Word study

Shelter

5 Hebrew and 1 Greek words behind this English word

The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: shelter, shelters, sheltered. 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 “shelter” or one of its forms.

Compare the Hebrew words side by side

Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)

  • סֻכָּה sukkâhthicket, boothtranslated this way 5 times of its 31 uses · Strong’s H5521Noun  ·  Translated: Tabernacles 9, booths 7, tents 3, shelter 3

    Genesis 33:17 but Jacob went on to Succoth, where he built a house for himself and shelters for his livestock; that is why the place was called Succoth.

    Psalm 31:20 You hide them in the secret place of Your presence from the schemes of men. You conceal them in Your shelter from accusing tongues.

    Full study and all 29 verses →
  • סֵתֶר sêthercovering, hiding-place, secrecytranslated this way 3 times of its 36 uses · Strong’s H5643Noun  ·  Translated: secret 10, secretly 5, hiding place 4, shelter 3

    Deuteronomy 32:38 which ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offerings? Let them rise up and help you; let them give you shelter!

    Psalm 61:4 Let me dwell in Your tent forever and take refuge in the shelter of Your wings. Selah

    Full study and all 36 verses →
  • עוּז ûztake or seek refugetranslated this way 2 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s H5756Verb  ·  Translated: shelter 1, take refuge 1, seek shelter 1, Seek refuge 1

    Exodus 9:19 So give orders now to shelter your livestock and everything you have in the field. Every man or beast that remains in the field and is not brought inside will die when the hail comes down upon them.’”

    Isaiah 30:2 They set out to go down to Egypt without asking My advice, to seek shelter under Pharaoh’s protection and take refuge in Egypt’s shade.

    Full study and all 5 verses →
  • בַּיִת bayithhousetranslated this way 2 times of its 1,913 uses · Strong’s H1004Noun  ·  Translated: house 1,132, temple 176, palace 117, household 93

    Exodus 9:20 Those among Pharaoh’s officials who feared the word of the LORD hurried to bring their servants and livestock to shelter,

    Full study and all 1,624 verses →
  • מַחֲסֶה machăsehrefuge, sheltertranslated this way 2 times of its 20 uses · Strong’s H4268Noun  ·  Translated: refuge 17, shelter 2, place of refuge 1

    Job 24:8 Drenched by mountain rains, they huddle against the rocks for want of shelter.

    Psalm 14:6 You sinners frustrate the plans of the oppressed, yet the LORD is their shelter.

    Full study and all 20 verses →

Greek words (New Testament)

  • σκηνή skēnḗa tent, tabernacletranslated this way 3 times of its 20 uses · Strong’s G4633Noun  ·  Translated: tabernacle 11, shelters 3, room 2

    Matthew 17:4 Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If You wish, I will put up three shelters— one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

    Mark 9:5 Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters— one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

    Full study and all 20 verses →
How to study a word well
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
  4. 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.
  5. See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
  6. Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
  7. 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.