Word study
Table
2 Hebrew and 5 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: table, tables. 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 “table” 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)
- שֻׁלְחָן shulchântabletranslated this way 65 times of its 66 uses · Strong’s H7979Noun · Translated: table 54, tables 10, become 1, more tables 1Full study and all 62 verses →
Exodus 25:23 You are also to make a table of acacia wood two cubits long, a cubit wide, and a cubit and a half high.
Leviticus 24:6 and set them in two rows — six per row — on the table of pure gold before the LORD.
- פָּנִים pânîmface, beforetranslated this way 3 times of its 1,836 uses · Strong’s H6440Noun · Translated: before 448, face 222, presence 147, before you 123Full study and all 1,671 verses →
Genesis 43:34 When the portions were served to them from Joseph’s table, Benjamin’s portion was five times larger than any of the others. So they feasted and drank freely with Joseph.
Greek words (New Testament)
- τράπεζα trápezaa table for food or businesstranslated this way 12 times of its 14 uses · Strong’s G5132Noun · Translated: table 8, tables 4, bank 1, in 1Full study and all 13 verses →
Matthew 15:27 “Yes, Lord,” she said, “even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”
Mark 7:28 “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”
- ἀνακεῖμαι anakeîmaiI recline, especially at a dinner-tabletranslated this way 3 times of its 13 uses · Strong’s G345Verb · Translated: guests 3, reclining 3Full study and all 12 verses →
Matthew 26:7 a woman came to Him with an alabaster jar of expensive perfume, which she poured on His head as He reclined at the table.
Luke 22:27 For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines? But I am among you as one who serves.
- συνανάκειμαι synanákeimaiI recline at table withtranslated this way 2 times of its 7 uses · Strong’s G4873Verb · Translated: guests 2, table 2, ate 1, eating 1Full study and all 7 verses →
Luke 7:49 But those at the table began to say to themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”
Luke 14:10 But when you are invited, go and sit in the last place, so that your host will come and tell you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in front of everyone at the table with you.
- ἀναπίπτω anapíptōI lie down, recline, fall back upontranslated this way 2 times of its 12 uses · Strong’s G377Verb · Translated: sit 4, sat 2, reclined at the table 2Full study and all 11 verses →
Luke 11:37 As Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee invited Him to dine with him; so He went in and reclined at the table.
Luke 22:14 When the hour had come, Jesus reclined at the table with His apostles.
- ἀνακλίνω anaklínōI make to recline, I recline at a tabletranslated this way 2 times of its 6 uses · Strong’s G347Verb · Translated: recline at the table 2, share the banquet 1, sit 1, to have 1Full study and all 6 verses →
Luke 12:37 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds on watch when he returns. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve and will have them recline at the table, and he himself will come and wait on them.
Luke 13:29 People will come from east and west and north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God.
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.
What the Bible says about table: passages by topic →
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.