Word study
Strike
11 Hebrew and 6 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: struck, strike, strikes, striking. 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 “strike” 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)
- נָכָה nâkâhsmitetranslated this way 234 times of its 496 uses · Strong’s H5221Verb · Translated: struck 145, strike 59, put 31, defeated 28Full study and all 460 verses →
Genesis 19:11 And they struck the men at the entrance, young and old, with blindness, so that they wearied themselves trying to find the door.
Exodus 2:12 After looking this way and that and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand.
- נָגַף nâgaphstrike, smitetranslated this way 17 times of its 48 uses · Strong’s H5062Verb · Translated: defeated 17, strike 9, struck 6, routed 3Full study and all 46 verses →
Exodus 12:23 When the LORD passes through to strike down the Egyptians, He will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway; so He will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.
Numbers 14:42 Do not go up, lest you be struck down by your enemies, because the LORD is not among you.
- פָּגַע pâgameet, encounter, reachtranslated this way 11 times of its 45 uses · Strong’s H6293Verb · Translated: strike 5, struck 4, reached 3, met 2Full study and all 43 verses →
Exodus 5:3 “The God of the Hebrews has met with us,” they answered. “Please let us go on a three-day journey into the wilderness to sacrifice to the LORD our God, or He may strike us with plagues or with the sword.”
1 Samuel 22:17 Then the king ordered the guards at his side, “Turn and kill the priests of the LORD, because they too sided with David. For they knew he was fleeing, but they did not tell me.” But the king’s servants would not lift a hand to strike the priests of the LORD.
- נָגַע nâgatouch, reach, striketranslated this way 8 times of its 144 uses · Strong’s H5060Verb · Translated: touches 35, touched 20, touch 19, Whoever touches 6Full study and all 136 verses →
Genesis 32:25 When the man saw that he could not overpower Jacob, he struck the socket of Jacob’s hip and dislocated it as they wrestled.
Job 1:11 But stretch out Your hand and strike all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face.”
- סָפַק sâphaqclap, be enough, vomittranslated this way 4 times of its 10 uses · Strong’s H5606Verb · Translated: claps 2, strike 2Full study and all 10 verses →
Job 34:26 He strikes them for their wickedness in full view,
Isaiah 2:6 For You have abandoned Your people, the house of Jacob, because they are filled with influences from the east; they are soothsayers like the Philistines; they strike hands with the children of foreigners.
- הָלַם hâlamsmite, hammer, strike downtranslated this way 3 times of its 8 uses · Strong’s H1986Verb · Translated: thundered 1, struck 1, smashing 1, strike 1Full study and all 8 verses →
Judges 5:26 She reached for the tent peg, her right hand for the workman’s hammer. She struck Sisera and crushed his skull; she shattered and pierced his temple.
Psalm 141:5 Let the righteous man strike me; let his rebuke be an act of loving devotion. It is oil for my head; let me not refuse it. For my prayer is ever against the deeds of the wicked.
- הָיָה hâyâhfall out, come to pass, become, betranslated this way 3 times of its 2,848 uses · Strong’s H1961Verb · Translated: will be 206, become 178, came 169, was 151Full study and all 2,573 verses →
- שָׁנָה shânâhchangetranslated this way 2 times of its 22 uses · Strong’s H8138Verb · Translated: change 2Full study and all 21 verses →
1 Samuel 26:8 Abishai said to David, “Today God has delivered your enemy into your hand. Now, therefore, please let me thrust the spear through him into the ground with one stroke. I will not need to strike him twice!”
2 Samuel 20:10 Amasa was not on guard against the dagger in Joab’s hand, and Joab stabbed him in the stomach and spilled out his intestines on the ground. And Joab did not need to strike him again, for Amasa was dead. Then Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba son of Bichri.
- תָּקַע tâqathrust, clap, give a blow, blasttranslated this way 2 times of its 65 uses · Strong’s H8628Verb · Translated: blew 15, blow 11, sound 7, sounded 4Full study and all 60 verses →
Proverbs 6:1 My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, if you have struck hands in pledge with a stranger,
Proverbs 17:18 A man lacking judgment strikes hands in pledge and puts up security for his neighbor.
- מַכָּה makkâhblow, wound, slaughtertranslated this way 2 times of its 44 uses · Strong’s H4347Noun · Translated: wounds 9, slaughter 7, wound 7, plagues 4Full study and all 43 verses →
Isaiah 10:26 And the LORD of Hosts will brandish a whip against them, as when He struck Midian at the rock of Oreb. He will raise His staff over the sea, as He did in Egypt.
Isaiah 27:7 Has the LORD struck Israel as He struck her oppressors? Was she killed like those who slayed her?
- מְחָא mechâsmitetranslated this way 2 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s H4223Verb · Translated: struck 2, impaled 1, restrain 1Full study and all 4 verses →
Daniel 2:34 As you watched, a stone was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay, and crushed them.
Daniel 2:35 Then the iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold were shattered and became like chaff on the threshing floor in summer. The wind carried them away, and not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that had struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
Greek words (New Testament)
- πατάσσω patássōI striketranslated this way 9 times of its 10 uses · Strong’s G3960Verb · Translated: strike 5, struck 3, striking 1, tapped 1Full study and all 10 verses →
Matthew 26:31 Then Jesus said to them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of Me. For it is written: ‘I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’
Mark 14:27 Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, for it is written: ‘I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’
- τύπτω týptōI beat, strike, wound, inflict punishmenttranslated this way 6 times of its 13 uses · Strong’s G5180Verb · Translated: beat 4, struck 2, beating 2, strike 2Full study and all 12 verses →
Matthew 27:30 Then they spit on Him and took the staff and struck Him on the head repeatedly.
Mark 15:19 They kept striking His head with a staff and spitting on Him. And they knelt down and bowed before Him.
- προσκόπτω proskóptōI stumbletranslated this way 2 times of its 8 uses · Strong’s G4350Verb · Translated: stumble 4, strike 2, beat 1, stumbled 1Full study and all 8 verses →
Matthew 4:6 “If You are the Son of God,” he said, “throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He will command His angels concerning You, and they will lift You up in their hands, so that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’”
Luke 4:11 and they will lift You up in their hands, so that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’”
- δέρω dérōI flay, flog, scourge, beattranslated this way 2 times of its 15 uses · Strong’s G1194Verb · Translated: beat 8, beaten 3, strike 1, flogged 1Full study and all 15 verses →
John 18:23 Jesus replied, “If I said something wrong, testify as to what was wrong. But if I spoke correctly, why did you strike Me?”
2 Corinthians 11:20 In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or exalts himself or strikes you in the face.
- κολαφίζω kolaphízōI strike with the fist, maltreattranslated this way 2 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s G2852Verb · Translated: struck 1, struck him with their fists 1, brutally treated 1, torment 1Full study and all 5 verses →
Matthew 26:67 Then they spit in His face and struck Him. Others slapped Him
Mark 14:65 Then some of them began to spit on Him. They blindfolded Him, struck Him with their fists, and said to Him, “Prophesy!” And the officers received Him with slaps in His face.
- παίω paíōI strike, smitetranslated this way 2 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s G3817Verb · Translated: hit 2, struck 2, stinging 1Full study and all 5 verses →
Mark 14:47 And one of the bystanders drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.
John 18:10 Then Simon Peter drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus.
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.