Word study
Arrogance
6 Hebrew words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “arrogance”. 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 “arrogance” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- גָּאוֹן gâônexaltationtranslated this way 3 times of its 49 uses · Strong’s H1347Noun · Translated: pride 21, majesty 6, proud 4, thickets 4Full study and all 45 verses →
Isaiah 16:6 We have heard of Moab’s pomposity, his exceeding pride and conceit, his overflowing arrogance. But his boasting is empty.
Hosea 5:5 Israel’s arrogance testifies against them; Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity; even Judah stumbles with them.
- זוּד zûdbe presumptuoustranslated this way 2 times of its 10 uses · Strong’s H2102Verb · Translated: cooking 1, treated israel with arrogance 1, acts willfully 1, presumptuously 1Full study and all 10 verses →
Exodus 18:11 Now I know that the LORD is greater than all other gods, for He did this when they treated Israel with arrogance.”
Nehemiah 9:10 You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, all his officials, and all the people of his land, for You knew they had acted with arrogance against our fathers. You made a name for Yourself that endures to this day.
- עָתָק âthâqforward, arroganttranslated this way 2 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s H6277Noun · Translated: arrogance 2, outstretched 1, arrogant 1Full study and all 4 verses →
1 Samuel 2:3 Do not boast so proudly, or let arrogance come from your mouth, for the LORD is a God who knows, and by Him actions are weighed.
Psalm 31:18 May lying lips be silenced — lips that speak with arrogance against the righteous, full of pride and contempt.
- שַׁאֲנָן shaănânat ease, securetranslated this way 2 times of its 10 uses · Strong’s H7600Adjective · Translated: ease 3, arrogance 2Full study and all 10 verses →
2 Kings 19:28 Because your rage and arrogance against Me have reached My ears, I will put My hook in your nose and My bit in your mouth; I will send you back the way you came.’
Isaiah 37:29 Because your rage and arrogance against Me have reached My ears, I will put My hook in your nose and My bit in your mouth; I will send you back the way you came.’
- זָדוֹן zâdôninsolence, presumptuousnesstranslated this way 2 times of its 11 uses · Strong’s H2087Noun · Translated: pride 5, presumptuously 2, arrogant 2, Arrogance 2Full study and all 11 verses →
Proverbs 13:10 Arrogance leads only to strife, but wisdom is with the well-advised.
Ezekiel 7:10 Behold, the day is here! It has come! Doom has gone out, the rod has budded, arrogance has bloomed.
- רַבְרַב rabrabhuge, domineeringtranslated this way 2 times of its 8 uses · Strong’s H7260Adjective · Translated: great 3, words of arrogance 2, generous 1, large 1Full study and all 8 verses →
Daniel 7:8 While I was contemplating the horns, suddenly another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like those of a man and a mouth that spoke words of arrogance.
Daniel 7:20 I also wanted to know about the ten horns on its head and the other horn that came up, before which three of them fell— the horn whose appearance was more imposing than the others, with eyes and with a mouth that spoke words of arrogance.
How to study a word well
- 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.
- 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.
- Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
- 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.
- See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
- Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
- 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.
What the Bible says about arrogance: passages by topic →
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.