Word study
Whisper
6 Hebrew and 4 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: whisper, whispering, whispered. 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 “whisper” 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)
- לָחַשׁ lâchashwhisper, charmtranslated this way 2 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s H3907Verb · Translated: whispering to one another 1, whisper 1, charmer 1Full study and all 3 verses →
2 Samuel 12:19 When David saw that his servants were whispering to one another, he perceived that the child was dead. So he asked his servants, “Is the child dead?” “He is dead,” they replied.
Psalm 41:7 All who hate me whisper against me; they imagine the worst for me:
- דְּמָמָה demâmâhwhispertranslated this way 2 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s H1827Noun · Translated: came a still 1, whispering 1, whisper 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Job 4:16 It stood still, but I could not discern its appearance; a form loomed before my eyes, and I heard a whispering voice:
Psalm 107:29 He calmed the storm to a whisper, and the waves of the sea were hushed.
- צָפַף tsâphaphchirp, peeptranslated this way 2 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s H6850Verb · Translated: whisper 2, chirped 1, chirp 1Full study and all 4 verses →
Isaiah 8:19 When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritists who whisper and mutter, shouldn’t a people consult their God instead? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?
Isaiah 29:4 You will be brought low, you will speak from the ground, and out of the dust your words will be muffled. Your voice will be like a spirit from the ground; your speech will whisper out of the dust.
- דִּבָּה dibbâhwhispering, defamation, evil reporttranslated this way 1 time of its 9 uses · Strong’s H1681Noun · Translated: slander 3, report 2, bad report 2, infamy 1Full study and all 9 verses →
Jeremiah 20:10 For I have heard the whispering of many: “Terror is on every side! Report him; let us report him!” All my trusted friends watch for my fall: “Perhaps he will be deceived so that we may prevail against him and take our vengeance upon him.”
- שֶׁמֶץ shemetswhispertranslated this way 1 time of its 2 uses · Strong’s H8102Noun · Translated: whisper 1, faint 1Full study and all 2 verses →
Job 4:12 Now a word came to me secretly; my ears caught a whisper of it.
- דָּבָר dâbârspeech, wordtranslated this way 1 time of its 1,244 uses · Strong’s H1697Noun · Translated: word 342, words 299, acts 51, Chronicles 42Full study and all 1,120 verses →
Greek words (New Testament)
- γογγυσμός gongysmósmurmuring, grumblingtranslated this way 1 time of its 4 uses · Strong’s G1112Noun · Translated: complaining 2, whispering 1, grumble 1Full study and all 4 verses →
John 7:12 Many in the crowds were whispering about Him. Some said, “He is a good man.” But others replied, “No, He deceives the people.”
- γογγύζω gongýzōI whisper, murmur, grumbletranslated this way 1 time of its 7 uses · Strong’s G1111Verb · Translated: began to grumble 2, grumbling 2, complained 1, whispering 1Full study and all 7 verses →
John 7:32 When the Pharisees heard the crowd whispering these things about Jesus, they and the chief priests sent officers to arrest Him.
- ἀκούω akoúōI hear, listentranslated this way 1 time of its 422 uses · Strong’s G191Verb · Translated: heard 192, hear 98, listen 37, hearing 21Full study and all 394 verses →
Matthew 10:27 What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the housetops.
- λαλέω laléōI speak, saytranslated this way 1 time of its 291 uses · Strong’s G2980Verb · Translated: speak 69, spoke 36, speaking 31, spoken 27Full study and all 268 verses →
Luke 12:3 What you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the housetops.
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.
What the Bible says about whisper: passages by topic →
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.