Word study
Smash
12 Hebrew words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: smashed, smash, smashing, smashes. 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 “smash” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- שָׁבַר shâbarbreak, break in piecestranslated this way 6 times of its 146 uses · Strong’s H7665Verb · Translated: broken 32, shattered 23, break 21, broke 10Full study and all 142 verses →
Exodus 34:13 Rather, you must tear down their altars, smash their sacred stones, and chop down their Asherah poles.
Deuteronomy 7:5 Instead, this is what you are to do to them: tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, cut down their Asherah poles, and burn their idols in the fire.
- מַצֵּבָה matstsêbâhpillar, maƒƒ¢b¹ , stumptranslated this way 2 times of its 32 uses · Strong’s H4676Noun · Translated: sacred pillars 10, pillar 9, sacred pillar 4, pillars 3Full study and all 31 verses →
Exodus 23:24 You must not bow down to their gods or serve them or follow their practices. Instead, you are to demolish them and smash their sacred stones to pieces.
2 Kings 23:14 He smashed the sacred pillars to pieces, cut down the Asherah poles, and covered the sites with human bones.
- מִזְבֵּחַ mizbêachaltartranslated this way 2 times of its 393 uses · Strong’s H4196Noun · Translated: altar 335, altars 49, smashed the altars 2Full study and all 338 verses →
2 Kings 11:18 So all the people of the land went to the temple of Baal and tore it down. They smashed the altars and idols to pieces, and they killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the altars. And Jehoiada the priest posted guards for the house of the LORD.
2 Chronicles 23:17 So all the people went to the temple of Baal and tore it down. They smashed the altars and idols to pieces and killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the altars.
- כָּתַת kâthathbeat, crush by beatingtranslated this way 2 times of its 17 uses · Strong’s H3807Verb · Translated: crushed 4, beat 3, routed 2, smashed to pieces 2Full study and all 17 verses →
Job 4:20 They are smashed to pieces from dawn to dusk; unnoticed, they perish forever.
Micah 1:7 All her carved images will be smashed to pieces; all her wages will be burned in the fire, and I will destroy all her idols. Since she collected the wages of a prostitute, they will be used again on a prostitute.
- מָחַץ mâchatssmite through, wound severely, shattertranslated this way 1 time of its 14 uses · Strong’s H4272Verb · Translated: crush 4, crushed 3, shattered 2Full study and all 14 verses →
Deuteronomy 33:11 Bless his substance, O LORD, and accept the work of his hands. Smash the loins of those who rise against him, and of his foes so they can rise no more.”
- נוּחַ nûachresttranslated this way 1 time of its 140 uses · Strong’s H5117Verb · Translated: rest 20, leave 10, placed 9, set 7Full study and all 139 verses →
Isaiah 28:2 Behold, the Lord has one who is strong and mighty. Like a hailstorm or destructive tempest, like a driving rain or flooding downpour, he will smash that crown to the ground.
- נָפַץ nâphatsshattertranslated this way 1 time of its 22 uses · Strong’s H5310Verb · Translated: shatter 11, shattered 2Full study and all 17 verses →
Jeremiah 13:14 I will smash them against one another, fathers and sons alike, declares the LORD. I will allow no mercy or pity or compassion to keep Me from destroying them.’”
- רָעַע râabe evil, badtranslated this way 1 time of its 97 uses · Strong’s H7489Verb · Translated: wicked 9, harm 8, evil 8, evildoers 8Full study and all 97 verses →
Jeremiah 15:12 Can anyone smash iron — iron from the north — or bronze?
- נָתַץ nâthatspull down, break downtranslated this way 1 time of its 42 uses · Strong’s H5422Verb · Translated: tear 11, torn 10, tore 8, broke 4Full study and all 41 verses →
Leviticus 11:35 Anything upon which one of their carcasses falls will be unclean. If it is an oven or cooking pot, it must be smashed; it is unclean and will remain unclean for you.
- נָכָה nâkâhsmitetranslated this way 1 time of its 496 uses · Strong’s H5221Verb · Translated: struck 145, strike 59, put 31, defeated 28Full study and all 460 verses →
Amos 6:11 For the LORD gives a command: “The great house will be smashed to pieces, and the small house to rubble.”
- הָלַם hâlamsmite, hammer, strike downtranslated this way 1 time of its 8 uses · Strong’s H1986Verb · Translated: thundered 1, struck 1, smashing 1, strike 1Full study and all 8 verses →
Psalm 74:6 and smashing all the carvings with hatchets and picks.
- פּוּץ pûtsbe dispersed, scatteredtranslated this way 1 time of its 67 uses · Strong’s H6327Verb · Translated: scattered 30, scatter 15, disperse 5, deserted 2Full study and all 66 verses →
Jeremiah 23:29 “Is not My word like fire,” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer that smashes a rock?”
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.