Word study
Sentence
4 Hebrew and 6 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: sentence, sentenced. 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 “sentence” 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)
- דָּבָר dâbârspeech, wordtranslated this way 2 times of its 1,244 uses · Strong’s H1697Noun · Translated: word 342, words 299, acts 51, Chronicles 42Full study and all 1,120 verses →
- שָׁפַט shâphaṭjudge, governtranslated this way 2 times of its 199 uses · Strong’s H8199Verb · Translated: judge 81, judges 35, judged 15, vindicate 7Full study and all 181 verses →
Ezekiel 16:38 And I will sentence you to the punishment of women who commit adultery and those who shed blood; so I will bring upon you the wrath of your bloodshed and jealousy.
Ezekiel 23:45 But righteous men will sentence them to the punishment of those who commit adultery and bloodshed, because they are adulteresses with blood on their hands.
- פִּתְגָּם pithgâmedict, decreetranslated this way 1 time of its 2 uses · Strong’s H6599Noun · Translated: edict 1, sentence 1Full study and all 2 verses →
Ecclesiastes 8:11 When the sentence for a crime is not speedily executed, the hearts of men become fully set on doing evil.
- מִלָּה millâhword, thingtranslated this way 1 time of its 22 uses · Strong’s H4406Noun · Translated: words 3, matter 3, word 2, command 2Full study and all 20 verses →
Daniel 4:33 At that moment the sentence against Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from mankind. He ate grass like an ox, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird.
Greek words (New Testament)
- θάνατος thánatosdeathtranslated this way 2 times of its 114 uses · Strong’s G2288Noun · Translated: death 104, death sentence 2, died 2, mortal 2Full study and all 103 verses →
Acts 13:28 And though they found no ground for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have Him executed.
Acts 28:18 They examined me and wanted to release me, because there was no basis for a death sentence against me.
- κρίσις krísisjudging, divine judgmenttranslated this way 1 time of its 46 uses · Strong’s G2920Noun · Translated: judgment 35, justice 5, judgments 2Full study and all 45 verses →
Matthew 23:33 You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape the sentence of hell?
- κρίμα krímaa judgment, verdict, lawsuittranslated this way 1 time of its 27 uses · Strong’s G2917Noun · Translated: judgment 15, condemnation 5Full study and all 27 verses →
Luke 24:20 Our chief priests and rulers delivered Him up to the sentence of death, and they crucified Him.
- λόγος lógosa word, speech, divine utterance, analogytranslated this way 1 time of its 311 uses · Strong’s G3056Noun · Translated: word 142, words 52, message 32, account 10Full study and all 298 verses →
Romans 9:28 For the Lord will carry out His sentence on the earth thoroughly and decisively.”
- ἀπόκριμα apókrimaan answer, a judicial decisiontranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s G610Noun · Translated: sentence 1Full study and its 1 verse →
2 Corinthians 1:9 Indeed, we felt we were under the sentence of death, in order that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God, who raises the dead.
- ἐπικρίνω epikrínōI decree, give sentencetranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s G1948Verb · Translated: sentenced 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Luke 23:24 So Pilate sentenced that their demand be met.
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.