Word study
Short
4 Hebrew and 4 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “short”. 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 “short” 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)
- קָצַר qâtsarbe shorttranslated this way 7 times of its 46 uses · Strong’s H7114Verb · Translated: reap 14, harvesters 6, short 4, harvesting 3Full study and all 45 verses →
Numbers 11:23 The LORD answered Moses, “Is the LORD’s arm too short? Now you will see whether or not My word will come to pass.”
Psalm 89:45 You have cut short the days of his youth; You have covered him with shame. Selah
- מְעַט meaṭa little, fewness, a fewtranslated this way 3 times of its 92 uses · Strong’s H4592Adjective · Translated: little 35, few 18, enough 10, soon 3Full study and all 85 verses →
Ruth 2:7 She has said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the harvesters.’ So she came out and has continued from morning until now, except that she rested a short time in the shelter.”
2 Samuel 19:36 Your servant will go with the king only a short distance past the Jordan; why should the king repay me with such a reward?
- תְּרוּעָה terûâhshout or blast of war, alarm, or joytranslated this way 2 times of its 31 uses · Strong’s H8643Noun · Translated: shouting 4, short blasts 2, shout 2, shout of joy 2Full study and all 29 verses →
Numbers 10:5 When you sound short blasts, the camps that lie on the east side are to set out.
Numbers 10:6 When you sound the short blasts a second time, the camps that lie on the south side are to set out. The blasts are to signal them to set out.
- רוּעַ rûaraise a shouttranslated this way 2 times of its 44 uses · Strong’s H7321Verb · Translated: shout 10, Make a joyful noise 5, shout in triumph 4, shouted 3Full study and all 40 verses →
Numbers 10:7 To convene the assembly, you are to sound long blasts, not short ones.
Numbers 10:9 When you enter into battle in your land against an adversary who attacks you, sound short blasts on the trumpets, and you will be remembered before the LORD your God and saved from your enemies.
Greek words (New Testament)
- κολοβόω kolobóōI cut short, shortentranslated this way 4 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s G2856Verb · Translated: cut short 3, cut them short 1Full study and all 2 verses →
Matthew 24:22 If those days had not been cut short, nobody would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short.
Mark 13:20 If the Lord had not cut short those days, nobody would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom He has chosen, He has cut them short.
- ὀλίγος olígossmall, brief, few, soontranslated this way 4 times of its 41 uses · Strong’s G3641Adjective · Translated: few 13, little 10, short 4, few things 3Full study and all 40 verses →
Acts 26:28 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “Can you persuade me in such a short time to become a Christian?”
Hebrews 12:10 Our fathers disciplined us for a short time as they thought best, but God disciplines us for our good, so that we may share in His holiness.
- ὑστερέω hysteréōI am lacking, fall short, suffer needtranslated this way 3 times of its 16 uses · Strong’s G5302Verb · Translated: lack 3, need 3Full study and all 16 verses →
Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Hebrews 4:1 Therefore, while the promise of entering His rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be deemed to have fallen short of it.
- βραχύς brachýsshort, littletranslated this way 2 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s G1024Adjective · Translated: short time 2, small 1, little farther 1, briefly 1Full study and all 5 verses →
Luke 22:58 A short time later, someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not.”
Acts 5:34 But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law who was honored by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered that the men be put outside for a short time.
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.