What does Dabar mean?

Dabar (דָבַר, Strong's H1696) is a Hebrew word. Strong's defines it as perhaps properly, to arrange; but used figuratively (of words), to speak; rarely (in a destructive sense) to subdue. The King James Bible translates it as answer, appoint, bid, command, commune, declare, destroy, give, name, promise, pronounce, rehearse, say, speak, be spokesman, subdue, talk, teach, tell, think, use (entreaties), utter, × well, × work.

What is the Strong's number for Dabar?

The Strong's number for Dabar (דָבַר) is H1696. It is a Hebrew word from Strong's public-domain dictionary keyed to the King James Bible.

Bible word study

Dabar (Strong’s H1696): Meaning in the Bible

Dabar (דָבַר) is the Hebrew word numbered H1696 in Strong’s concordance of the Bible. Strong’s defines it as perhaps properly, to arrange; but used figuratively (of words), to speak; rarely (in a destructive sense) to subdue. In the King James Bible it is translated answer, appoint, bid, command, commune.

דָבַר

dâbar · Hebrew

Strong’s H1696 · daw-bar'

Original wordדָבַר
Transliterationdâbar
Pronunciationdaw-bar'
Part of speechverb (v)
Strong’s numberH1696
LanguageHebrew

The full Strong’s definition

perhaps properly, to arrange; but used figuratively (of words), to speak; rarely (in a destructive sense) to subdue

Derivation. a primitive root;

How the King James Bible translates it

answer, appoint, bid, command, commune, declare, destroy, give, name, promise, pronounce, rehearse, say, speak, be spokesman, subdue, talk, teach, tell, think, use (entreaties), utter, × well, × work. (The × marks places where the word shapes the phrasing rather than being rendered by a single English word.)

Where Dabar appears in the Bible

In the King James Bible’s text tagged with Strong’s numbers, Dabar (H1696) stands behind 1,142 English renderings in 1,049 verses across 36 of the 66 books. It is most frequent in Numbers (119), Jeremiah (115), Exodus (87).

How the King James Bible renders Dabar, by count

spake315 of 1,142 (28 percent)
speak274 of 1,142 (24 percent)
spoken173 of 1,142 (15 percent)
said84 of 1,142 (7 percent)
speaking36 of 1,142 (3 percent)
promised29 of 1,142 (3 percent)

Three places to read Dabar

Genesis 8:15 And God spake unto Noah, saying,
Deuteronomy 6:7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
Job 33:14 For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not.

Counts are made at build time from the King James text tagged with Strong’s numbers (eBible.org, public domain). Verses are read from the stored King James text, never typed.

Why the word matters

Every word the biblical writers chose carries weight. Studying Dabar in the original Hebrew lets you read the passages where it appears more carefully, closer to what the first hearers understood, so the meaning is drawn from the text itself rather than from the English alone.

The lexical data on this page comes from the public-domain Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890), a Hebrew and Greek dictionary keyed to the King James Bible. It is a reference tool, not a settled verdict: no single word decides a doctrine, and meaning is finally shaped by how a word is used in its sentences. Read the passages themselves, prayerfully, and in full.

Related words

Dabar (H1697)All Bible word studies

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