Bible word study
Zanah (Strong’s H2181): Meaning in the Bible
Zanah (זָנָה) is the Hebrew word numbered H2181 in Strong’s concordance of the Bible. Strong’s defines it as to commit adultery (usually of the female, and less often of simple fornication, rarely of involuntary ravishment); figuratively, to commit idolatry (the Jewish people being regarded as the spouse of Jehovah). In the King James Bible it is translated (cause to) commit fornication, (be an, play the) harlot, (cause to be, play the) whore.
- Original wordזָנָה
- Transliterationzânâh
- Pronunciationzaw-naw'
- Part of speechverb (v)
- Strong’s numberH2181
- LanguageHebrew
The full Strong’s definition
Derivation. a primitive root [highly fed and therefore wanton];
How the King James Bible translates it
Why the word matters
Every word the biblical writers chose carries weight. Studying Zanah 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.
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From the word to the Word
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