Word study
Sharp
5 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “sharp”. 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 “sharp” 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)
- חַד chadsharptranslated this way 4 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s H2299Adjective · Translated: sharp 3, like a sharp 1Full study and all 4 verses →
Psalm 57:4 My soul is among the lions; I lie down with ravenous beasts— with men whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords.
Proverbs 5:4 in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a double-edged sword.
- שָׁנַן shânanwhet, sharpentranslated this way 2 times of its 9 uses · Strong’s H8150Verb · Translated: sharpen 3, Sharp 2, teach them diligently 1, pierce 1Full study and all 9 verses →
Psalm 120:4 Sharp arrows will come from the warrior, with burning coals of the broom tree!
Proverbs 25:18 Like a club or sword or sharp arrow is a man who bears false witness against his neighbor.
- חֶרֶב cherebswordtranslated this way 1 time of its 405 uses · Strong’s H2719Noun · Translated: sword 357, swords 27, knives 3, war 2Full study and all 368 verses →
Psalm 59:7 See what they spew from their mouths— sharp words from their lips: “For who can hear us?”
- קָשֶׁה qâshehhard, severetranslated this way 1 time of its 35 uses · Strong’s H7186Adjective · Translated: stiff-necked 6, harshly 5, hard 3, stubborn 2Full study and all 35 verses →
Isaiah 27:1 In that day the LORD will take His sharp, great, and mighty sword, and bring judgment on Leviathan the fleeing serpent— Leviathan the coiling serpent— and He will slay the dragon of the sea.
- חֲרוּץ chărûtssharp, diligenttranslated this way 1 time of its 19 uses · Strong’s H2742Noun · Translated: gold 5, diligent 5, decision 2Full study and all 18 verses →
Isaiah 41:15 Behold, I will make you into a threshing sledge, new and sharp, with many teeth. You will thresh the mountains and crush them, and reduce the hills to chaff.
Greek words (New Testament)
- ὀξύς oxýssharp, swift, eagertranslated this way 7 times of its 8 uses · Strong’s G3691Adjective · Translated: sharp 7, swift 1Full study and all 7 verses →
Revelation 1:16 He held in His right hand seven stars, and a sharp double-edged sword came from His mouth. His face was like the sun shining at its brightest.
Revelation 2:12 To the angel of the church in Pergamum write: These are the words of the One who holds the sharp, double-edged sword.
- ὀλίγος olígossmall, brief, few, soontranslated this way 1 time of its 41 uses · Strong’s G3641Adjective · Translated: few 13, little 10, short 4, few things 3Full study and all 40 verses →
Acts 15:2 And after engaging these men in sharp debate, Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers , to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question.
- παροξυσμός paroxysmósincitement, irritationtranslated this way 1 time of its 2 uses · Strong’s G3948Noun · Translated: disagreement was so sharp 1, spur 1Full study and all 2 verses →
Acts 15:39 Their disagreement was so sharp that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus,
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.