Word study
Throw
10 Hebrew and 6 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: thrown, threw, throw, throws, throwing. 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 “throw” 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)
- שָׁלַךְ shâlakthrow, fling, casttranslated this way 52 times of its 126 uses · Strong’s H7993Verb · Translated: cast 27, threw 20, throw 16, thrown 10Full study and all 121 verses →
Genesis 37:20 “Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits. We can say that a vicious animal has devoured him. Then we shall see what becomes of his dreams!”
Exodus 1:22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people: “Every son born to the Hebrews you must throw into the Nile, but every daughter you may allow to live.”
- רְמָה remâhthrow, set, assesstranslated this way 10 times of its 12 uses · Strong’s H7412Verb · Translated: thrown 7, throw 2, impose 1, threw 1Full study and all 12 verses →
Daniel 3:6 And whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into the blazing fiery furnace.”
Daniel 3:11 and that whoever does not fall down and worship will be thrown into the blazing fiery furnace.
- נָפַל nâphalfall, lietranslated this way 5 times of its 432 uses · Strong’s H5307Verb · Translated: fall 104, fell 77, fallen 54, falls 21Full study and all 403 verses →
Genesis 33:4 Esau, however, ran to him and embraced him, threw his arms around his neck, and kissed him. And they both wept.
Psalm 140:10 May burning coals fall on them; may they be thrown into the fire, into the miry pits, never to rise again.
- הָמַם hâmammake a noise, move noisily, confuse, discomfittranslated this way 5 times of its 14 uses · Strong’s H2000Verb · Translated: routed 3Full study and all 14 verses →
Exodus 14:24 At morning watch, however, the LORD looked down on the army of the Egyptians from the pillar of fire and cloud, and He threw their camp into confusion.
Deuteronomy 7:23 But the LORD your God will give them over to you and throw them into great confusion, until they are destroyed.
- שָׁמַט shâmaṭlet droptranslated this way 3 times of its 9 uses · Strong’s H8058Verb · Translated: stumbled 2Full study and all 8 verses →
2 Kings 9:33 “Throw her down!” yelled Jehu. So they threw her down, and her blood splattered on the wall and on the horses as they trampled her underfoot.
Psalm 141:6 When their rulers are thrown down from the cliffs, the people will listen to my words, for they are pleasant.
- סָקַל sâqalstone, put to death by stoningtranslated this way 2 times of its 20 uses · Strong’s H5619Verb · Translated: stoned 6, stone 6, surely be stoned 2, threw stones 2Full study and all 20 verses →
2 Samuel 16:6 He threw stones at David and at all the servants of the king, though the troops and all the mighty men were on David’s right and left.
2 Samuel 16:13 So David and his men proceeded along the road as Shimei went along the ridge of the hill opposite him. As Shimei went, he yelled curses, threw stones, and flung dust at David.
- עָלָה âlâhgo up, ascend, climbtranslated this way 2 times of its 873 uses · Strong’s H5927Verb · Translated: go 118, went 107, brought 56, come 42Full study and all 807 verses →
- נָתַן nâthangive, put, settranslated this way 2 times of its 1,957 uses · Strong’s H5414Verb · Translated: give 326, gave 206, given 187, put 135Full study and all 1,785 verses →
Genesis 39:20 So Joseph’s master took him and had him thrown into the prison where the king’s prisoners were confined. While Joseph was there in the prison,
- רָמָה râmâhcast, shoottranslated this way 2 times of its 11 uses · Strong’s H7411Verb · Translated: deceived 3, thrown 2, deceive 2Full study and all 11 verses →
Exodus 15:1 Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD: “I will sing to the LORD, for He is highly exalted. The horse and rider He has thrown into the sea.
Exodus 15:21 And Miriam sang back to them: “Sing to the LORD, for He is highly exalted; the horse and rider He has thrown into the sea.”
- דָּחָה dâchâhpush, thrusttranslated this way 2 times of its 7 uses · Strong’s H1760Verb · Translated: thrown 2, drives them away 1, tottering 1, pushed so hard 1Full study and all 7 verses →
Psalm 36:12 There the evildoers lie fallen, thrown down and unable to rise.
Proverbs 14:32 The wicked man is thrown down by his own sin, but the righteous man has a refuge even in death.
Greek words (New Testament)
- βάλλω bállōI cast, throw, rush, put, place, droptranslated this way 45 times of its 120 uses · Strong’s G906Verb · Translated: thrown 26, put 16, throw 11, cast 10Full study and all 106 verses →
Matthew 3:10 The axe lies ready at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
Mark 9:22 “It often throws him into the fire or into the water, trying to kill him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”
- ἐκβάλλω ekbállōI throw, cast, put out, banish, bring forth, producetranslated this way 11 times of its 81 uses · Strong’s G1544Verb · Translated: drive 22, drove 8, threw 5, take 4Full study and all 75 verses →
Matthew 8:12 But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Mark 12:8 So they seized the son, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.
- ῥίπτω rhíptōI throw, cast, tosstranslated this way 4 times of its 7 uses · Strong’s G4496Verb · Translated: threw 3, helpless 1, laid 1, thrown 1Full study and all 7 verses →
Matthew 27:5 So Judas threw the silver into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.
Luke 4:35 But Jesus rebuked the demon. “Be silent!” He said. “Come out of him!” At this, the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without harming him.
- καταλύω katalýōI break up, overthrow, unharness, find a lodgingtranslated this way 3 times of its 17 uses · Strong’s G2647Verb · Translated: destroy 4, thrown 3, abolish 2, going to destroy 2Full study and all 16 verses →
Matthew 24:2 “Do you see all these things?” He replied. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”
Mark 13:2 “Do you see all these great buildings?” Jesus replied. “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”
- σπαράσσω sparássōI convulsetranslated this way 2 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s G4682Verb · Translated: threw 1, convulsing him violently 1, throws him into convulsions 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Mark 1:26 At this, the unclean spirit threw the man into convulsions and came out with a loud shriek.
Luke 9:39 A spirit keeps seizing him, and he screams abruptly. It throws him into convulsions so that he foams at the mouth. It keeps mauling him and rarely departs from him.
- ἀποβάλλω apobállōI throw away from, throw overboardtranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G577Verb · Translated: Throwing 1, throw away 1Full study and all 2 verses →
Mark 10:50 Throwing off his cloak, Bartimaeus jumped up and came to Jesus.
Hebrews 10:35 So do not throw away your confidence; it holds a great reward.
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.