Word study
Willing
3 Hebrew and 4 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “willing”. 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 “willing” 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)
- נָדִיב nâdîbinclined, generous, nobletranslated this way 5 times of its 29 uses · Strong’s H5081Adjective · Translated: nobles 9, willing 4, princes 4, prince 3Full study and all 26 verses →
Exodus 35:5 Take from among you an offering to the LORD. Let everyone whose heart is willing bring an offering to the LORD: gold, silver, and bronze;
1 Chronicles 28:21 The divisions of the priests and Levites are ready for all the service of the house of God, and every willing man of every skill will be at your disposal for the work. The officials and all the people are fully at your command.”
- אָבָה âbâhbe willing, consenttranslated this way 5 times of its 35 uses · Strong’s H14Verb · Translated: unwilling 8, would 5, willing 5, yield 2Full study and all 34 verses →
Deuteronomy 25:7 But if the man does not want to marry his brother’s widow, she is to go to the elders at the city gate and say, “My husband’s brother refuses to preserve his brother’s name in Israel. He is not willing to perform the duty of a brother-in-law for me.”
2 Samuel 13:25 “No, my son,” the king replied, “we should not all go, or we would be a burden to you.” Although Absalom urged him, he was not willing to go, but gave him his blessing.
- נָדַב nâdabincite, impeltranslated this way 2 times of its 17 uses · Strong’s H5068Verb · Translated: prompted 2, volunteer 2Full study and all 15 verses →
1 Chronicles 29:5 for the gold work and the silver work, and for all the work to be done by the craftsmen. Now who is willing to consecrate himself to the LORD today?”
1 Chronicles 29:9 And the people rejoiced at the willing response of their leaders, for they had given to the LORD freely and wholeheartedly. And King David also rejoiced greatly.
Greek words (New Testament)
- θέλω thélōI will, wish, desiretranslated this way 16 times of its 207 uses · Strong’s G2309Verb · Translated: want 65, wants 21, willing 16, wanted 15Full study and all 198 verses →
Matthew 8:2 Suddenly a leper came and knelt before Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”
Mark 1:40 Then a leper came to Jesus, begging on his knees: “If You are willing, You can make me clean.”
- πρόθυμος próthymoseager, ready, willingtranslated this way 2 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s G4289Adjective · Translated: willing 2, am 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Matthew 26:41 “Watch and pray so that you will not enter into temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”
Mark 14:38 Watch and pray so that you will not enter into temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”
- βούλομαι boúlomaiI will, intend, desiretranslated this way 2 times of its 35 uses · Strong’s G1014Verb · Translated: want 8, wanted 4, chooses 3, wanting 3Full study and all 35 verses →
Luke 22:42 “Father, if You are willing, take this cup from Me. Yet not My will, but Yours be done.”
Acts 25:20 Since I was at a loss as to how to investigate these matters, I asked if he was willing to go to Jerusalem and be tried there on these charges.
- συνευδοκέω syneudokéōI consent, agree, am of one mind withtranslated this way 2 times of its 6 uses · Strong’s G4909Verb · Translated: willing 2, consenting 1, giving approval 1, giving my approval 1Full study and all 6 verses →
1 Corinthians 7:12 To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If a brother has an unbelieving wife and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her.
1 Corinthians 7:13 And if a woman has an unbelieving husband and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him.
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.