Word study
Contrary
1 Hebrew and 5 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “contrary”. 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 “contrary” or one of its forms.
Compare the Greek words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- לֹא lônottranslated this way 2 times of its 4,657 uses · Strong’s H3808Adverb · Translated: no 309, not 269, never 218, will not 156Full study and all 3,775 verses →
Leviticus 10:1 Now Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense, and offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, contrary to His command.
Greek words (New Testament)
- ἀλλά allábut, excepttranslated this way 8 times of its 565 uses · Strong’s G235Conjunction · Translated: but 433, Instead 49, However 9, contrary 8Full study and all 541 verses →
Acts 15:11 On the contrary, we believe it is through the grace of the Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.”
Romans 9:7 Nor because they are Abraham’s descendants are they all his children. On the contrary, “Through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.”
- παρά paráfrom, in the presence oftranslated this way 5 times of its 160 uses · Strong’s G3844Preposition · Translated: from 58, with 25, beside 9, at 9Full study and all 150 verses →
Acts 18:13 “This man is persuading the people to worship God in ways contrary to the law,” they said.
Romans 11:24 For if you were cut from a wild olive tree, and contrary to nature were grafted into one that is cultivated, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!
- κατά katádown from, against, according to, throughout, duringtranslated this way 2 times of its 381 uses · Strong’s G2596Preposition · Translated: according 65, against 46, in 41, by 38Full study and all 349 verses →
Galatians 5:17 For the flesh craves what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are opposed to each other, so that you do not do what you want.
- μᾶλλον mâllonmore, rathertranslated this way 1 time of its 64 uses · Strong’s G3123Adverb · Translated: more 30, rather 16, Instead 5, louder 2Full study and all 62 verses →
Acts 27:11 But contrary to Paul’s advice, the centurion was persuaded by the pilot and by the owner of the ship.
- τοὐναντίον tounantíonon the contrarytranslated this way 1 time of its 2 uses · Strong’s G5121Adverb · Translated: instead 1, contrary 1Full study and all 2 verses →
Galatians 2:7 On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted to preach the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised.
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.