Word study
Cheat
4 Hebrew and 2 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: cheated, cheat. 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 “cheat” 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)
- עָשַׁק âshaqoppress, wrong, extorttranslated this way 2 times of its 36 uses · Strong’s H6231Verb · Translated: oppressed 8, oppress 6, oppressors 3, defraud 2Full study and all 35 verses →
1 Samuel 12:3 Here I am. Bear witness against me before the LORD and before His anointed: Whose ox or donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated or oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe and closed my eyes? Tell me, and I will restore it to you.”
1 Samuel 12:4 “You have not cheated us or oppressed us,” they replied, “nor have you taken anything from the hand of man.”
- עָקַב âqabfollow at the heeltranslated this way 1 time of its 4 uses · Strong’s H6117Verb · Translated: cheated 1, restrain 1, deals craftily 1, heel 1Full study and all 4 verses →
Genesis 27:36 So Esau declared, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has cheated me twice. He took my birthright, and now he has taken my blessing.” Then he asked, “Haven’t you saved a blessing for me?”
- הָתַל hâthaldeceive, mocktranslated this way 1 time of its 10 uses · Strong’s H2048Verb · Translated: mocked 3, deceive 2Full study and all 9 verses →
Genesis 31:7 And although he has cheated me and changed my wages ten times, God has not allowed him to harm me.
- עָוַת âvathbe bent, crookedtranslated this way 1 time of its 11 uses · Strong’s H5791Verb · Translated: pervert 3Full study and all 10 verses →
Amos 8:5 asking, “When will the New Moon be over, that we may sell grain? When will the Sabbath end, that we may market wheat? Let us reduce the ephah and increase the shekel; let us cheat with dishonest scales.
Greek words (New Testament)
- ἀποστερέω aposteréōI deprive one of something, robtranslated this way 3 times of its 6 uses · Strong’s G650Verb · Translated: cheat 2, cheated 1, deprive 1, devoid 1Full study and all 6 verses →
Mark 10:19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not cheat others, honor your father and mother.’”
1 Corinthians 6:7 The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means that you are thoroughly defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated?
- συκοφαντέω sykophantéōI accuse falsely, defraudtranslated this way 1 time of its 2 uses · Strong’s G4811Verb · Translated: false accusation 1, cheated 1Full study and all 2 verses →
Luke 19:8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, half of my possessions I give to the poor, and if I have cheated anyone, I will repay it fourfold.”
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.