Word study
Worn
7 Hebrew and 1 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “worn”. 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 “worn” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- בָּלָה bâlâhbecome old and worn outtranslated this way 3 times of its 15 uses · Strong’s H1086Verb · Translated: wear 6, worn 2Full study and all 15 verses →
Genesis 18:12 So she laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?”
Joshua 9:13 These wineskins were new when we filled them, but look, they are cracked. And these clothes and sandals are worn out from our very long journey.”
- שָׁרַת shârathminister, servetranslated this way 1 time of its 94 uses · Strong’s H8334Verb · Translated: minister 32, serve 9, ministering 6, ministers 6Full study and all 88 verses →
Exodus 39:26 alternating the bells and pomegranates around the lower hem of the robe to be worn for ministry, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.
- בָּלֶה bâlehworn outtranslated this way 1 time of its 5 uses · Strong’s H1087Adjective · Translated: worn-out 1, old 1, put worn 1, threadbare 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Joshua 9:4 acted deceptively and set out as envoys, carrying on their donkeys worn-out sacks and old wineskins, cracked and mended.
Joshua 9:5 They put worn, patched sandals on their feet and threadbare clothing on their bodies, and their whole supply of bread was dry and moldy.
- לָבַשׁ lâbashput on (a garment), wear, clothe, be clothedtranslated this way 1 time of its 109 uses · Strong’s H3847Verb · Translated: clothed 28, put 22, wear 13, clothe 12Full study and all 102 verses →
Esther 6:8 have them bring a royal robe that the king himself has worn and a horse on which the king himself has ridden— one with a royal crest placed on its head.
- אֻכָל UkâlUcaltranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s H401Noun · Translated: worn 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Proverbs 30:1 These are the words of Agur son of Jakeh — the burden that this man declared to Ithiel: “I am weary, O God, and worn out.
- לָאָה lââhbe weary, impatienttranslated this way 1 time of its 19 uses · Strong’s H3811Verb · Translated: wearied 4, weary 4, wearies 2, try the patience 2Full study and all 18 verses →
Jeremiah 12:5 “If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in a peaceful land, how will you do in the thickets of the Jordan?
- יָגַע yâgatoil, grow or be wearytranslated this way 1 time of its 26 uses · Strong’s H3021Verb · Translated: wearied 6, weary 5, labor 4, wear 2Full study and all 25 verses →
Jeremiah 45:3 You have said, ‘Woe is me because the LORD has added sorrow to my pain! I am worn out with groaning and have found no rest.’”
Greek words (New Testament)
- ἐνδύω endýōI put on, clothetranslated this way 1 time of its 25 uses · Strong’s G1746Verb · Translated: put 7, clothed 6, dressed 3, wear 2Full study and all 25 verses →
Luke 8:27 When Jesus stepped ashore, He was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothing or lived in a house, but he stayed in the tombs.
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.