Word study
Surround
5 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: surrounding, surround, surrounded, surrounds. 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 “surround” 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)
- סָבִיב sâbîbcircuit, round abouttranslated this way 47 times of its 295 uses · Strong’s H5439Adverb · Translated: around 151, side 31, surrounding 29, sides 16Full study and all 268 verses →
Genesis 35:5 As they set out, a terror from God fell over the surrounding cities, so that they did not pursue Jacob’s sons.
Exodus 38:20 All the tent pegs for the tabernacle and for the surrounding courtyard were bronze.
- סָבַב sâbabturn about, go around, surroundtranslated this way 25 times of its 153 uses · Strong’s H5437Verb · Translated: turned 16, surrounded 13, surround 10, turn 8Full study and all 144 verses →
Genesis 19:4 Before they had gone to bed, all the men of the city of Sodom, both young and old, surrounded the house.
Deuteronomy 32:10 He found him in a desert land, in a barren, howling wilderness; He surrounded him, He instructed him, He guarded him as the apple of His eye.
- נָקַף nâqaphstrike offtranslated this way 5 times of its 19 uses · Strong’s H5362Verb · Translated: surround 3, circling 2, way 2, surrounded 2Full study and all 19 verses →
2 Kings 6:14 the king of Aram sent horses, chariots, and a great army. They went there by night and surrounded the city.
2 Chronicles 23:7 The Levites must surround the king with weapons in hand, and anyone who enters the temple must be put to death. You must stay close to the king wherever he goes.”
- עַל alheighttranslated this way 3 times of its 4,859 uses · Strong’s H5921Preposition · Translated: on 777, over 297, in 218, against 216Full study and all 3,996 verses →
- בַּת bathdaughtertranslated this way 2 times of its 551 uses · Strong’s H1323Noun · Translated: daughter 255, daughters 218, villages 19, towns 6Full study and all 486 verses →
Joshua 17:11 Within Issachar and Asher, Manasseh was assigned Beth-shean, Ibleam, Dor (that is, Naphath), Endor, Taanach, and Megiddo, each with their surrounding settlements.
1 Chronicles 2:23 But Geshur and Aram captured Havvoth-jair, along with Kenath and its sixty surrounding villages. All these were descendants of Machir the father of Gilead.
Greek words (New Testament)
- περίχωρος períchōrosneighboringtranslated this way 5 times of its 9 uses · Strong’s G4066Adjective · Translated: surrounding region 5, region around 2, region 2Full study and all 9 verses →
Matthew 14:35 And when the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent word to all the surrounding region. People brought all the sick to Him
Luke 4:14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and the news about Him spread throughout the surrounding region.
- κυκλόω kyklóōI encircle, besiege, surroundtranslated this way 2 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s G2944Verb · Translated: surrounded 2, gathered around 2, after 1Full study and all 5 verses →
Luke 21:20 But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, you will know that her desolation is near.
Revelation 20:9 And they marched across the broad expanse of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. But fire came down from heaven and consumed them.
- κύκλῳ kýklōia circletranslated this way 2 times of its 8 uses · Strong’s G2945Adverb · Translated: around 4, surrounding 2, circle 1, encircling 1Full study and all 8 verses →
Mark 6:36 Dismiss the crowd so they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”
Luke 9:12 As the day neared its end, the Twelve came to Jesus and said, “Dismiss the crowd so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside for lodging and provisions. For we are in a desolate place here.”
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.