עִם (im)
im
with; from with
H:PrepQuick Reference
- Language
- Biblical Hebrew
- Testament
- Old Testament
- Occurrences
- 840 verses
- Root
- —
- Part of speech
- H:Prep
Word Overview
The Hebrew preposition im signifies accompaniment, appearing over eight hundred times in the Old Testament. It primarily denotes being alongside someone, whether in fellowship, shared action, or physical proximity. This simple word establishes the relational context for countless narratives, from the companionship of friends to the presence of God with His people.
Its meaning shifts subtly depending on context. When describing conflict, it can imply opposition, translating as "against" rather than "with." It also marks possession or custody, indicating that something is held in one’s care. In idiomatic expressions, it conveys a state of being present with a person, such as having a purpose or thought within one’s mind.
Translators usually render im as "with," but the Hebrew carries a sense of tangible nearness. It is not merely abstract association but concrete togetherness. This distinction helps readers grasp the intimacy of biblical relationships, where being "with" someone implies shared experience and mutual presence in a specific moment or location.
Based on public-domain lexicons (Strong's, Thayer, Gesenius, Brown-Driver-Briggs and others).
What This Word Means for Your Faith
The Hebrew word im is a simple preposition meaning "with," yet it carries a profound weight in Scripture. It does not describe a distant or abstract connection. Instead, it signifies tangible nearness and concrete togetherness. When the Bible says God is im someone, it means He is present alongside them in their specific location and moment.
This word shapes how we understand relationship. In Genesis, we see it used for physical companionship, like Lot traveling with his daughters or Abraham walking with the men who visited him. It also marks deep relational bonds, such as Abimelech acknowledging that God was im Abraham in all he did. The word invites us to see faith not as a solitary journey but as a life lived in shared presence.
For your daily walk, this offers a quiet comfort. You are never truly alone because the same God who promised to be with Isaac (Genesis 26:3) is present with you now. Whether in joy or difficulty, im reminds us that we are held in close proximity to His care and companionship.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 840 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- with379×
- with/ you122×
- with/ him98×
- with/ me40×
- from/ with36×
- with/ them26×
- with/ us23×
- and/ with23×
- [was] with/ him20×
- and/ with/ him17×
- [is] with/ you17×
- with/ her15×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- עִם\־358×
- עִמּ֔/וֹ37×
- עִמָּֽ/ךְ\׃32×
- עִ֖ם26×
- עִמּֽ/וֹ\׃22×
- עִמּ֑/וֹ22×
- עִמּ֖/וֹ21×
- עִמָּ֔/ךְ20×
- וְ/עִם\־20×
- עִמָּ֑/ךְ16×
- מֵ/עִ֣ם14×
- עִמָּ/כֶ֔ם11×
Key Verses
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Genesis 21:22
At that time, Abimelech and Phicol the captain of his army spoke to Abraham, saying, “God is with you in all that you do.
Abimelech uses this word to acknowledge that God's presence was actively involved in Abraham's actions, showing how im marks divine accompaniment in human endeavors.
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Genesis 26:3
Live in this land, and I will be with you, and will bless you. For I will give to you, and to your offspring, all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to Abraham your father.
God speaks directly to Isaac, using this preposition to promise His ongoing physical and spiritual presence alongside him as he settles in the land.
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Genesis 18:23
Abraham came near, and said, “Will you consume the righteous with the wicked?
Abraham asks if God will destroy the righteous along with the wicked, using im to describe a state of shared fate or grouping in judgment.
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Genesis 24:54
They ate and drank, he and the men who were with him, and stayed all night. They rose up in the morning, and he said, “Send me away to my master.”
This verse describes the physical companionship of Abraham's servant and his men as they share a meal, illustrating the word's use for simple human fellowship.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the Hebrew word im mean?
How is im different from other words for 'with'?
Where does this word appear in the Bible?
Every Occurrence (840 verses across 32 books)
Genesis 67 verses
When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be…
Genesis 13:1Abram went up out of Egypt—he, his wife, all that he had, and Lot with him—into the South.
Genesis 13:14Yahweh said to Abram, after Lot was separated from him, “Now, lift up your eyes, and look from the place where you are,…
Genesis 18:16The men rose up from there, and looked toward Sodom. Abraham went with them to see them on their way.
Genesis 18:23Abraham came near, and said, “Will you consume the righteous with the wicked?
Genesis 18:25May it be far from you to do things like that, to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be…
Genesis 19:30Lot went up out of Zoar, and lived in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he was afraid to live in Zoar.…
Genesis 19:32Come, let’s make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve our father’s family line.”
Genesis 19:34It came to pass on the next day, that the firstborn said to the younger, “Behold, I lay last night with my father.…
Genesis 19:35They made their father drink wine that night also. The younger went and lay with him. He didn’t know when she lay down,…
Genesis 21:10Therefore she said to Abraham, “Cast out this servant and her son! For the son of this servant will not be heir with my…
Genesis 21:22At that time, Abimelech and Phicol the captain of his army spoke to Abraham, saying, “God is with you in all that you…
Genesis 21:23Now, therefore, swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son’s son.…
Genesis 22:5Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there. We will worship, and come…
Genesis 23:4“I am a stranger and a foreigner living with you. Give me a possession of a burying-place with you, that I may bury my…
Genesis 24:12He said, “Yahweh, the God of my master Abraham, please give me success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham.
Genesis 24:14Let it happen, that the young lady to whom I will say, ‘Please let down your pitcher, that I may drink,’ then she says,…
Genesis 24:25She said moreover to him, “We have both straw and feed enough, and room to lodge in.”
Genesis 24:27He said, “Blessed be Yahweh, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his loving kindness and his truth…
Genesis 24:54They ate and drank, he and the men who were with him, and stayed all night. They rose up in the morning, and he said,…
Genesis 24:58They called Rebekah, and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” She said, “I will go.”
Genesis 25:11After the death of Abraham, God blessed Isaac, his son. Isaac lived by Beer Lahai Roi.
Genesis 26:3Live in this land, and I will be with you, and will bless you. For I will give to you, and to your offspring, all these…
Genesis 26:16Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.”
Genesis 26:20The herdsmen of Gerar argued with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the well…
Genesis 26:28They said, “We saw plainly that Yahweh was with you. We said, ‘Let there now be an oath between us, even between us and…
Genesis 26:29that you will do us no harm, as we have not touched you, and as we have done to you nothing but good, and have sent you…
Genesis 27:44Stay with him a few days, until your brother’s fury turns away—
Genesis 28:15Behold, I am with you, and will keep you, wherever you go, and will bring you again into this land. For I will not…
Genesis 29:6He said to them, “Is it well with him?” They said, “It is well. See, Rachel, his daughter, is coming with the sheep.”
Genesis 29:9While he was yet speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she kept them.
Genesis 29:14Laban said to him, “Surely you are my bone and my flesh.” Jacob stayed with him for a month.
Genesis 29:25In the morning, behold, it was Leah! He said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Didn’t I serve with you for…
Genesis 29:30He went in also to Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him seven more years.
Genesis 30:8Rachel said, “I have wrestled with my sister with mighty wrestlings, and have prevailed.” She named him Naphtali.
Genesis 30:15Leah said to her, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes,…
Genesis 30:16Jacob came from the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, “You must come in to me; for I have…
Genesis 31:2Jacob saw the expression on Laban’s face, and, behold, it was not toward him as before.
Genesis 31:3Yahweh said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers, and to your relatives, and I will be with you.”
Genesis 31:23He took his relatives with him, and pursued him seven days’ journey. He overtook him in the mountain of Gilead.
Genesis 31:24God came to Laban the Syrian in a dream of the night, and said to him, “Be careful that you don’t speak to Jacob either…
Genesis 31:29It is in the power of my hand to hurt you, but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘Be careful that…
Genesis 31:31Jacob answered Laban, “Because I was afraid, for I said, ‘Lest you should take your daughters from me by force.’
Genesis 31:32Anyone you find your gods with shall not live. Before our relatives, discern what is yours with me, and take it.” For…
Genesis 31:38“These twenty years I have been with you. Your ewes and your female goats have not cast their young, and I haven’t…
Genesis 31:50If you afflict my daughters, or if you take wives in addition to my daughters, no man is with us; behold, God is…
Genesis 33:1Jacob lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, Esau was coming, and with him four hundred men. He divided the…
Genesis 33:15Esau said, “Let me now leave with you some of the people who are with me.” He said, “Why? Let me find favor in the…
Genesis 35:2Then Jacob said to his household, and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify…
Genesis 35:4They gave to Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hands, and the rings which were in their ears; and Jacob…
Genesis 35:6So Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him.
Genesis 39:7After these things, his master’s wife set her eyes on Joseph; and she said, “Lie with me.”
Genesis 39:10As she spoke to Joseph day by day, he didn’t listen to her, to lie by her, or to be with her.
Genesis 39:12She caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me!” He left his garment in her hand, and ran outside.
Genesis 39:14she called to the men of her house, and spoke to them, saying, “Behold, he has brought a Hebrew in to us to mock us. He…
Genesis 41:32The dream was doubled to Pharaoh, because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.
Genesis 42:38He said, “My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he only is left. If harm happens to him along…
Genesis 43:34He sent portions to them from before him, but Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as any of theirs. They drank,…
Genesis 44:29If you take this one also from me, and harm happens to him, you will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.’
Genesis 44:32For your servant became collateral for the boy to my father, saying, ‘If I don’t bring him to you, then I will bear the…
Genesis 44:33Now therefore, please let your servant stay instead of the boy, my lord’s slave; and let the boy go up with his…
Genesis 46:4I will go down with you into Egypt. I will also surely bring you up again. Joseph’s hand will close your eyes.”
Genesis 47:30but when I sleep with my fathers, you shall carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burying place.” Joseph said, “I…
Genesis 48:1After these things, someone said to Joseph, “Behold, your father is sick.” He took with him his two sons, Manasseh and…
Genesis 48:12Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth.
Genesis 48:21Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am dying, but God will be with you, and bring you again to the land of your fathers.
Genesis 50:9Both chariots and horsemen went up with him. It was a very great company.