Word study

Talk

2 Hebrew and 6 Greek words behind this English word

The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: talking, talk, talked. 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 “talk” 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)

Greek words (New Testament)

  • λέγω légōI say, speaktranslated this way 6 times of its 993 uses · Strong’s G3004Verb  ·  Translated: said 216, tell 164, say 105, saying 86Full study and all 936 verses →
  • ὁμιλέω homiléōI associate with, talk withtranslated this way 3 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s G3656Verb  ·  Translated: talked 2, talking 1, speaking 1

    Luke 24:14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened.

    Acts 24:26 At the same time, he was hoping that Paul would offer him a bribe. So he sent for Paul frequently and talked with him.

    Full study and all 4 verses →
  • λαλέω laléōI speak, saytranslated this way 3 times of its 291 uses · Strong’s G2980Verb  ·  Translated: speak 69, spoke 36, speaking 31, spoken 27

    John 4:27 Just then His disciples returned and were surprised that He was speaking with a woman. But no one asked Him, “What do You want from her?” or “Why are You talking with her?”

    Acts 9:29 He talked and debated with the Grecian Jews, but they tried to kill him.

    Full study and all 268 verses →
  • συλλαλέω syllaléōI talk withtranslated this way 3 times of its 6 uses · Strong’s G4814Verb  ·  Translated: talking 2, asked 1, began talking 1, discuss 1

    Matthew 17:3 Suddenly Moses and Elijah appeared before them, talking with Jesus.

    Mark 9:4 And Elijah and Moses appeared before them, talking with Jesus.

    Full study and all 6 verses →
  • λόγος lógosa word, speech, divine utterance, analogytranslated this way 3 times of its 311 uses · Strong’s G3056Noun  ·  Translated: word 142, words 52, message 32, account 10

    1 Corinthians 4:20 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.

    Ephesians 4:29 Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building up the one in need and bringing grace to those who listen.

    Full study and all 298 verses →
  • διαλέγομαι dialégomaiI converse, address, preach, lecturetranslated this way 2 times of its 12 uses · Strong’s G1256Verb  ·  Translated: reasoned 4, arguing 2, talked 2

    Acts 20:7 On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Since Paul was ready to leave the next day, he talked to them and kept on speaking until midnight.

    Acts 20:9 And a certain young man named Eutychus, seated in the window, was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell from the third story and was picked up dead.

    Full study and all 12 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.