Word study
Conceit
3 Hebrew and 5 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: conceited, conceit. 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 “conceit” 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)
- חָלַק châlaqdivide, sharetranslated this way 1 time of its 65 uses · Strong’s H2505Verb · Translated: divided 14, divide 9, distributed 4, dividing 3Full study and all 64 verses →
Psalm 36:2 For his eyes are too full of conceit to detect or hate his own sin.
- גַּאֲוָה gaăvâhmajesty, pridetranslated this way 1 time of its 18 uses · Strong’s H1346Noun · Translated: pride 8, majesty 2, proud 2Full study and all 18 verses →
Isaiah 16:6 We have heard of Moab’s pomposity, his exceeding pride and conceit, his overflowing arrogance. But his boasting is empty.
- גֹּבַהּ gôbahhheighttranslated this way 1 time of its 17 uses · Strong’s H1363Noun · Translated: height 4, high 4, pride 2Full study and all 16 verses →
Jeremiah 48:29 We have heard of Moab’s pomposity, his exceeding pride and conceit, his proud arrogance and haughtiness of heart.
Greek words (New Testament)
- τυφόω typhóōI puff up, make haughtytranslated this way 3 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s G5187Verb · Translated: conceited 2, become conceited 1Full study and all 3 verses →
1 Timothy 3:6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same condemnation as the devil.
2 Timothy 3:4 traitorous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
- φρόνιμος phrónimosintelligent, prudenttranslated this way 2 times of its 14 uses · Strong’s G5429Adjective · Translated: wise 9, conceited 2, shrewd 1, more shrewd 1Full study and all 14 verses →
Romans 11:25 I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you will not be conceited: A hardening in part has come to Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.
Romans 12:16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but associate with the lowly. Do not be conceited.
- ὑπεραίρομαι hyperaíromaiI raise beyond, uplifttranslated this way 1 time of its 2 uses · Strong’s G5229Verb · Translated: keep me from becoming conceited 1, exalt 1Full study and all 2 verses →
2 Corinthians 12:7 or because of these surpassingly great revelations. So to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.
- κενόδοξος kenódoxosvainglorioustranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s G2755Adjective · Translated: conceited 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Galatians 5:26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying one another.
- ὑψηλοφρονέω hypsēlophronéōI am high-minded, proudtranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s G5309Verb · Translated: conceited 1Full study and its 1 verse →
1 Timothy 6:17 Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be conceited and not to put their hope in the uncertainty of wealth, but in God, who richly provides all things for us to enjoy.
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 conceit: 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.