Word study
Worshiper
2 Hebrew and 4 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: worshipers, worshiper. 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 “worshiper” 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)
- עָבַד âbadwork, servetranslated this way 1 time of its 286 uses · Strong’s H5647Verb · Translated: serve 110, served 44, worship 32, work 9Full study and all 259 verses →
Psalm 97:7 All worshipers of images are put to shame — those who boast in idols. Worship Him, all you gods!
- עָתָר âthârsuppliant, worshippertranslated this way 1 time of its 2 uses · Strong’s H6282Noun · Translated: fragrant 1, worshipers 1Full study and all 2 verses →
Zephaniah 3:10 From beyond the rivers of Cush My worshipers, My scattered people, will bring Me an offering.
Greek words (New Testament)
- προσκυνέω proskynéōI worshiptranslated this way 2 times of its 60 uses · Strong’s G4352Verb · Translated: worship 30, worshiped 17, knelt 4, worshipers 2Full study and all 54 verses →
John 4:24 God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”
Revelation 11:1 Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff and was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count the number of worshipers there.
- λατρεύω latreúōI serve, worshiptranslated this way 2 times of its 21 uses · Strong’s G3000Verb · Translated: serve 10, worship 6Full study and all 21 verses →
Hebrews 9:9 It is an illustration for the present time, because the gifts and sacrifices being offered were unable to cleanse the conscience of the worshiper.
Hebrews 10:2 If it could, would not the offerings have ceased? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt the guilt of their sins.
- σέβομαι sébomaiI reverence, worshiptranslated this way 2 times of its 10 uses · Strong’s G4576Verb · Translated: worship 3, worshiper 2, God-fearing 2, devout 1Full study and all 10 verses →
Acts 16:14 Among those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.
Acts 18:7 So Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titus Justus, a worshiper of God.
- προσκυνητής proskynētḗsa worshippertranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s G4353Noun · Translated: worshipers 1Full study and its 1 verse →
John 4:23 But a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such as these to worship 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.