Word study
Sold
3 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “sold”. 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 “sold” 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)
- מָכַר mâkarselltranslated this way 37 times of its 79 uses · Strong’s H4376Verb · Translated: sold 35, sell 21, sells 9, selling 6Full study and all 74 verses →
Genesis 25:33 “Swear to me first,” Jacob said. So Esau swore to Jacob and sold him the birthright.
Exodus 22:3 But if it happens after sunrise, there is guilt for his bloodshed. A thief must make full restitution; if he has nothing, he himself shall be sold for his theft.
- מִמְכָּר mimkârsale, waretranslated this way 4 times of its 9 uses · Strong’s H4465Noun · Translated: sold 4, sale 3, since its sale 1, goods 1Full study and all 9 verses →
Leviticus 25:25 If your brother becomes impoverished and sells some of his property, his nearest of kin may come and redeem what his brother has sold.
Ezekiel 7:13 The seller will surely not recover what he sold while both remain alive. For the vision concerning the whole multitude will not be revoked, and because of their iniquity, not one of them will preserve his life.
- שָׁבַר shâbarbuy graintranslated this way 2 times of its 21 uses · Strong’s H7666Verb · Translated: buy 11, sold grain 2, buy grain 2, sell 2Full study and all 20 verses →
Genesis 41:56 When the famine had spread over all the land, Joseph opened up all the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians; for the famine was severe in the land of Egypt.
Genesis 42:6 Now Joseph was the ruler of the land; he was the one who sold grain to all its people. So when his brothers arrived, they bowed down before him with their faces to the ground.
Greek words (New Testament)
- πιπράσκω pipráskōI selltranslated this way 7 times of its 9 uses · Strong’s G4097Verb · Translated: sold 6, Selling 1, sales 1, sold as a slave 1Full study and all 9 verses →
Matthew 13:46 When he found one very precious pearl, he went away and sold all he had and bought it.
Mark 14:5 It could have been sold for over three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor.” And they scolded her.
- πωλέω pōléōI selltranslated this way 6 times of its 22 uses · Strong’s G4453Verb · Translated: selling 8, sell 8, sold 6Full study and all 20 verses →
Matthew 10:29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.
Luke 12:6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God.
- ἀποδίδωμι apodídōmiI give back, return, selltranslated this way 2 times of its 47 uses · Strong’s G591Verb · Translated: repay 9, pay 8, give 8, reward 3Full study and all 45 verses →
Acts 7:9 Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him
Hebrews 12:16 See to it that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his birthright.
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.