Word study
Torn
7 Hebrew and 1 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “torn”. 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 “torn” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- קָרַע qârateartranslated this way 15 times of its 63 uses · Strong’s H7167Verb · Translated: tore 25, torn 15, tear 11, away 3Full study and all 60 verses →
1 Samuel 4:12 That same day a Benjamite ran from the battle line all the way to Shiloh, with his clothes torn and dirt on his head.
2 Samuel 1:2 On the third day a man with torn clothes and dust on his head arrived from Saul’s camp. When he came to David, he fell to the ground to pay him homage.
- נָתַץ nâthatspull down, break downtranslated this way 10 times of its 42 uses · Strong’s H5422Verb · Translated: tear 11, torn 10, tore 8, broke 4Full study and all 41 verses →
Leviticus 14:45 It must be torn down with its stones, its timbers, and all its plaster, and taken outside the city to an unclean place.
Judges 6:28 When the men of the city got up in the morning, there was Baal’s altar torn down, with the Asherah pole cut down beside it and the second bull offered up on the newly built altar.
- טָרַף ṭâraphtear, rend, plucktranslated this way 6 times of its 21 uses · Strong’s H2963Verb · Translated: torn to pieces 3, tear 3, tears 2, tearing 2Full study and all 21 verses →
Genesis 37:33 His father recognized it and said, “It is my son’s robe! A vicious animal has devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!”
Exodus 22:13 If the animal was torn to pieces, he shall bring it as evidence; he need not make restitution for the torn carcass.
- הָרַס hârasthrow down, break or tear downtranslated this way 6 times of its 42 uses · Strong’s H2040Verb · Translated: demolish 7, tear 6, torn 6, destroyed 5Full study and all 42 verses →
1 Kings 18:30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” So all the people approached him, and he repaired the altar of the LORD that had been torn down.
Proverbs 11:11 By the blessing of the upright a city is built up, but by the mouth of the wicked it is torn down.
- טְרֵפָה ṭerêphâhanimal torntranslated this way 4 times of its 9 uses · Strong’s H2966Noun · Translated: mauled by wild beasts 3Full study and all 9 verses →
Genesis 31:39 I did not bring you anything torn by wild beasts; I bore the loss myself. And you demanded payment from me for what was stolen by day or night.
Exodus 22:13 If the animal was torn to pieces, he shall bring it as evidence; he need not make restitution for the torn carcass.
- נָתַק nâthaqpull, draw, tear away, apart, offtranslated this way 3 times of its 26 uses · Strong’s H5423Verb · Translated: broken 4, torn 3, snapped 3, tear 3Full study and all 25 verses →
Leviticus 22:24 You are not to present to the LORD an animal whose testicles are bruised, crushed, torn, or cut; you are not to sacrifice them in your land.
Job 18:14 He is torn from the shelter of his tent and is marched off to the king of terrors.
- שָׁבַר shâbarbreak, break in piecestranslated this way 2 times of its 146 uses · Strong’s H7665Verb · Translated: broken 32, shattered 23, break 21, broke 10Full study and all 142 verses →
Job 31:22 then may my arm fall from my shoulder and be torn from its socket.
Psalm 124:7 We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowler; the net is torn, and we have slipped away.
Greek words (New Testament)
- σχίζω schízōI rend, divide asundertranslated this way 4 times of its 11 uses · Strong’s G4977Verb · Translated: torn 4, tear 2, divided 2, split 1Full study and all 9 verses →
Matthew 27:51 At that moment the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth quaked, and the rocks were split.
Mark 15:38 And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
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.