Word study
Secretly
6 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “secretly”. 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 “secretly” 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)
- סֵתֶר sêthercovering, hiding-place, secrecytranslated this way 5 times of its 36 uses · Strong’s H5643Noun · Translated: secret 10, secretly 5, hiding place 4, shelter 3Full study and all 36 verses →
Deuteronomy 13:6 If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you embrace, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (which neither you nor your fathers have known,
Job 13:10 Surely He would rebuke you if you secretly showed partiality.
- גָּנַב gânabstealtranslated this way 2 times of its 38 uses · Strong’s H1589Verb · Translated: steal 8, stolen 8, stole 2, deceived 2Full study and all 36 verses →
2 Samuel 19:41 Soon all the men of Israel came to the king and asked, “Why did our brothers, the men of Judah, take you away secretly and bring the king and his household across the Jordan, together with all of David’s men?”
Job 4:12 Now a word came to me secretly; my ears caught a whisper of it.
- חָבָא châbâwithdraw, hidetranslated this way 1 time of its 33 uses · Strong’s H2244Verb · Translated: hid 10, hidden 8, hiding 6, hide 3Full study and all 33 verses →
Genesis 31:27 Why did you run away secretly and deceive me, without even telling me? I would have sent you away with joy and singing, with tambourines and harps.
- חֶרֶשׁ chereshsilently, secretlytranslated this way 1 time of its 2 uses · Strong’s H2791Noun · Translated: secretly 1, magician 1Full study and all 2 verses →
Joshua 2:1 Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim, saying, “Go, inspect the land, especially Jericho.” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there.
- חָפָא châphâdo secretlytranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s H2644Verb · Translated: secretly 1Full study and its 1 verse →
2 Kings 17:9 The Israelites secretly did things against the LORD their God that were not right. From watchtower to fortified city, they built high places in all their cities.
- מִסְתָּר mistârsecret place, hiding placetranslated this way 1 time of its 9 uses · Strong’s H4565Noun · Translated: ambush 2, secret places 2Full study and all 9 verses →
Habakkuk 3:14 With his own spear You pierced his head, when his warriors stormed out to scatter us, gloating as though ready to secretly devour the weak.
Greek words (New Testament)
- λάθρα láthrasecretlytranslated this way 2 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s G2977Adverb · Translated: secretly 2, quietly 1, aside 1Full study and all 4 verses →
Matthew 2:7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and learned from them the exact time the star had appeared.
Acts 16:37 But Paul said to the officers, “They beat us publicly without a trial and threw us into prison, even though we are Roman citizens. And now do they want to send us away secretly? Absolutely not! Let them come themselves and escort us out!”
- κρύπτω krýptōI hide, conceal, lay uptranslated this way 1 time of its 19 uses · Strong’s G2928Verb · Translated: hidden 9, hid 5Full study and all 18 verses →
John 19:38 Afterward, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus (but secretly for fear of the Jews), asked Pilate to let him remove the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission, so he came and removed His body.
- παρεισάγω pareiságōI bring in secretlytranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s G3919Verb · Translated: secretly introduce 1Full study and its 1 verse →
2 Peter 2:1 Now there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them — bringing swift destruction on themselves.
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.