Word study
Year
5 Hebrew and 6 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: years, year. 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 “year” 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)
- שָׁנֶה shânehyeartranslated this way 598 times of its 612 uses · Strong’s H8141Noun · Translated: years 295, year 255, years old 20, two years 7Full study and all 519 verses →
Genesis 1:14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to distinguish between the day and the night, and let them be signs to mark the seasons and days and years.
Exodus 6:16 These were the names of the sons of Levi according to their records: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. Levi lived 137 years.
- בֵּן bênsontranslated this way 131 times of its 4,587 uses · Strong’s H1121Noun · Translated: son 1,843, sons 892, Israelites 422, descendants 358Full study and all 3,473 verses →
Genesis 17:24 So Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised,
Exodus 7:7 Moses was eighty years old and Aaron was eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.
- יוֹם yômdaytranslated this way 32 times of its 2,013 uses · Strong’s H3117Noun · Translated: day 1,009, days 524, today 141, time 72Full study and all 1,744 verses →
Genesis 18:11 And Abraham and Sarah were already old and well along in years; Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.
Exodus 13:10 Therefore you shall keep this statute at the appointed time year after year.
- שְׁנָה shenâhsleeptranslated this way 6 times of its 6 uses · Strong’s H8140Noun · Translated: year 5, years 1Full study and all 6 verses →
Ezra 4:24 Thus the construction of the house of God in Jerusalem ceased, and it remained at a standstill until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.
Daniel 7:1 In the first year of the reign of Belshazzar over Babylon, Daniel had a dream, and visions passed through his mind as he lay on his bed. He wrote down the dream, and this is the summary of his account.
- עֵת êthtimetranslated this way 4 times of its 270 uses · Strong’s H6256Noun · Translated: time 182, times 22, season 10, when 6Full study and all 237 verses →
Genesis 18:10 Then the LORD said, “I will surely return to you at this time next year, and your wife Sarah will have a son!” Now Sarah was behind him, listening at the entrance to the tent.
2 Kings 4:16 And Elisha declared, “At this time next year, you will hold a son in your arms.” “No, my lord,” she said. “Do not lie to your maidservant, O man of God.”
Greek words (New Testament)
- ἔτος étosa yeartranslated this way 47 times of its 47 uses · Strong’s G2094Noun · Translated: years 43, year 3, years old 1Full study and all 46 verses →
Matthew 9:20 Suddenly a woman who had suffered from bleeding for twelve years came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak.
Mark 5:25 And a woman was there who had suffered from bleeding for twelve years.
- ἐνιαυτός eniautósa yeartranslated this way 14 times of its 13 uses · Strong’s G1763Noun · Translated: year 10, years 2, year after year 1Full study and all 13 verses →
Luke 4:19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
John 11:49 But one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all!
- ἡμέρα hēméraa daytranslated this way 3 times of its 368 uses · Strong’s G2250Noun · Translated: day 186, days 131, time 19, daily 7Full study and all 353 verses →
Luke 1:7 But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well along in years.
Luke 1:18 “How can I be sure of this?” Zechariah asked the angel. “I am an old man, and my wife is well along in years.”
- τεσσαρακονταετής tessarakontaetḗsforty years of agetranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G5063Adjective · Translated: forty years 2Full study and all 2 verses →
Acts 7:23 When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his brothers, the children of Israel.
Acts 13:18 He endured their conduct for about forty years in the wilderness.
- διετία dietíatwo yearstranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G1333Noun · Translated: two years 1, two full years 1Full study and all 2 verses →
Acts 24:27 After two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus. And wishing to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison.
Acts 28:30 Paul stayed there two full years in his own rented house, welcoming all who came to visit him.
- πέρυσι pérysilast yeartranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G4070Adverb · Translated: Last year 2Full study and all 2 verses →
2 Corinthians 8:10 And this is my opinion about what is helpful for you in this matter: Last year you were the first not only to give, but even to have such a desire.
2 Corinthians 9:2 For I know your eagerness to help, and I have been boasting to the Macedonians that since last year you in Achaia were prepared to give . And your zeal has stirred most of them to do likewise .
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.
What the Bible says about year: passages by topic →
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.