Word study
Strive
2 Hebrew and 5 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: strive, striving, strives. 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 “strive” 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)
- רַעְיוֹן rayônid.translated this way 1 time of its 3 uses · Strong’s H7475Noun · Translated: pursuit 2, striving 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Ecclesiastes 2:22 For what does a man get for all the toil and striving with which he labors under the sun?
- עוּר ûrrouse oneself, awaketranslated this way 1 time of its 80 uses · Strong’s H5782Verb · Translated: Awake 19, stirred 9, awaken 6, rouse 5Full study and all 65 verses →
Isaiah 64:7 No one calls on Your name or strives to take hold of You. For You have hidden Your face from us and delivered us into the hand of our iniquity.
Greek words (New Testament)
- ζητέω zētéōI seek, search for, desiretranslated this way 3 times of its 117 uses · Strong’s G2212Verb · Translated: seek 17, seeking 14, looking 11, trying 9Full study and all 114 verses →
1 Corinthians 14:12 It is the same with you. Since you are eager to have spiritual gifts, strive to excel in gifts that build up the church.
Galatians 1:10 Am I now seeking the approval of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.
- ἀγωνίζομαι agōnízomaiI strive, contendtranslated this way 2 times of its 8 uses · Strong’s G75Verb · Translated: fight 2Full study and all 8 verses →
Colossians 1:29 To this end I also labor, striving with all His energy working powerfully within me.
1 Timothy 4:10 To this end we labor and strive, because we have set our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of everyone, and especially of those who believe.
- ἐπιζητέω epizētéōI seek after, desire, search fortranslated this way 2 times of its 13 uses · Strong’s G1934Verb · Translated: seeking 4, looking 3, strive 2, demands 2Full study and all 12 verses →
Matthew 6:32 For the Gentiles strive after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
Luke 12:30 For the Gentiles of the world strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them.
- ἀσκέω askéōI train, practice, exercisetranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s G778Verb · Translated: strive 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Acts 24:16 In this hope, I strive always to maintain a clear conscience before God and man.
- σπουδάζω spoudázōI hastentranslated this way 1 time of its 13 uses · Strong’s G4704Verb · Translated: Make every effort 6Full study and all 11 verses →
2 Peter 1:10 Therefore, brothers, strive to make your calling and election sure. For if you practice these things you will never stumble,
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.