Word study

Transform

3 Hebrew and 2 Greek words behind this English word

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

  • הָפַךְ hâphakturn, overturntranslated this way 2 times of its 93 uses · Strong’s H2015Verb  ·  Translated: turned 27, turn 7, changed 4, overthrew 3

    1 Samuel 10:6 Then the Spirit of the LORD will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be transformed into a different person.

    Job 28:5 Food may come from the earth, but from below it is transformed as by fire.

    Full study and all 91 verses →
  • מוּר mûrchangetranslated this way 1 time of its 12 uses · Strong’s H4171Verb  ·  Translated: exchanged 3, exchange 2

    Psalm 46:2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth is transformed and the mountains are toppled into the depths of the seas,

    Full study and all 10 verses →
  • שׂוּם sûmput, place, settranslated this way 1 time of its 560 uses · Strong’s H7760Verb  ·  Translated: put 84, set 71, make 45, made 39Full study and all 533 verses →

Greek words (New Testament)

  • μεταμορφόω metamorphóōI change the form, transformtranslated this way 2 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s G3339Verb  ·  Translated: transfigured 2, transformed 2

    Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

    2 Corinthians 3:18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into His image with intensifying glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

    Full study and all 4 verses →
  • μετασχηματίζω metaschēmatízōI change the outward appearance, transfigure, adapttranslated this way 1 time of its 5 uses · Strong’s G3345Verb  ·  Translated: applied 1, masquerading 1, masquerades 1, masquerade 1

    Philippians 3:21 who, by the power that enables Him to subject all things to Himself, will transform our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body.

    Full study and all 5 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.