Word study
Stop
8 Hebrew and 4 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: stop, stopped, stops, stopping. 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 “stop” 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)
- חָדַל châdalceasetranslated this way 18 times of its 57 uses · Strong’s H2308Verb · Translated: stopped 9, stop 6, refrain 5, cease 4Full study and all 55 verses →
Genesis 11:8 So the LORD scattered them from there over the face of all the earth, and they stopped building the city.
Judges 9:9 But the olive tree replied, ‘Should I stop giving my oil that honors both God and man, to hold sway over the trees?’
- עָמַד âmadtake one's stand, standtranslated this way 17 times of its 508 uses · Strong’s H5975Verb · Translated: stood 99, stand 95, standing 50, stands 12Full study and all 485 verses →
Genesis 19:17 As soon as the men had brought them out, one of them said, “Run for your lives! Do not look back, and do not stop anywhere on the plain! Flee to the mountains, or you will be swept away!”
Joshua 10:13 So the sun stood still and the moon stopped until the nation took vengeance upon its enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? “So the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day.”
- סָתַם sâthamstop up, shut up, keep closetranslated this way 6 times of its 14 uses · Strong’s H5640Verb · Translated: stopped 4, closed 2Full study and all 14 verses →
Genesis 26:15 So the Philistines took dirt and stopped up all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the days of his father Abraham.
2 Kings 3:19 And you shall attack every fortified city and every city of importance. You shall cut down every good tree, stop up every spring, and ruin every good field with stones.”
- סוּר sûrturn asidetranslated this way 5 times of its 294 uses · Strong’s H5493Verb · Translated: removed 46, remove 38, turn away 23, turn aside 16Full study and all 277 verses →
Judges 19:11 When they were near Jebus and the day was almost gone, the servant said to his master, “Please, let us stop at this Jebusite city and spend the night here.”
2 Samuel 2:21 So Abner told him, “Turn to your right or to your left, seize one of the young men, and take his equipment for yourself.” But Asahel would not stop chasing him.
- שָׁבַת shâbathcease, desist, resttranslated this way 5 times of its 71 uses · Strong’s H7673Verb · Translated: put an end 13, cease 5, rest 5, rested 4Full study and all 67 verses →
Exodus 5:5 Pharaoh also said, “Look, the people of the land are now numerous, and you would be stopping them from their labor.”
Joshua 22:25 For the LORD has made the Jordan a border between us and you Reubenites and Gadites. You have no share in the LORD!’ So your descendants could cause ours to stop fearing the LORD.
- בְּטֵל beṭêlceasetranslated this way 3 times of its 6 uses · Strong’s H989Verb · Translated: stopped 2, stop 1, ceased 1, standstill 1Full study and all 5 verses →
Ezra 4:21 Now, therefore, issue an order for these men to stop, so that this city will not be rebuilt until I so order.
Ezra 4:23 When the text of the letter from King Artaxerxes was read to Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and their associates, they went immediately to the Jews in Jerusalem and forcibly stopped them.
- שׁוּב shûbturn back, returntranslated this way 3 times of its 1,007 uses · Strong’s H7725Verb · Translated: return 218, returned 105, restore 62, turn 56Full study and all 920 verses →
- לֹא lônottranslated this way 2 times of its 4,657 uses · Strong’s H3808Adverb · Translated: no 309, not 269, never 218, will not 156Full study and all 3,775 verses →
Greek words (New Testament)
- παύω paúōI cause to ceasetranslated this way 7 times of its 15 uses · Strong’s G3973Verb · Translated: stopped 3, finished 2Full study and all 15 verses →
Acts 5:42 Every day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they did not stop teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.
Ephesians 1:16 I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers,
- ἵστημι hístēmiI cause to stand, standtranslated this way 5 times of its 152 uses · Strong’s G2476Verb · Translated: standing 39, stood 37, stand 29, set 4Full study and all 148 verses →
Matthew 20:32 Jesus stopped and called them. “What do you want Me to do for you?” He asked.
Mark 10:49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called the blind man. “Take courage!” they said. “Get up! He is calling for you.”
- κωλύω kōlýōI prevent, hindertranslated this way 4 times of its 23 uses · Strong’s G2967Verb · Translated: hinder 4, prevented 3, tried to stop 2, stop 2Full study and all 23 verses →
Mark 9:38 John said to Him, “Teacher, we saw someone else driving out demons in Your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not accompany us.”
Luke 9:49 “Master,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in Your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not accompany us.”
- μή mḗnot, lesttranslated this way 4 times of its 411 uses · Strong’s G3361Adverb · Translated: not 284, no 44, without 18, Otherwise 9Full study and all 381 verses →
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.