Bible Encyclopedias
Go

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

(הלך , hālakh , ילך , yālakh , בּוא , bō' , יצא , yācā' ; ἄγω , ágō , ὑπάγω , hupágō , ἀναβαίνω , anabaı́nō , ἔρχομαι , érchomai , ἀπέρχομαι , apérchomai , πορεύομαι , poreúomai ): "Go" ("went," etc.) occurs very frequently in the English Bible, and is the translation of a great many different Hebrew and Greek terms. As the word implies movement of all kinds, physical and mental, it has naturally many applications.

1. In the Old Testament

In the Old Testament hālakh and yālakh are among the commonest words, meaning "to go" in its original sense of "to walk," but also in the most varied senses, according to the verbal conjugations, etc., the preposition attached, and the words in connection with which the terms stand; hālakh and yālakh are often used figuratively (translated "to walk," etc.) for to live , to pursue a way of life, e.g. "to walk ever in his ways" ( Deuteronomy 19:9; compare Psalm 15:2; Psalm 89:30; 1 Kings 2:3 f; 1 Kings 3:3 , etc.); to die , "He departed (Hebrew "went") without being desired" (2 Chronicles 21:20 ); bō' , properly "to go in," "to enter" (e.g. Genesis 7:9 ), is very common, and yācā' , "to go or come out," also occurs frequently; yācā' , has frequently the meaning "to go forth," e.g. Genesis 8:7 , "He sent forth a raven, and it went forth." Other frequent words are yāradh , "to go down" (Genesis 11:7 , etc.); ‛ālah , "to go or come up" (Genesis 2:6 , etc.; Isaiah 15:5 , "go it up," the King James Version); used also figuratively , e.g. "to rise up or excel" "Thou excellest them all" (Proverbs 31:29 ), "to come up on the nears," to be remembered, "The former things shall not be remembered, nor come into mind" (Isaiah 65:17; compare Jeremiah 3:16 ); ‛ābhar , "to go or pass over," "to cross" (Genesis 41:46 , etc.), also used figuratively "to pass away," e.g. "as chaff that passeth away" ( Isaiah 29:5 ), 'passeth by transgression' (Micah 7:18 ); shūbh , "to go again" (Genesis 43:2 , etc.); sāṭāh and ר , ṣūr , "to go aside," occur several times with the meaning of wrongdoing (e.g. Numbers 5:12; Deuteronomy 28:14 , the Revised Version (British and American) "turn aside"); nāsā' , "to remove" (Exodus 14:15 ), "Speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward " (Exodus 14:19 "removed"; Numbers 2:24 etc.); 'ăzal (Aramaic), "to go away or about" (Ezra 4:23; Daniel 2:17 , etc.). Many other words occur only once or twice, e.g. 'āraḥ , "to travel" Job (Job 34:8 ); 'āshar , "to go straight or right" (Proverbs 4:14; Proverbs 9:6 , the Revised Version (British and American) "walk"); dārakh , "to tread" (Isaiah 59:8 ); dādhāh , "to go softly" (Psalm 42:4; Isaiah 38:15 , the Revised Version, margin "as in solemn procession"); rāghal , "to stir" "to move" "I taught Enhraim to go" (Hosea 11:3 , the Revised Version (British and American) "to walk").

The obsolete expression "go to" (derived from Tyndale) is the translation of yāhabh in Genesis 11:3 , Genesis 11:4 , Genesis 11:7; Genesis 38:16; Exodus 1:10 , "come on," the Revised Version (British and American) "come"; of bō' (2 Kings 5:5 the Revised Version (British and American)), "go now"; nā' (Judges 7:3; Isaiah 5:5; Jeremiah 18:11 , omitted in the Revised Version (British and American)).

2. In the New Testament

In the New Testament anabainō is "to go up" ( Matthew 3:16; Matthew 5:1 , etc.); erchomai , "to go on" (Matthew 12:9 , etc.); apercḥomai , "to go off or away" (Matthew 2:22; Matthew 4:24 , etc.); poreuomai , "to go or pass on" (Matthew 2:8 , Matthew 2:20 , etc.); hupagō , "to go away" (Matthew 5:41; Matthew 8:32 , etc.). We have also other combinations with different shades of meaning, e.g. huperbaı́nō , "to go over or beyond" (1 Thessalonians 4:6 ); eisérchomai , "to go into" (Matthew 7:13; Matthew 15:11 , etc.); proporeúomai , "to go before" (Luke 1:76; Acts 7:40 ), and other forms; agō (ágōmen ), "Let us go" (Matthew 26:46; John 14:31 , etc.); áge is rendered "go to" (James 4:13; James 5:1 ), the Revised Version (British and American) "come."

"Go about (to)" the King James Version is the translation of zētéō , "to seek," in John 7:19 , "Why go ye about to kill me?" the Revised Version (British and American) "Why seek ye?" and Romans 10:3; of peirázō , "to try," "attempt" (Acts 24:6 , the Revised Version (British and American) "assayed"), and of peiráomai (Acts 26:21 , the Revised Version (British and American) "assayed"), of epicheiréō "to lay hands on" (Acts 9:29 ), which remains in the English Revised Version unchanged, the American Standard Revised Version "seeking"; "to let go" is the translation of apolúō "to loose off" or "away" (Luke 14:4 , etc.), "to go astray," of planáō (Matthew 18:12 , etc.).

Various other words occurring singly are translated by forms of "go," e.g. phérō , "to bear on," the King James Version "Let us go on unto perfection" ( Hebrews 6:1 , see below); epidúō , "to go in upon," "Let not the sun go down upon your Wrath" (Ephesians 4:26 ).

Among the many changes in the Revised Version (British and American) are the following: For "go," Exodus 4:26 , "alone"; Leviticus 9:7 , "draw near"; Numbers 2:31 , "set forth"; Numbers 16:46 , "carry it"; Isaiah 11:15; Isaiah 27:4 , "march"; Matthew 11:4; John 8:11 , "Go your way"; Luke 17:7 , "Come straightway"; Luke 18:25 , "enter in"; John 21:3 , "come." "Go" is substituted for "pass" (Exodus 12:12 ), "came" (Exodus 13:4 ), "away" (Exodus 19:24 ), "be put" (Leviticus 6:12 ), "enter" (Job 34:23 ), "return" (Ecclesiastes 1:7 ), "come" (Micah 4:2; compare Zechariah 14:18 , Zechariah 14:19 ), "should be cast" (Matthew 5:30 ); "if I go up" for "I will come up" (Exodus 33:5 ); "make to go forth" for "bring forth" (Psalm 37:6 ); "let them go" for "gave them up" (Psalm 81:12 ). For the phrase, "go a whoring," the American Standard Revised Version has "play the harlot" (Exodus 34:15 f, etc., "commit fornication"); for "go about even now" ( Deuteronomy 31:21 , the American Standard Revised Version), "frame this day"; for "go well" (Proverbs 30:29 ), "are stately in their march"; for "suffer us to go" (Matthew 8:31 ), "send us" (a different text); for "not to think of men above that which is written" (1 Corinthians 4:6 ), "not (to go) beyond the things which are written"; for "that no man go beyond" (1 Thessalonians 4:6 ), "transgress," margin "overreach"; for "Let us go on unto perfection" (Hebrews 6:1 ), the English Revised Version "and press," the American Standard Revised Version "Let us press on unto perfection."

Bibliography Information
Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. Entry for 'Go'. International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. https://www.studylight.org/​encyclopedias/​eng/​isb/​g/go.html. 1915.