Word study
Tenth
5 Hebrew and 2 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “tenth”. 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 “tenth” 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)
- עֲשִׂירִי ăsîrîtenthtranslated this way 28 times of its 28 uses · Strong’s H6224Number · Translated: tenth 23, tenth month 2, day of the tenth 2, along with a tenth 1Full study and all 25 verses →
Genesis 8:5 And the waters continued to recede until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains became visible.
Exodus 16:36 (Now an omer is a tenth of an ephah.)
- עָשׂוֹר âsôra ten, decadetranslated this way 12 times of its 16 uses · Strong’s H6218Noun · Translated: tenth 11, ten strings 2, ten 1, tenth day 1Full study and all 16 verses →
Exodus 12:3 Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man must select a lamb for his family, one per household.
Leviticus 16:29 This is to be a permanent statute for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month, you shall humble yourselves and not do any work — whether the native or the foreigner who resides among you —
- מַעֲשֵׂר maăsêrtenth part, tithetranslated this way 10 times of its 32 uses · Strong’s H4643Noun · Translated: tithe 11, tenth 10, tithes 10, part of his tithe 1Full study and all 27 verses →
Genesis 14:20 and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything.
Leviticus 27:32 Every tenth animal from the herd or flock that passes under the shepherd’s rod will be holy to the LORD.
- עִשָּׂרוֹן issârôntenth parttranslated this way 9 times of its 9 uses · Strong’s H6241Noun · Translated: tenth 7, along with a tenth 1, tenth of an ephah 1Full study and all 9 verses →
Exodus 29:40 With the first lamb offer a tenth of an ephah of fine flour, mixed with a quarter hin of oil from pressed olives, and a drink offering of a quarter hin of wine.
Leviticus 14:21 If, however, the person is poor and cannot afford these offerings, he is to take one male lamb as a guilt offering to be waved to make atonement for him, along with a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering, a log of olive oil,
- עָשַׂר âsartake the tenth of, tithetranslated this way 5 times of its 7 uses · Strong’s H6237Verb · Translated: take a tenth 2, surely give you a tenth 1, sure to set aside a tenth 1, built 1Full study and all 7 verses →
Genesis 28:22 And this stone I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give You a tenth.”
Deuteronomy 14:22 You must be sure to set aside a tenth of all the produce brought forth each year from your fields.
Greek words (New Testament)
- δεκάτη dekátēa tenth part, a tithetranslated this way 4 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s G1181Adjective · Translated: tenth 4Full study and all 4 verses →
Hebrews 7:2 and Abraham apportioned to him a tenth of everything. First, his name means “king of righteousness.” Then also, “king of Salem” means “king of peace.”
Hebrews 7:4 Consider how great Melchizedek was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder.
- δέκατος dékatostenthtranslated this way 3 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s G1182Adjective · Translated: tenth 3Full study and all 3 verses →
John 1:39 “Come and see,” He replied. So they went and saw where He was staying, and spent that day with Him. It was about the tenth hour.
Revelation 11:13 And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand were killed in the quake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
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.