Word study
Sweet
7 Hebrew and 1 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “sweet”. 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 “sweet” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- מָתוֹק mâthôqsweettranslated this way 10 times of its 12 uses · Strong’s H4966Adjective · Translated: sweet 9, sweeter 2, something sweet 1Full study and all 11 verses →
Judges 14:14 So he said to them: “Out of the eater came something to eat, and out of the strong came something sweet.” For three days they were unable to explain the riddle.
Proverbs 16:24 Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.
- מָתַק mâthaqbecome or be sweet, pleasanttranslated this way 4 times of its 6 uses · Strong’s H4985Verb · Translated: sweet 3, sweetened 1, feeds 1, shared sweet 1Full study and all 6 verses →
Job 20:12 Though evil is sweet in his mouth and he conceals it under his tongue,
Psalm 55:14 We shared sweet fellowship together; we walked with the crowd into the house of God.
- עָסִיס âsîssweet winetranslated this way 3 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s H6071Noun · Translated: sweet wine 3, nectar 1, wine 1Full study and all 5 verses →
Joel 1:5 Wake up, you drunkards, and weep; wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine, for it has been cut off from your mouth.
Amos 9:13 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when the plowman will overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes, the sower of seed. The mountains will drip with sweet wine, with which all the hills will flow.
- מַמְתַּק mamtaqsweettranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s H4477Noun · Translated: sweet 1, most sweet 1Full study and all 2 verses →
Nehemiah 8:10 Then Nehemiah told them, “Go and eat what is rich, drink what is sweet, and send out portions to those who have nothing prepared, since today is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”
Song of Solomon 5:16 His mouth is most sweet; he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.
- עָרֵב ârêbbe sweet, pleasingtranslated this way 2 times of its 8 uses · Strong’s H6149Verb · Translated: please 3, sweet 2, pleasing 1, most pleasant 1Full study and all 8 verses →
Proverbs 3:24 When you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you rest, your sleep will be sweet.
Proverbs 13:19 Desire fulfilled is sweet to the soul, but turning from evil is detestable to fools.
- עָרֵב ârêbsweet, pleasanttranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s H6156Adjective · Translated: sweet 2Full study and all 2 verses →
Proverbs 20:17 Food gained by fraud is sweet to a man, but later his mouth is full of gravel.
Song of Solomon 2:14 O my dove in the clefts of the rock, in the crevices of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your countenance is lovely.
- קָנֶה qânehstalk, reedtranslated this way 2 times of its 46 uses · Strong’s H7070Noun · Translated: branches 9, rod 9, reeds 5, branch 4Full study and all 37 verses →
Isaiah 43:24 You have not bought Me sweet cane with your silver, nor satisfied Me with the fat of your sacrifices. But you have burdened Me with your sins; you have wearied Me with your iniquities.
Ezekiel 27:19 and casks of wine from Izal for your wares. Wrought iron, cassia, and sweet cane were exchanged for your merchandise.
Greek words (New Testament)
- γλυκύς glykýssweettranslated this way 2 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s G1099Adjective · Translated: fresh 2, sweet 2Full study and all 4 verses →
Revelation 10:9 And I went to the angel and said, “Give me the small scroll.” “Take it and eat it,” he said. “It will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.”
Revelation 10:10 So I took the small scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. But when I had eaten it, my stomach turned bitter.
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.