Go

GO (halakh, yalakh, bo', yatsa'; ago, hupago, anabaino, erchomi, aperchomai, poreuomai):

"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 halakh and yalakh 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; halakh and yalakh 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 Psalms 15:2; 89:30; 1 Kings 2:3; 3:3, etc.); to die, "He departed (Hebrew "went") without being desired" (2 Chronicles 21:20); bo', properly "to go in," "to enter" (e.g. Genesis 7:9), is very common, and yatsa', "to go or come out," also occurs frequently; yatsa', 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 yaradh, "to go down" (Genesis 11:7, etc.); `alah, "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); `abhar, "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); shubh, "to go again" (Genesis 43:2, etc.); saTah and cur, "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"); nasa', "to remove (Exodus 14:15), "Speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward" (Exodus 14:19"removed"; Numbers 2:24 etc.); 'azal (Aramaic), "to go away or about" (Ezra 4:23; Daniel 2:17, etc.). Many other words occur only once or twice, e.g. 'arach, "to travel" Job (34:8); 'ashar, "to go straight or right" (Proverbs 4:14; 9:6, the Revised Version (British and American) "walk"); darakh, "to tread" (Isaiah 59:8); dadhah, "to go softly" (Psalms 42:4; Isaiah 38:15, the Revised Version, margin "as in solemn procession"); raghal, "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 yahabh in Genesis 11:3,4,7; 38:16; Exodus 1:10, "come on," the Revised Version (British and American) "come"; of bo' (2 Kings 5:5 the Revised Version (British and American)), "go now"; na' (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 anabaino is "to go up" (Matthew 3:16; 5:1, etc.); erchomai, "to go on" (Matthew 12:9, etc.); aperchomai, "to go off or away" (Matthew 2:22; 4:24, etc.); poreuomai, "to go or pass on" (Matthew 2:8,20, etc.); hupago, "to go away" (Matthew 5:41; 8:32, etc.). We have also other combinations with different shades of meaning, e.g. huperbaino, "to go over or beyond" (1 Thessalonians 4:6); eiserchomai, "to go into" (Matthew 7:13; 15:11, etc.); proporeuomai, "to go before" (Luke 1:76; Acts 7:40), and other forms; ago (agomen), "Let us go" (Matthew 26:46; John 14:31, etc.); age is rendered "go to" (James 4:13; 5:1), the Revised Version (British and American) "come."

"Go about (to)" the King James Version is the translation of zeteo, "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 peirazo, "to try," "attempt" (Acts 24:6, the Revised Version (British and American) "assayed"), and of peiraomai (26:21, the Revised Version (British and American) "assayed"), of epicheireo "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 apoluo "to loose off" or "away" (Luke 14:4, etc.), "to go astray," of planao (Matthew 18:12, etc.).

Various other words occurring singly are translated by forms of "go," e.g. phero, "to bear on," the King James Version "Let us go on unto perfection" (Hebrews 6:1, see below); epiduo, "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"; 16:46, "carry it"; Isaiah 11:15; 27:4, "march"; Matthew 11:4; John 8:11, "Go your way"; Luke 17:7, "Come straightway"; 18:25, "enter in"; John 21:3 b, "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 14:18,19), "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" (Psalms 37:6); "let them go" for "gave them up" (Psalms 81:12). For the phrase, "go a whoring," the American Standard Revised Version has "play the harlot" (Exodus 34:15, 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."

W. L. Walker

Copyright Statement

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Bibliography Information

Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. "Entry for 'GO'".  "International Standard Bible Encyclopedia".  1915.