Word study
Wood
4 Hebrew and 2 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: wood, wooded, woods. 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 “wood” 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)
- עֵץ êtstree, trees, woodtranslated this way 108 times of its 307 uses · Strong’s H6086Noun · Translated: wood 103, trees 66, tree 58, timber 12Full study and all 277 verses →
Genesis 6:14 Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; make rooms in the ark and coat it with pitch inside and out.
Exodus 7:19 And the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt— over their rivers and canals and ponds and all the reservoirs— that they may become blood.’ There will be blood throughout the land of Egypt, even in the vessels of wood and stone.”
- שִׁטָּה shiṭṭâhacaciatranslated this way 3 times of its 28 uses · Strong’s H7848Noun · Translated: acacia 24, acacia wood 3, acacias 1Full study and all 28 verses →
Exodus 26:32 Hang it with gold hooks on four posts of acacia wood, overlaid with gold and standing on four silver bases.
Exodus 26:37 Make five posts of acacia wood for the curtain, overlay them with gold, use hooks of gold, and cast five bronze bases for them.’’
- יַעַר yaarwood, forest, thickettranslated this way 3 times of its 59 uses · Strong’s H3293Noun · Translated: forest 41, forests 5, like a forest 2, wooded 2Full study and all 59 verses →
2 Kings 2:24 Then he turned around, looked at them, and called down a curse on them in the name of the LORD. Suddenly two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys.
Jeremiah 26:18 “Micah the Moreshite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah and told all the people of Judah that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, and the temple mount a wooded ridge.’
- אָע âwoodtranslated this way 2 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s H636Noun · Translated: timbers 2, wood 2, beam 1Full study and all 5 verses →
Daniel 5:4 As they drank the wine, they praised their gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone.
Daniel 5:23 Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. The vessels from His house were brought to you, and as you drank wine from them with your nobles, wives, and concubines, you praised your gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you have failed to glorify the God who holds in His hand your very breath and all your ways.
Greek words (New Testament)
- ξύλον xýlona staff, cross, anything made of woodtranslated this way 3 times of its 20 uses · Strong’s G3586Noun · Translated: tree 10, clubs 5, wood 3, stocks 1Full study and all 18 verses →
1 Corinthians 3:12 If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw,
Revelation 18:12 cargo of gold, silver, precious stones, and pearls; of fine linen, purple, silk, and scarlet; of all kinds of citron wood and every article of ivory, precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble;
- ξύλινος xýlinoswoodentranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G3585Adjective · Translated: wood 2Full study and all 2 verses →
2 Timothy 2:20 A large house contains not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay. Some indeed are for honorable use, but others are for common use.
Revelation 9:20 Now the rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the works of their hands. They did not stop worshiping demons and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk.
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.