjective · Translated: second 33, second time 9, double 1, after 1Full study and all 43 verses →
Matthew 21:30 Then the man went to the second son and told him the same thing. ‘I will, sir,’ he said. But he did not go.
Mark 12:21 Then the second one married the widow, but he also died and left no children. And the third did likewise.
- δύο dýotwotranslated this way 3 times of its 130 uses · Strong’s G1417Adjective · Translated: two 124, second 3, two by two 1, twenty to thirty gallons 1Full study and all 119 verses →
Matthew 10:10 Take no bag for the road, or second tunic, or sandals, or staff; for the worker is worthy of his provisions.
Mark 6:9 and to wear sandals, but not a second tunic.
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.