Word study

Swiftly

6 Hebrew words behind this English word

The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “swiftly”. 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 “swiftly” or one of its forms.

Compare the Hebrew words side by side

Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)

  • מַהֵר mahêrhurrying, in a hurrytranslated this way 2 times of its 17 uses · Strong’s H4118Adverb  ·  Translated: quickly 10, swiftly 2, once 2, immediately 1

    Deuteronomy 7:4 because they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods. Then the anger of the LORD will burn against you, and He will swiftly destroy you.

    Deuteronomy 9:3 But understand that today the LORD your God goes across ahead of you as a consuming fire; He will destroy them and subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate them swiftly, as the LORD has promised you.

    Full study and all 16 verses →
  • קַל qallight, swift, fleettranslated this way 2 times of its 13 uses · Strong’s H7031Adjective  ·  Translated: swift 6, fleet 2, swiftly 2, foam 1

    Isaiah 5:26 He lifts a banner for the distant nations and whistles for those at the ends of the earth. Behold— how speedily and swiftly they come!

    Joel 3:4 Now what do you have against Me, O Tyre, Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you rendering against Me a recompense? If you retaliate against Me, I will swiftly and speedily return your recompense upon your heads.

    Full study and all 13 verses →
  • רוּץ rûtsruntranslated this way 1 time of its 103 uses · Strong’s H7323Verb  ·  Translated: ran 22, run 21, guards 11, couriers 6

    Psalm 59:4 For no fault of my own, they move swiftly to attack me. Arise to help me, and take notice.

    Full study and all 92 verses →
  • מְהֵרָה mehêrâhhaste, speedtranslated this way 1 time of its 19 uses · Strong’s H4120Adverb  ·  Translated: quickly 10, speedily 3, once 2

    Psalm 147:15 He sends forth His command to the earth; His word runs swiftly.

    Full study and all 19 verses →
  • מָהַר mâharhastentranslated this way 1 time of its 66 uses · Strong’s H4116Verb  ·  Translated: quickly 20, hurried 9, Hurry 6, swift 4

    Proverbs 6:18 a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that run swiftly to evil,

    Full study and all 61 verses →
  • מְאֹד meôdmuchness, force, abundance, exceedinglytranslated this way 1 time of its 195 uses · Strong’s H3966Adverb  ·  Translated: greatly 28, very 12, was very 8, exceedingly 8

    Jeremiah 48:16 Moab’s calamity is at hand, and his affliction is rushing swiftly.

    Full study and all 186 verses →
How to study a word well
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
  4. 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.
  5. See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
  6. Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
  7. 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.