与 in the Bible: 2,572 Occurrences, Three Jobs
Answering: “how to say and between nouns in Chinese”
Updated 2026-09-26 · plain text · JSON
与 joins two nouns, or marks the one you do something with. It is the literary counterpart of 和, and 跟 — the spoken form HSK teaches first — is nearly absent here.
- HSK level
- 6
- derived from its own words
- Its words occur
- 2,572
- times — the construction is not counted
- Meet it first in
- Genesis
- where it is commonest
- How sure
- Not counted
- 67% of a checked sample
Practise it
Tap the words that carry the pattern.
， 。
The same verses, in full
Easiest first: ranked by how much of each verse sits at or below HSK 6, the point’s own level. Colours are tones. Nothing here was written for the page — every line is in the text.
我wǒ在zài 神shén面前miàn qián与yǔ你nǐ一样yí yàng， 也yě是shì用yòng土tǔ造成zào chéng。
Behold, I am toward God even as you are. I am also formed out of the clay.
Job 33:6 · 100% of this verse’s words are at or below the point’s own HSK level
比bǐ珍珠zhēn zhū 宝贵bǎo guì； 你nǐ一切yí qiè所suǒ喜爱xǐ ài的de，都dōu不足bù zú与yǔ比较bǐ jiào。
She is more precious than rubies. None of the things you can desire are to be compared to her.
Proverbs 3:15 · 100% of this verse’s words are at or below the point’s own HSK level
你nǐ还hái与yǔ王wáng说话shuō huà的de时候shí hou，我wǒ也yě随后suí hòu进去jìn qù，证实zhèng shí你nǐ的话de huà。」
Behold, while you are still talking there with the king, I will also come in after you and confirm your words.”
1 Kings 1:14 · 100% of this verse’s words are at or below the point’s own HSK level
他tā替tì我们wǒ men死sǐ，叫jiào我们wǒ men无论wú lùn醒xǐng着zhe，睡着shuì zháo，都dōu与yǔ他tā同tóng活huó。
who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
1 Thessalonians 5:10 · 100% of this verse’s words are at or below the point’s own HSK level
「我wǒ还hái与yǔ你们nǐ men同tóng住zhù的de时候shí hou，已yǐ将jiāng这些zhè xiē话huà对duì你们nǐ men说shuō了le。
“I have said these things to you while still living with you.
John 14:25 · 100% of this verse’s words are at or below the point’s own HSK level
这样zhè yàng，我wǒ在zài你们nǐ men中间zhōng jiān，因yīn你nǐ与yǔ我wǒ彼此bǐ cǐ的de信心xìn xīn，就jiù可以kě yǐ同tóng得dé安慰ān wèi。
that is, that I with you may be encouraged in you, each of us by the other’s faith, both yours and mine.
Romans 1:12 · 100% of this verse’s words are at or below the point’s own HSK level
Go and meet it in the text
- Read Job 33 — where the first example above comes from, with every word tappable.
- The rest of HSK 6 grammar — the other points at this level, with their counts.
- The HSK 6 word deck — the vocabulary side, ordered by how often the Bible uses it.
What the Bible does with it
与 is and between nouns — 殿与王宫, the temple and the palace — and with before a verb: 与他们说话, spoke with them. The spoken 跟 that an HSK 1 course teaches for this is almost absent from the translation, and 和 shares the work.
The Chinese Union Version (和合本, simplified) uses 与 2,572 times. How many of those are this construction is exactly what could not be established.
The site does not publish a count for this construction. Its rule — 与 with a word on each side inside the clause. — was checked against 30 of its matches and 67% of them were right, which is not enough to print a number.
The reason for that missing number is itself the interesting part. A large share of 与 in this text is neither and nor with but to: 赐福与你, blessed you; 归与那不能朽坏的, to him who is incorruptible. That is a third use, common enough to break any simple rule, and the checked sample below shows how it falls out.
| Word | Reading | HSK | Occurrences |
|---|---|---|---|
| 与 | yǔ | 6 | 2,572 |
The HSK column is the level data/dict.json gives the word, and it is what puts this point at level 6.
| Book | Clauses |
|---|---|
| Genesis | 141 |
| Ezekiel | 138 |
| Deuteronomy | 113 |
| 2 Chronicles | 107 |
| Jeremiah | 98 |
Counted from what the rule matched, before the audit — a ranking, not a published total.
| Word | Reading | HSK | Occurrences | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 和 | hé | 1 | 5,249 | the ordinary modern conjunction, also common here |
| 同 | tóng | 6 | 731 | 'together with', before a verb |
| 跟 | gēn | 1 | 26 | the spoken form taught at HSK 1 |
The candidates are chosen by hand; the counts are measured, and a candidate the corpus cannot illustrate with a real verse is left out. No claim is made that they are interchangeable.
| Clause | Is it the construction? | Why not |
|---|---|---|
| 摩西就【与他们】说话 | yes | |
| 神所应许赐福【与你们】的话没有一句落空 | no | 与 is the dative 'to' here (赐福与…, 归与…), not coordination or accompaniment |
| 并耶和华殿【与王宫】府库里所有的金子都送给亚兰王哈薛 | yes | |
| 我却要为他们的缘故记念我【与他们】先祖所立的约 | yes | |
| 这样的人不可【与他】相交 | yes | |
| 并要赐福【与你】比先前更多 | no | 与 is the dative 'to' here (赐福与…, 归与…), not coordination or accompaniment |
| 所以我必【与你】并你的江河为敌 | yes | |
| 愿耶和华重重地降罚【与我】 | no | 与 is the dative 'to' here (赐福与…, 归与…), not coordination or accompaniment |
| 这些人【与我们】和睦 | yes | |
| 不服从我们主耶稣基督纯正的话【与那】合乎敬虔的道理 | yes | |
| 因我们所受的【与我们】所做的相称 | yes | |
| 你们【与我们】同住吧 | yes | |
| 现在我照样定意施恩【与耶路撒冷】和犹大家 | no | 与 is the dative 'to' here (赐福与…, 归与…), not coordination or accompaniment |
| 是【与自己】有益 | yes | |
| 和法度是耶和华【与以色列人】在西奈山借着摩西立的 | yes | |
| 班【与班】相对 | yes | |
| 为要分别圣地【与俗】地 | yes | |
| 好像【与妓女】苟合 | yes | |
| 神也要在所给你的地上赐福【与你】 | no | 与 is the dative 'to' here (赐福与…, 归与…), not coordination or accompaniment |
| 一阄归【与阿】撒泻勒 | no | 与 is the dative 'to' here (赐福与…, 归与…), not coordination or accompaniment |
| 凡【与兽】淫合的 | yes | |
| 以后你不可再【与我们】一同出战 | yes | |
| 于是拿俄米【与她们】亲嘴 | yes | |
| 深渊就【与深渊】响应 | yes | |
| 赐福【与他】 | no | 与 is the dative 'to' here (赐福与…, 归与…), not coordination or accompaniment |
| 荣耀归【与那】不能朽坏 | no | 与 is the dative 'to' here (赐福与…, 归与…), not coordination or accompaniment |
| 耶和华就把他们付【与在】夏琐作王的迦南王耶宾手中 | no | 与 is the dative 'to' here (赐福与…, 归与…), not coordination or accompaniment |
| 愿耶和华【与你们】同在 | yes | |
| 玛挪亚将一只山羊羔和素祭在磐石上献【与耶和华】 | no | 与 is the dative 'to' here (赐福与…, 归与…), not coordination or accompaniment |
| 玛拿西【与他】列祖同睡 | yes |
This is the page's evidence in place of a count. Every row was read in context.
Not counted
The rule: 与 with a word on each side inside the clause.
30 of 2,130 matches were drawn at random and read in context; 67% were right. Checked by Claude Opus 5, reading each sampled clause in context; not a native speaker. Recall is not measured: this is what the rule finds, not everything the translation contains.
This point is HSK 6 because that is the highest HSK level of the point's own function words, as data/dict.json grades them; a word the HSK lists do not grade sends the point to 'beyond'.
Questions
- When should I use 与 rather than 和?
- In writing, and between balanced nouns. 和 is the ordinary conjunction and is also common here; 与 is the more formal of the two and carries the comitative with more readily.
- How often does it occur in the Chinese Bible?
- Its markers occur 2,572 times in the Chinese Union Version (和合本, simplified). How many of those are this construction is not something the site can measure honestly, so it does not claim a figure.
- Which book of the Bible uses it most?
- Genesis, with 141 — followed by Ezekiel (138), Deuteronomy (113), 2 Chronicles (107).
- How do you know the count is right?
- The site does not publish a count for this construction. Its rule — 与 with a word on each side inside the clause. — was checked against 30 of its matches and 67% of them were right, which is not enough to print a number.
Related reference pages
Take it further
- 97 ready-made vocabulary decks — by HSK level, by book or by topic, exportable to Anki, Pleco or Quizlet.
- Printable 田字格 worksheets — passages with pinyin, meanings and tracing rows.
- The parallel reader — Chinese, pinyin and your own language side by side, every word tappable.
- The dataset behind these numbers — plain JSON, free to reuse with attribution.
How this was measured
Edition: Chinese Union Version (和合本, simplified). Every figure comes from one pass over all 1,189 chapters and 31,021 verses, 650,628word tokens in total, using the site’s own segmentation. A construction count is published only when a hand-checked sample of the rule that found it was at least 90% correct; between 70% and that it is published as an approximation, and below it no count is published at all. Generated 2026-09-26.