Word Explorer: Every word in the Bible, connected.

The Jesus lens: Old Testament verses about the LORD applied to Jesus

Every knee will bow

Isaiah 45:23 → Philippians 2:10 · Solid

In Isaiah, the LORD says: “I am God, and there is no other… to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear.” Paul takes that exact line and says every knee will bow at the name of Jesus, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Paul takes a line God says only about himself and applies it to Jesus.

“I AM”

Exodus 3:14 → John 8:58 · Solid

At the burning bush God names himself “I AM WHO I AM.” The Greek Old Testament Jesus' hearers knew renders it egō eimi, “I am.” Jesus says, “Before Abraham was born, I am,” not “I was.” His listeners understood him: they picked up stones to stone him for blasphemy.

Jesus claims the name God gave Moses, and the crowd's reaction shows how they took it.

The First and the Last

Isaiah 44:6 → Revelation 1:17 · Solid

“I am the first and I am the last; apart from Me there is no God,” says the LORD. In Revelation, the risen Jesus, the one who “was dead” and is alive forever, says, “I am the First and the Last.” He says it again in Revelation 22:13.

A title God claims as his alone (“apart from Me there is no God”) is spoken by Jesus.

Call on the name of the LORD

Joel 2:32 → Romans 10:13 · Solid

Joel promises that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD (YHWH, God's personal name) will be saved. Paul quotes it right after saying “if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’… you will be saved.” The Lord you call on is Jesus.

Paul quotes a promise about YHWH and makes Jesus the one you call on.

Isaiah saw His glory

Isaiah 6:1 → John 12:41 · Solid

Isaiah sees the Lord on a high throne while angels cry “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts.” John quotes the same chapter and says: “Isaiah said these things because he saw Jesus' glory and spoke about Him.”

John says the LORD Isaiah saw on the throne was Jesus.

They will look on Me, the One they pierced

Zechariah 12:10 → John 19:37 · Solid

In Zechariah the LORD is speaking, and he says, “They will look on Me, the One they have pierced.” John quotes it at the cross when the soldier pierces Jesus' side. Revelation 1:7 uses it again for his return.

God says he himself will be pierced, and it happens to Jesus.

You laid the foundations of the earth

Psalm 102:25 → Hebrews 1:10 · Solid

Psalm 102 is a prayer to the LORD the Creator, who stays the same while heaven and earth wear out like clothes. Hebrews says these words are spoken “about the Son.” Jesus is the one who made everything and never changes.

A prayer addressed to the Creator God is said to be about the Son.

Prepare the way of the LORD

Isaiah 40:3 → Mark 1:3 · Solid

Isaiah: “Prepare the way for the LORD (YHWH); make a straight highway for our God.” All four Gospels say John the Baptist is that voice, and the one he prepares the way for is Jesus.

The forerunner gets the road ready for YHWH, and the one who comes down that road is Jesus.

The One who searches hearts

Jeremiah 17:10 → Revelation 2:23 · Solid

“I, the LORD, search the heart and test the mind, to reward a man according to his way.” In Revelation, Jesus says: “I am the One who searches minds and hearts, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.”

Jesus claims to do what Jeremiah says only the LORD can do.

“Your throne, O God”

Psalm 45:6 → Hebrews 1:8 · Solid

Psalm 45 addresses the King: “Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever.” Hebrews says God says this “about the Son,” and calls the Son God outright.

The Father calls the Son “God.”

The Shepherd who comes himself

Ezekiel 34:11 → John 10:11 · Likely

Israel's leaders had failed, so God promises: “I Myself will search for My flock and seek them out.” The LORD is my shepherd (Psalm 23:1). Then Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.”

God promises to come shepherd his flock himself, and Jesus says he is that shepherd.

Honest note: Ezekiel 34:23 also promises a shepherd from David's line, so the chapter has a human king in view as well as God. Jesus is both.

Our great God and Savior

Isaiah 43:11 → Titus 2:13 · Solid

“I, yes I, am the LORD, and there is no Savior but Me.” Paul writes that we wait for “the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.” Peter writes the same way in 2 Peter 1:1.

There is only one Savior, and Paul calls Jesus both God and Savior.

Honest note: Translation difference: the KJV reads “the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ,” which can sound like two persons. In Greek, one article governs both nouns (“the great God-and-Savior”), so nearly all modern translations, including ESV, CSB and NKJV, read it as one person.

What English hides: connections in the Hebrew and Greek

Noah's ark and Moses' basket are the same word

Genesis 6:14 → Exodus 2:3 · Solid

The Hebrew word tevah means a floating box. It shows up only in these two stories: Noah's ark and the basket baby Moses was hidden in. Both were sealed with pitch, and both carried someone through deadly water to begin a rescue. English hides it by using “ark” in one story and “basket” in the other.

God saves through the waters, and he uses the same word to tell both stories.

The ark was “covered,” the same root as atonement

Genesis 6:14 → Leviticus 17:11 · Likely

“Cover it inside and out with pitch.” Both “cover” (kaphar) and “pitch” (kopher) come from the root that later means atonement, as in Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. The thing that kept the judgment waters out of the ark shares its name with the covering for sin.

The root word is the same. Most readers see the echo, but Genesis itself doesn't explain it.

The Word “pitched His tent” among us

John 1:14 → Exodus 40:34 · Solid

“The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory.” The Greek verb (skēnoō) means to pitch a tent or tabernacle. John is pointing at the Tabernacle, where God's glory filled the tent. Now that glory lives in a human body.

God moving into the neighborhood, in a tent of flesh.

Jesus is the mercy seat

Romans 3:25 → Hebrews 9:5 · Solid

In Romans 3:25 God presented Jesus as a “propitiation” or “atoning sacrifice.” The Greek word, hilastērion, is the same word Hebrews 9:5 and the Greek Old Testament use for the mercy seat, the gold lid of the ark where the high priest sprinkled blood once a year. Jesus is the place where God's mercy meets sin.

Same word: the lid of the ark and Jesus' cross.

“Jesus” means “the LORD saves”

Matthew 1:21 → Joshua 1:1 · Solid

“You are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.” The angel's “because” only makes sense in Hebrew: Jesus is Yeshua, short for Yehoshua (Joshua), which means “YHWH saves.”

His name is the gospel in one word.

Wind, breath and Spirit are one word

John 3:8 → Genesis 2:7 · Solid

“The wind blows where it wishes… So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” In Greek, “wind” and “Spirit” in that verse are the same word, pneuma. Hebrew ruach works the same way, from the Spirit hovering over the waters in Genesis 1:2 to the dry bones coming alive in Ezekiel 37. Jesus is making a pun Nicodemus could hear.

The new birth is God breathing life again.

“I am,” and an armed crowd falls down

John 18:6 → Exodus 3:14 · Likely

When the soldiers say they want Jesus of Nazareth, he answers “I am” (egō eimi). The word “he” in “I am He” is added in English. At those two words the arresting party draws back and falls to the ground.

The Greek is the same “I am” as John 8:58, and the falling down shows its weight.

Honest note: “I am” can also simply mean “That's me,” as it does in John 9:9. The divine sense is clearer in John 8:58. Here it rests on the crowd falling to the ground.

Healed and saved are the same word

Mark 5:34 → Ephesians 2:8 · Solid

Jesus tells the woman who touched his cloak, “Your faith has healed you” (KJV: “made thee whole”). The Greek verb is sōzō, the same word for “saved” in “by grace you have been saved.” When Jesus heals, he is showing what salvation does to a whole person.

Salvation isn't only a ticket to heaven. It makes people whole.

Chesed: the love that will not quit

Psalm 136:1 → Lamentations 3:22 · Solid

Psalm 136 repeats it 26 times: “His loving devotion endures forever.” The Hebrew word is chesed, loyal covenant love that keeps its promise even when the other side fails. No single English word holds it, so translations split it up: mercy (KJV), lovingkindness, steadfast love (ESV), faithful love (CSB), loving devotion (BSB). Search “mercy” in the KJV and then switch to the BSB to see it happen.

One Hebrew word, five different English words. Comparing them is the only way to see that it's one idea.

“Another” Helper

John 14:16 → 1 John 2:1 · Solid

Jesus promises the Holy Spirit as “another Advocate” (KJV: Comforter; ESV/CSB: Helper). The Greek parakletos means one called to your side. John later uses the same word for Jesus himself: “we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ.” Jesus was the first Paraclete, and the Spirit is the one who comes after him.

The Spirit isn't a force. He's another one just like Jesus, at your side.

Adam from the adamah

Genesis 2:7 → Genesis 3:19 · Solid

God formed the man (adam) from the dust of the ground (adamah). The pun runs through the story: under the curse, the man works the ground and returns to it. Paul builds on it in 1 Corinthians 15:47: “The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man was from heaven.”

Our name means “earthling,” and that is why we need a second Adam.

The Bread of Life born in the “House of Bread”

Micah 5:2 → John 6:35 · Possible

Bethlehem means “house of bread.” The one who said “I am the bread of life” was born there and laid in a feeding trough.

The meaning of the name is certain, and it's a beautiful picture.

Honest note: The Gospels never point out this wordplay, so treat it as a devotional insight, not something the text teaches.

“It is finished”

John 19:30 → Hebrews 10:12 · Possible

Jesus' last word from the cross is one Greek word, tetelestai: “It has been completed.” It's the perfect tense, meaning finished and staying finished. Hebrews says the same: one sacrifice for sins for all time, and then he sat down.

The work that saves you is done.

Honest note: You'll often hear that tetelestai was stamped on receipts to mean “paid in full.” The verb does appear in some ancient papyri about payments, but the receipt claim is overstated, so don't lean on it. The meaning “completed” is solid.

“Do you love Me?” Two different Greek words

John 21:15 → John 21:17 · Possible

Jesus asks Peter twice with agapaō, and Peter answers each time with phileō. The third time Jesus switches to Peter's word, and Peter is grieved. Many preachers read this as Jesus meeting Peter where he is.

The words really do change. Whether the change matters is the open question.

Honest note: John uses the two words interchangeably elsewhere (the Father “loves” the Son with agapaō in John 3:35 and phileō in 5:20), so many scholars think it's just variety. Either way, Jesus restores Peter three times for three denials.