Word study
Boast
4 Hebrew and 4 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: boast, boasting, boasts, boasted. 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 “boast” 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)
- הָלַל hâlalshinetranslated this way 14 times of its 165 uses · Strong’s H1984Verb · Translated: praise 65, Hallelujah 24, praised 14, boast 9Full study and all 140 verses →
1 Kings 20:11 And the king of Israel replied, “Tell him: ‘The one putting on his armor should not boast like one taking it off.’”
Psalm 10:3 For the wicked man boasts in the cravings of his heart; he blesses the greedy and reviles the LORD.
- אָמַר âmarutter, saytranslated this way 3 times of its 4,555 uses · Strong’s H559Verb · Translated: said 1,531, says 576, say 352, replied 341Full study and all 3,827 verses →
- גָּדַל gâdalgrow up, become greattranslated this way 3 times of its 115 uses · Strong’s H1431Verb · Translated: great 14, grew 10, grown 7, greater 7Full study and all 114 verses →
Isaiah 10:15 Does an axe raise itself above the one who swings it? Does a saw boast over him who saws with it? It would be like a rod waving the one who lifts it, or a staff lifting him who is not wood!
Ezekiel 35:13 You boasted against Me with your mouth and multiplied your words against Me. I heard it Myself!
- בַּד badbrag, lie, liartranslated this way 2 times of its 7 uses · Strong’s H907Noun · Translated: boasting 2, false prophets 2, babbling 1, limbs 1Full study and all 7 verses →
Isaiah 16:6 We have heard of Moab’s pomposity, his exceeding pride and conceit, his overflowing arrogance. But his boasting is empty.
Jeremiah 48:30 I know his insolence,” declares the LORD, “but it is futile. His boasting is as empty as his deeds.
Greek words (New Testament)
- καυχάομαι kaucháomaiI boast, glorytranslated this way 31 times of its 38 uses · Strong’s G2744Verb · Translated: boast 23, boasting 4, rejoice 3, boasts 2Full study and all 33 verses →
Romans 2:17 Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and boast in God;
1 Corinthians 1:29 so that no one may boast in His presence.
- καύχημα kaúchēmaa boastingtranslated this way 9 times of its 11 uses · Strong’s G2745Noun · Translated: boast 5, boasting 2, something to boast 1, proud 1Full study and all 11 verses →
Romans 4:2 If Abraham was indeed justified by works, he had something to boast about, but not before God.
1 Corinthians 5:6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven works through the whole batch of dough?
- καύχησις kaúchēsisthe act of boasting, exultationtranslated this way 9 times of its 11 uses · Strong’s G2746Noun · Translated: boasting 6, boast 2, exult 1, pride 1Full study and all 11 verses →
Romans 3:27 Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of works? No, but on that of faith.
1 Corinthians 15:31 I face death every day, brothers, as surely as I boast about you in Christ Jesus our Lord.
- κατακαυχάομαι katakaucháomaiI boast againsttranslated this way 2 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s G2620Verb · Translated: boast 2, triumphs 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Romans 11:18 do not boast over those branches. If you do, remember this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you.
James 3:14 But if you harbor bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast in it or deny the truth.
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.
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.