Word study
Thank
3 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: thanks, thank. 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 “thank” 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)
- יָדָה yâdâhthrow, casttranslated this way 51 times of its 114 uses · Strong’s H3034Verb · Translated: praise 36, give thanks 32, confess 11, give you thanks 8Full study and all 111 verses →
1 Chronicles 16:4 David appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the LORD, to celebrate, to give thanks, and to praise the LORD, the God of Israel.
2 Chronicles 5:13 The trumpeters and singers joined together to praise and thank the LORD with one voice. They lifted up their voices, accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and musical instruments, in praise to the LORD: “For He is good; His loving devotion endures forever.” And the temple, the house of the LORD, was filled with a cloud
- תּוֹדָה tôdâhthanksgivingtranslated this way 10 times of its 32 uses · Strong’s H8426Noun · Translated: thanksgiving 19, thank offerings 5, thank offering 3, thank 2Full study and all 30 verses →
Leviticus 22:29 When you sacrifice a thank offering to the LORD, offer it so that it may be acceptable on your behalf.
2 Chronicles 29:31 Then Hezekiah said, “Now that you have consecrated yourselves to the LORD, come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the house of the LORD.” So the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and all whose hearts were willing brought burnt offerings.
- יְדָא yedâpraisetranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s H3029Verb · Translated: give thanks 1, gave thanks 1Full study and all 2 verses →
Daniel 2:23 To You, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, because You have given me wisdom and power. And now You have made known to me what we have requested, for You have made known to us the dream of the king.”
Daniel 6:10 Now when Daniel learned that the document had been signed, he went into his house, where the windows of his upper room opened toward Jerusalem, and three times a day he got down on his knees, prayed, and gave thanks to his God, just as he had done before.
Greek words (New Testament)
- εὐχαριστέω eucharistéōI thank, give thankstranslated this way 36 times of its 38 uses · Strong’s G2168Verb · Translated: gave thanks 10, thank 9, giving thanks 5, always thank 4Full study and all 37 verses →
Matthew 15:36 Taking the seven loaves and the fish, He gave thanks and broke them. Then He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.
Mark 8:6 And He instructed the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then He took the seven loaves, gave thanks and broke them, and gave them to His disciples to set before the people. And they distributed them to the crowd.
- χάρις chárisgrace, favor, kindnesstranslated this way 9 times of its 153 uses · Strong’s G5485Noun · Translated: grace 120, thanks 6, favor 5, credit 3Full study and all 145 verses →
Luke 17:9 Does he thank the servant because he did what he was told?
Romans 6:17 But thanks be to God that, though you once were slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were committed.
- εὐχαριστία eucharistíathankfulness, gratitudetranslated this way 3 times of its 14 uses · Strong’s G2169Noun · Translated: thanksgiving 7, thanks 2Full study and all 14 verses →
1 Thessalonians 3:9 How can we adequately thank God for you in return for our great joy over you in His presence?
Revelation 4:9 And whenever the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to the One seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever,
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.