Word study

Using

5 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word

The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “using”. 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 “using” 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)

  • לָט lâṭsecrecy, mysterytranslated this way 1 time of its 5 uses · Strong’s H3909Noun  ·  Translated: magic arts 2, using their magic arts 1, privately 1, stealthily 1

    Exodus 8:18 The magicians tried to produce gnats using their magic arts, but they could not. And the gnats remained on man and beast.

    Full study and all 5 verses →
  • הָיָה hâyâhfall out, come to pass, become, betranslated this way 1 time of its 2,848 uses · Strong’s H1961Verb  ·  Translated: will be 206, become 178, came 169, was 151Full study and all 2,573 verses →
  • בָּנָה bânâhbuildtranslated this way 1 time of its 368 uses · Strong’s H1129Verb  ·  Translated: built 132, build 98, rebuilt 34, rebuild 19

    1 Kings 6:7 The temple was constructed using finished stones cut at the quarry, so that no hammer or chisel or any other iron tool was heard in the temple while it was being built.

    Full study and all 342 verses →
  • בָּקָר bâqârcattle, herd, oxtranslated this way 1 time of its 142 uses · Strong’s H1241Noun  ·  Translated: oxen 49, herds 32, cattle 25, herd 12

    1 Kings 19:21 So Elisha turned back from him, took his pair of oxen, and slaughtered them. Using the oxen’s equipment for fuel, he cooked the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow and serve Elijah.

    Full study and all 135 verses →
  • יָמַן yâmango to or choose the right, use the right handtranslated this way 1 time of its 4 uses · Strong’s H3231Verb  ·  Translated: right 2, go to the right 1, using both the right 1

    1 Chronicles 12:2 they were archers using both the right and left hands to sling stones and shoot arrows; and they were Saul’s kinsmen from Benjamin):

    Full study and all 4 verses →

Greek words (New Testament)

  • χωρίς chōrísapart from, withouttranslated this way 2 times of its 38 uses · Strong’s G5565Preposition  ·  Translated: without 21, apart 7, without using 2, besides 2

    Matthew 13:34 Jesus spoke all these things to the crowds in parables. He did not tell them anything without using a parable.

    Mark 4:34 He did not tell them anything without using a parable. But privately He explained everything to His own disciples.

    Full study and all 35 verses →
  • χείρ cheíra handtranslated this way 1 time of its 155 uses · Strong’s G5495Noun  ·  Translated: hand 74, hands 73, grasp 3

    Acts 7:25 He assumed his brothers would understand that God was using him to deliver them, but they did not.

    Full study and all 149 verses →
  • γράφω gráphōI writetranslated this way 1 time of its 186 uses · Strong’s G1125Verb  ·  Translated: written 112, write 34, wrote 16, writing 14

    Galatians 6:11 See what large letters I am using to write to you with my own hand!

    Full study and all 177 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.