Word study
Whoever
18 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “whoever”. 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 “whoever” 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)
- כֹּל kôlthe whole, alltranslated this way 23 times of its 5,107 uses · Strong’s H3605Noun · Translated: all 1,589, and all 471, whole 223, every 196Full study and all 4,112 verses →
Genesis 4:14 Behold, this day You have driven me from the face of the earth, and from Your face I will be hidden; I will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”
Exodus 12:15 For seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day you are to remove the leaven from your houses. Whoever eats anything leavened from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel.
- מִי mîwho?translated this way 14 times of its 423 uses · Strong’s H4310Interrogative · Translated: who 242, whom 31, and who 21, Whoever 14Full study and all 341 verses →
Exodus 24:14 And he said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we return to you. Aaron and Hur are here with you. Whoever has a dispute can go to them.”
Judges 7:3 Now, therefore, proclaim in the hearing of the men: ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’” So twenty-two thousand of them turned back, but ten thousand remained.
- נָגַע nâgatouch, reach, striketranslated this way 7 times of its 144 uses · Strong’s H5060Verb · Translated: touches 35, touched 20, touch 19, Whoever touches 6Full study and all 136 verses →
Genesis 26:11 So Abimelech warned all the people, saying, “Whoever harms this man or his wife will surely be put to death.”
Leviticus 15:7 Whoever touches the body of the man with a discharge must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening.
- נָכָה nâkâhsmitetranslated this way 6 times of its 496 uses · Strong’s H5221Verb · Translated: struck 145, strike 59, put 31, defeated 28Full study and all 460 verses →
Exodus 21:12 Whoever strikes and kills a man must surely be put to death.
Leviticus 24:18 Whoever kills an animal must make restitution — life for life.
- שָׁמַע shâmaheartranslated this way 4 times of its 1,132 uses · Strong’s H8085Verb · Translated: heard 311, hear 253, listen 218, obey 60Full study and all 1,063 verses →
- שָׁמַר shâmarkeep, watch, preservetranslated this way 4 times of its 461 uses · Strong’s H8104Verb · Translated: keep 133, careful 39, kept 33, guard 25Full study and all 436 verses →
Proverbs 10:17 Whoever heeds instruction is on the path to life, but he who ignores reproof goes astray.
Ecclesiastes 8:5 Whoever keeps his command will come to no harm, and a wise heart knows the right time and procedure.
- אָכַל âkaleattranslated this way 3 times of its 784 uses · Strong’s H398Verb · Translated: eat 341, ate 64, eaten 63, consumed 39Full study and all 696 verses →
Leviticus 11:40 Whoever eats from the carcass must wash his clothes and will be unclean until evening, and anyone who picks up the carcass must wash his clothes and will be unclean until evening.
Leviticus 19:8 Whoever eats it will bear his iniquity, for he has profaned what is holy to the LORD. That person must be cut off from his people.
- יָשַׁב yâshabsit, remain, dwelltranslated this way 3 times of its 1,049 uses · Strong’s H3427Verb · Translated: lived 103, dwell 89, live 84, sit 70Full study and all 960 verses →
Leviticus 15:6 Whoever sits on furniture on which the man with the discharge was sitting must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening.
- אֲשֶׁר ăsherparticle of relationtranslated this way 3 times of its 3,225 uses · Strong’s H834Pronoun · Translated: that 886, who 451, as 247, which 160Full study and all 2,844 verses →
- יָצָא yâtsâgo or come outtranslated this way 3 times of its 1,035 uses · Strong’s H3318Verb · Translated: brought 108, went 103, go 82, came 78Full study and all 975 verses →
- עָלָה âlâhgo up, ascend, climbtranslated this way 3 times of its 873 uses · Strong’s H5927Verb · Translated: go 118, went 107, brought 56, come 42Full study and all 807 verses →
- הוּא hûhe, shetranslated this way 2 times of its 1,425 uses · Strong’s H1931Pronoun · Translated: he 269, it 151, that 114, on that 87Full study and all 1,320 verses →
- מָלַט mâlaṭslip awaytranslated this way 2 times of its 93 uses · Strong’s H4422Verb · Translated: escaped 22, escape 20, deliver 6, delivered 5Full study and all 85 verses →
1 Kings 19:17 Then Jehu will put to death whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death whoever escapes the sword of Jehu.
- מָצָא mâtsâattain to, findtranslated this way 2 times of its 436 uses · Strong’s H4672Verb · Translated: found 197, find 87, finds 13, present 7Full study and all 411 verses →
1 Chronicles 29:8 Whoever had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of the LORD, under the care of Jehiel the Gershonite.
- רָדַף râdaphpursue, chase, persecutetranslated this way 2 times of its 142 uses · Strong’s H7291Verb · Translated: pursued 36, pursue 35, pursues 9, pursuers 9Full study and all 135 verses →
- סוּר sûrturn asidetranslated this way 2 times of its 294 uses · Strong’s H5493Verb · Translated: removed 46, remove 38, turn away 23, turn aside 16Full study and all 277 verses →
- בּוֹא bôcome in, come, go in, gotranslated this way 2 times of its 2,442 uses · Strong’s H935Verb · Translated: come 358, came 298, bring 209, brought 201Full study and all 2,217 verses →
- מָן mânwho?translated this way 2 times of its 10 uses · Strong’s H4479Interrogative · Translated: to whom 3, who 2, whoever 2, what 1Full study and all 10 verses →
Greek words (New Testament)
- ὁ hothetranslated this way 68 times of its 9,898 uses · Strong’s G3588Article · Translated: the 6,410, of the 748, of 344, who 329Full study and all 5,117 verses →
- ὅς hóswho, which, what, thattranslated this way 37 times of its 866 uses · Strong’s G3739Personal / Relative Pronoun · Translated: which 107, what 107, whom 100, who 94Full study and all 777 verses →
- ὅστις hóstiswhosoever, whichsoever, whatsoevertranslated this way 10 times of its 84 uses · Strong’s G3748Personal / Relative Pronoun · Translated: who 41, which 13, whoever 10, that 5Full study and all 80 verses →
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.