Word study
Withdraw
10 Hebrew and 1 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: withdraw, withdrawing. 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 “withdraw” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- אָסַף âsaphgather, removetranslated this way 4 times of its 193 uses · Strong’s H622Verb · Translated: gathered 56, gather 27, assembled 13, assemble 8Full study and all 183 verses →
Leviticus 26:25 And I will bring a sword against you to execute the vengeance of the covenant. Though you withdraw into your cities, I will send a plague among you, and you will be delivered into the hand of the enemy.
1 Samuel 14:19 While Saul was talking to the priest, the commotion in the Philistine camp continued to increase. So Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand.”
- שׁוּב shûbturn back, returntranslated this way 4 times of its 1,007 uses · Strong’s H7725Verb · Translated: return 218, returned 105, restore 62, turn 56Full study and all 920 verses →
2 Samuel 11:15 In the letter he wrote: “Put Uriah at the front of the fiercest battle; then withdraw from him, so that he may be struck down and killed.”
- רָפָה râphâhsink, relaxtranslated this way 2 times of its 44 uses · Strong’s H7503Verb · Translated: leave 4, abandon 3, go 3, Withdraw 2Full study and all 43 verses →
2 Samuel 24:16 But when the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the LORD relented from the calamity and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand now!” At that time the angel of the LORD was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
1 Chronicles 21:15 Then God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem, but as the angel was doing so, the LORD saw it and relented from the calamity, and He said to the angel who was destroying the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand now!” At that time the angel of the LORD was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
- עָלָה âlâhgo up, ascend, climbtranslated this way 2 times of its 873 uses · Strong’s H5927Verb · Translated: go 118, went 107, brought 56, come 42Full study and all 807 verses →
- שָׁלַף shâlaphdraw out, offtranslated this way 1 time of its 20 uses · Strong’s H8025Verb · Translated: drawn 5, Draw 4, armed 3, drew 2Full study and all 20 verses →
Judges 3:22 Even the handle sank in after the blade, and Eglon’s fat closed in over it, so that Ehud did not withdraw the sword from his belly. And Eglon’s bowels emptied.
- חָדַל châdalceasetranslated this way 1 time of its 57 uses · Strong’s H2308Verb · Translated: stopped 9, stop 6, refrain 5, cease 4Full study and all 55 verses →
Job 10:20 Are my days not few? Withdraw from me, that I may have a little comfort,
- רָחַק râchaqbe, or become, far, distanttranslated this way 1 time of its 57 uses · Strong’s H7368Verb · Translated: far 19, far away 6, removed 3, remove 3Full study and all 56 verses →
Job 13:21 Withdraw Your hand from me, and do not let Your terror frighten me.
- חָטָא châṭâmisstranslated this way 1 time of its 233 uses · Strong’s H2398Verb · Translated: sinned 73, sin 33, committed 26, sins 21Full study and all 217 verses →
Job 41:25 When Leviathan rises up, the mighty are terrified; they withdraw before his thrashing.
- פּוּר pûrcrushtranslated this way 1 time of its 3 uses · Strong’s H6331Verb · Translated: frustrates 1, withdraw 1, broke 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Psalm 89:33 But I will not withdraw My loving devotion from him, nor ever betray My faithfulness.
- גָּרַע gâradiminish, restrain, withdrawtranslated this way 1 time of its 22 uses · Strong’s H1639Verb · Translated: reduce 3, reduced 3, taken away 2, subtract 2Full study and all 21 verses →
Ezekiel 5:11 Therefore as surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, because you have defiled My sanctuary with all your detestable idols and abominations, I Myself will withdraw My favor; I will not look upon you with pity, nor will I spare you.
Greek words (New Testament)
- αἴρω aírōI raise, lift uptranslated this way 2 times of its 100 uses · Strong’s G142Verb · Translated: take 15, picked 10, pick 8, taken away 7Full study and all 96 verses →
Luke 19:21 For I was afraid of you, because you are a harsh man. You withdraw what you did not deposit and reap what you did not sow.’
Luke 19:22 His master replied, ‘You wicked servant, I will judge you by your own words. So you knew that I am a harsh man, withdrawing what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow?
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.