Word study
Shape
10 Hebrew words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: shaped, shape, shapes, shaping. 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 “shape” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- שָׁקַד shâqadbe, make, almond-shapedtranslated this way 4 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s H8246Noun · Translated: shaped like almond blossoms 4Full study and all 4 verses →
Exodus 25:33 There are to be three cups shaped like almond blossoms on the first branch, each with buds and petals, three on the next branch, and the same for all six branches that extend from the lampstand.
Exodus 25:34 And on the lampstand there shall be four cups shaped like almond blossoms with buds and petals.
- עָשָׂה âsâhdo, maketranslated this way 3 times of its 2,478 uses · Strong’s H6213Verb · Translated: done 292, made 265, make 143, did 112Full study and all 2,206 verses →
- מַעֲשֶׂה maăsehdeed, worktranslated this way 3 times of its 223 uses · Strong’s H4639Noun · Translated: work 71, works 38, deeds 8, made 7Full study and all 211 verses →
1 Kings 7:19 And the capitals atop the pillars in the portico were shaped like lilies, four cubits high.
Jeremiah 10:3 For the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut down a tree from the forest; it is shaped with a chisel by the hands of a craftsman.
- קֶצֶב qetsebcut, shapetranslated this way 2 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s H7095Noun · Translated: shape 2, roots 1Full study and all 3 verses →
1 Kings 6:25 The second cherub also measured ten cubits; both cherubim had the same size and shape,
1 Kings 7:37 In this way he made the ten stands, each with the same casting, dimensions, and shape.
- עָגֹל âgôlroundtranslated this way 2 times of its 6 uses · Strong’s H5696Adjective · Translated: circular in shape 2, round 2, circular 1, rounded 1Full study and all 5 verses →
1 Kings 7:23 He also made the Sea of cast metal. It was circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to rim, five cubits in height, and thirty cubits in circumference.
2 Chronicles 4:2 He also made the Sea of cast metal. It was circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to rim, five cubits in height, and thirty cubits in circumference.
- גָּזִית gâzîtha cutting, hewingtranslated this way 1 time of its 9 uses · Strong’s H1496Noun · Translated: dressed stone 2, cut 2Full study and all 9 verses →
Exodus 20:25 Now if you make an altar of stones for Me, you must not build it with stones shaped by tools; for if you use a chisel on it, you will defile it.
- עָצַב âtsabhurt, pain, grievetranslated this way 1 time of its 17 uses · Strong’s H6087Verb · Translated: grieved 5, grieve 2Full study and all 17 verses →
Job 10:8 Your hands shaped me and altogether formed me. Would You now turn and destroy me?
- סֶמֶל semelimage, statuetranslated this way 1 time of its 5 uses · Strong’s H5566Noun · Translated: idol 3, shape 1, image 1Full study and all 5 verses →
Deuteronomy 4:16 that you do not act corruptly and make an idol for yourselves of any form or shape, whether in the likeness of a male or female,
- הָפַךְ hâphakturn, overturntranslated this way 1 time of its 93 uses · Strong’s H2015Verb · Translated: turned 27, turn 7, changed 4, overthrew 3Full study and all 91 verses →
Job 38:14 The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its hills stand out like the folds of a garment.
- יָצַר yâtsarform, fashiontranslated this way 1 time of its 62 uses · Strong’s H3335Verb · Translated: formed 17, potter 9, potter's 5, Maker 5Full study and all 55 verses →
Psalm 33:15 He shapes the hearts of each; He considers all their works.
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.