Before the English Word: Bible Words Worth a Second Look

Peace: shalom is more than a quiet room

When English readers hear “peace,” we may imagine relief from conflict or a calm feeling. The Hebrew shalom can include safety, well-being, wholeness, and right relationships. In Jeremiah 29:7, people in exile are told to seek the shalom of the city where they have been sent. Their own welfare is tied to the welfare of neighbors in a place they did not choose.

That changes the question from “How can I feel peaceful?” to “Whose well-being am I willing to help protect?” Inner quiet matters, but the passage also asks what we do for others.

Love: hesed stays

English translations of the Hebrew hesed include “steadfast love,” “mercy,” and “lovingkindness.” Each catches something, but none says everything at once. The word frequently describes God's generous, enduring loyalty. Psalm 136 repeats it as a refrain after naming what God has done.

A reader can hear “love” and think only of warmth. Hesed invites another test: What does love keep doing when keeping a promise becomes costly? It does not make every human relationship identical to God's covenant with Israel; it does show why the biblical writers connect love with faithfulness.

Hear: shema expects a response

Deuteronomy 6:4 begins with shema, usually translated “Hear, O Israel.” In that setting, hearing means paying attention to a call that shapes how the people live. The passage continues by calling them to love God and teach these words to their children.

We can hear a teaching, agree with it, and still leave it untouched. The sharper question is: What have I heard clearly enough to repeat, but not yet taken seriously enough to practice?

Repent: shuv is a turn you can see

In prophetic calls to repent, the Hebrew verb shuv often means “turn” or “return.” Ezekiel 18:30–32 calls people to turn away from their offenses and live. The image is movement away from a harmful path, not simply feeling bad while continuing on it.

Sorrow can be honest and necessary, but the passage asks where the person is going next. If I say I have changed my mind, what would someone affected by my choices actually see change?

Apocalypse: something hidden comes into view

Today, “apocalypse” often brings to mind worldwide destruction. The Greek apokalypsis means revelation or disclosure—something hidden being made known. Revelation 1:1 opens with this word, which gives the book its title.

The book contains judgment and upheaval, but those themes do not turn the word itself into a synonym for catastrophe. Its opening directs us to what is being revealed. What changes when we begin by asking what the text shows us, before asking what it predicts?

Church: the word points to people

The Greek word commonly translated “church,” ekklēsia, means an assembly or congregation. Acts 19 even uses it for a civic assembly. In Christian passages, it refers to a gathered community or the wider body of believers.

The English word can name a building, but that is not what ekklēsia identifies in these passages. Romans 16:5 speaks of a church meeting in a home. The community and its meeting place are distinct. How might that shape what we think it means to care for a church?

Angel: a messenger before an image

Greek angelos means messenger. It can describe a heavenly messenger, but it can also describe a human one: Luke 7:24 uses it for the messengers of John the Baptist.

The word itself does not specify wings, a halo, or an appearance. Those details must come from the passage, where they are given. Recognizing the role helps us notice the message without supplying a picture the writer never described.

Satan: pay attention to the adversary in the passage

The Hebrew word satan can mean an adversary or accuser. First Kings 11:14 uses it for Hadad, a human opponent of Solomon. In Job 1–2, ha-satan is “the adversary” or “the accuser,” a title with the Hebrew definite article.

Later biblical texts use Satan as a designation for the devil. That does not mean every earlier occurrence of the Hebrew word names the same figure. Read the person, role, and setting in the passage before carrying an interpretation from another book into it.

Law: torah also means instruction

Torah, commonly translated “law,” has the broader sense of teaching or instruction. It names the first five books of the Bible, which contain narratives as well as commandments. Proverbs 1:8 also uses torah for a mother’s teaching.

The legal commands remain commands; the broader meaning does not erase them. But hearing only “rulebook” can obscure the stories, wisdom, and formation these texts offer. What are they teaching us to recognize and become, as well as to do?

Amen: an affirmation, not merely an ending

The Hebrew amen expresses affirmation: “truly,” “surely,” or “so be it.” In Nehemiah 8:6, the people answer “Amen” to a blessing. The New Testament carries the word into Greek; Jesus’ statements translated “Truly, I say to you” often begin with it.

Ending a prayer with amen is an affirmation of what has been said. The word invites us to pay attention to what we are agreeing to, rather than treating it as a signal that speaking is finished.

Gehenna: a valley behind the word

Gehenna, often translated “hell,” comes from the name of the Valley of Hinnom near Jerusalem. Biblical accounts associate the valley with child sacrifice and judgment; Jeremiah 7:30–34 gives part of that background. In the New Testament, Gehenna is used in warnings of divine punishment, including Matthew 10:28.

That geographical history helps explain the force of the image. It does not, by itself, settle the nature or duration of the punishment a passage describes. Nor should every biblical term translated “hell” be assumed to have the same history or usage.

Let the passage correct the word study

A word’s origin and its meaning in a particular sentence are related, but they are not identical. The oldest meaning is not automatically the only correct one. A word does not carry every possible meaning every time it appears. Nor can an etymology reveal a hidden message that the surrounding passage does not support. Read several translations, read the paragraph, and ask who is speaking to whom. Use the original language as a window into the text, not a shortcut around it.

Which familiar word have you assumed you understood—and what does its surrounding passage ask you to reconsider?

A useful word study makes you more attentive to the passage—and more willing to be changed by it.