Word study

Shoulder

3 Hebrew and 1 Greek words behind this English word

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

Compare the Hebrew words side by side

Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)

  • כָּתֵף kâthêphshoulder, shoulder-blade, sidetranslated this way 26 times of its 62 uses · Strong’s H3802Noun  ·  Translated: side 17, shoulders 9, shoulder 9, shoulder pieces 8

    Exodus 28:7 It shall have two shoulder pieces attached at two of its corners, so it can be fastened.

    Numbers 7:9 But he did not give any to the Kohathites, since they were to carry on their shoulders the holy objects for which they were responsible.

    Full study and all 55 verses →
  • שְׁכֶם shekemshouldertranslated this way 16 times of its 19 uses · Strong’s H7926Noun  ·  Translated: shoulder 9, shoulders 7, head 2, ridge of land 1

    Genesis 9:23 Then Shem and Japheth took a garment and placed it across their shoulders, and walking backward, they covered their father’s nakedness. Their faces were turned away so that they did not see their father’s nakedness.

    Exodus 12:34 So the people took their dough before it was leavened, carrying it on their shoulders in kneading bowls wrapped in clothing.

    Full study and all 19 verses →
  • זְרוֹעַ zerôaarm, shoulder, strengthtranslated this way 3 times of its 90 uses · Strong’s H2220Noun  ·  Translated: arm 49, arms 18, strength 7, power 3

    Numbers 6:19 And the priest is to take the boiled shoulder from the ram, one unleavened cake from the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and put them into the hands of the Nazirite who has just shaved the hair of his consecration.

    Deuteronomy 18:3 This shall be the priests’ share from the people who offer a sacrifice, whether a bull or a sheep: the priests are to be given the shoulder, the jowls, and the stomach.

    Full study and all 84 verses →

Greek words (New Testament)

  • ὦμος ōmosa shouldertranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G5606Noun  ·  Translated: shoulders 2

    Matthew 23:4 They tie up heavy, burdensome loads and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.

    Luke 15:5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders,

    Full study and all 2 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.