Word study

Admonish

2 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word

The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: admonished, admonish, admonishes, admonishing. English often uses one word where Hebrew or Greek has several, each with its own shade of meaning. Under each word are verses where it is translated this way; choose the word itself for its full study: every verse, how else it is translated, the forms it takes and what the dictionaries say.

At a glance

How often each original word is translated “admonish” or one of its forms.

Compare the Hebrew words side by side Compare the Greek words side by side

Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)

  • עוּד ûdreturn, go about, repeat, do againtranslated this way 3 times of its 39 uses · Strong’s H5749Verb  ·  Translated: warned 5, testify 5, warn 3, admonished 3

    Nehemiah 9:26 But they were disobedient and rebelled against You; they flung Your law behind their backs. They killed Your prophets, who had admonished them to return to You. They committed terrible blasphemies.

    Nehemiah 9:29 You admonished them to turn back to Your law, but they were arrogant and disobeyed Your commandments. They sinned against Your ordinances, by which a man will live if he practices them. They turned a stubborn shoulder; they stiffened their necks and would not obey.

    Full study and all 39 verses →
  • יָסַר yâsardiscipline, chasten, admonishtranslated this way 3 times of its 41 uses · Strong’s H3256Verb  ·  Translated: discipline 10, scourged 4, punish 3, disciplines 2

    Psalm 2:10 Therefore be wise, O kings; be admonished, O judges of the earth.

    Ezekiel 23:48 So I will put an end to indecency in the land, and all the women will be admonished not to imitate your behavior.

    Full study and all 38 verses →

Greek words (New Testament)

  • νουθετέω nouthetéōI admonish, warn, counseltranslated this way 5 times of its 8 uses · Strong’s G3560Verb  ·  Translated: admonish 4, warning 1, instruct 1, warn 1

    Colossians 1:28 We proclaim Him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.

    1 Thessalonians 5:12 But we ask you, brothers, to acknowledge those who work diligently among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you.

    Full study and all 8 verses →
  • ἐπιτιμάω epitimáōI rebuke, chide, admonish, warntranslated this way 3 times of its 29 uses · Strong’s G2008Verb  ·  Translated: rebuked 16, rebuke 6, admonished 3, warned 2

    Matthew 20:31 The crowd admonished them to be silent, but they cried out all the louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”

    Mark 10:48 Many people admonished him to be silent, but he cried out all the louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

    Full study and all 29 verses →
  • διαστέλλομαι diastéllomaiI give a commission, ordertranslated this way 2 times of its 8 uses · Strong’s G1291Verb  ·  Translated: admonished 2, ordered 2, gave strict orders 1, cautioned 1

    Matthew 16:20 Then He admonished the disciples not to tell anyone that He was the Christ.

    Mark 9:9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus admonished them not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

    Full study and all 7 verses →
How to study a word well
  1. Start from the verse, not the dictionary. Find which Hebrew or Greek word stands in the verse you are studying. One English word often translates several different original words.
  2. Read every place the word is used. A word means what its writers used it to mean. The list of verses and the count by book show its range, and who uses it most.
  3. Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
  4. Notice the form. A command is not a statement, and a passive verb is something done to the subject. The form in your verse is part of the meaning.
  5. See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
  6. Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
  7. Come back to the verse. Context decides. A word does not carry every one of its meanings into every verse, and where a word came from does not settle what it means in a sentence written centuries later.

Scripture text and translation counts: Berean Standard Bible. Full entry: Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906, public domain), in the digital edition Brown-Driver-Briggs Enhanced by unfoldingWord (Joel Ruark, J. de Joode), based on data by Eliran Wong and Stephen Ku; its additions are used under CC BY 4.0. Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project, CC BY 4.0. Hebrew-to-English verse numbering: original work of the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible available at https://github.com/openscriptures/morphhb, CC BY 4.0. We reformatted the data, linked the references to this site’s Bible text and left out words in other scripts that the source holds only as images. These are historical reference works; an entry gives its authors’ view, and a word’s meaning in any verse depends on how it is used there.