Word study
Stolen
7 Hebrew words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “stolen”. 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 “stolen” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- גָּנַב gânabstealtranslated this way 9 times of its 38 uses · Strong’s H1589Verb · Translated: steal 8, stolen 8, stole 2, deceived 2Full study and all 36 verses →
Genesis 30:33 So my honesty will testify for me when you come to check on my wages in the future. If I have any goats that are not speckled or spotted, or any lambs that are not dark-colored, they will be considered stolen.”
Exodus 22:7 If a man gives his neighbor money or goods for safekeeping and they are stolen from the neighbor’s house, the thief, if caught, must pay back double.
- גָּזֵל gâzêlrobberytranslated this way 2 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s H1498Noun · Translated: stolen 1, stolen goods 1, denial 1, robbery 1Full study and all 4 verses →
Leviticus 6:2 “If someone sins and acts unfaithfully against the LORD by deceiving his neighbor in regard to a deposit or security entrusted to him or stolen, or if he extorts his neighbor
Psalm 62:10 Place no trust in extortion or false hope in stolen goods. If your riches increase, do not set your heart upon them.
- גְּזֵלָה gezêlâhplunder, spoiltranslated this way 2 times of its 6 uses · Strong’s H1500Noun · Translated: stolen 2, robbery 2, plunder 1, commits robbery 1Full study and all 6 verses →
Leviticus 6:4 once he has sinned and becomes guilty, he must return what he has stolen or taken by extortion, or the deposit entrusted to him, or the lost property he found,
Ezekiel 33:15 if he restores a pledge, makes restitution for what he has stolen, and walks in the statutes of life without practicing iniquity— then he will surely live; he will not die.
- גָּזַל gâzaltear away, seize, robtranslated this way 2 times of its 28 uses · Strong’s H1497Verb · Translated: snatched 3, seized 2, rob 2, robbed 2Full study and all 28 verses →
Job 24:2 Men move boundary stones; they pasture stolen flocks.
Malachi 1:13 You also say: ‘Oh, what a nuisance!’ And you turn up your nose at it,” says the LORD of Hosts. “You bring offerings that are stolen, lame, or sick! Should I accept these from your hands?” asks the LORD.
- אִם imiftranslated this way 1 time of its 889 uses · Strong’s H518Conjunction · Translated: if 398, but if 95, or 64, and if 36Full study and all 761 verses →
Exodus 22:4 If what was stolen is actually found alive in his possession— whether ox or donkey or sheep— he must pay back double.
- שָׁבָה shâbâhtake captivetranslated this way 1 time of its 46 uses · Strong’s H7617Verb · Translated: captives 6, captors 6, captured 5, taken captive 5Full study and all 41 verses →
Exodus 22:10 If a man gives a donkey, an ox, a sheep, or any other animal to be cared for by his neighbor, but it dies or is injured or stolen while no one is watching,
- לָבַב lâbabget a mindtranslated this way 1 time of its 4 uses · Strong’s H3823Verb · Translated: made cakes 1, more become wise 1, captured my heart 1, stolen my heart 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Song of Solomon 4:9 You have captured my heart, my sister, my bride; you have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your neck.
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.