Word study
Crime
7 Hebrew and 2 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: crime, crimes. 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 “crime” 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)
- רַע rabad, eviltranslated this way 3 times of its 651 uses · Strong’s H7451Adjective · Translated: evil 263, disaster 72, harm 38, wicked 31Full study and all 615 verses →
- פֶּשַׁע peshatransgressiontranslated this way 1 time of its 93 uses · Strong’s H6588Noun · Translated: transgressions 41, transgression 25, rebellion 9, rebellious acts 4Full study and all 90 verses →
Genesis 31:36 Then Jacob became incensed and challenged Laban. “What is my crime?” he said. “For what sin of mine have you so hotly pursued me?
- סָרָה sârâha turning aside, defection, apostasy, withdrawaltranslated this way 1 time of its 7 uses · Strong’s H5627Noun · Translated: rebellion 3, accusing him of a crime 1, rebelling 1, rebelled 1Full study and all 7 verses →
Deuteronomy 19:16 If a false witness testifies against someone, accusing him of a crime,
- רִשְׁעָה rishâhwickednesstranslated this way 1 time of its 13 uses · Strong’s H7564Noun · Translated: wickedness 10, driving 1, crime warrants 1, more wickedly 1Full study and all 13 verses →
Deuteronomy 25:2 If the guilty man deserves to be beaten, the judge shall have him lie down and be flogged in his presence with the number of lashes his crime warrants.
- חָמָס châmâsviolence, wrongtranslated this way 1 time of its 60 uses · Strong’s H2555Noun · Translated: violence 49, violent 4Full study and all 59 verses →
Judges 9:24 in order that the crime against the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come to justice and their blood be avenged on their brother Abimelech and on the leaders of Shechem, who had helped him murder his brothers.
- זִמָּה zimmâhplan, device, wickednesstranslated this way 1 time of its 29 uses · Strong’s H2154Noun · Translated: indecency 7, lewd 3, depraved 2, depravity 2Full study and all 27 verses →
Job 31:11 For that would be a heinous crime, an iniquity to be judged.
- מִשְׁפָּט mishpâṭjudgmenttranslated this way 1 time of its 406 uses · Strong’s H4941Noun · Translated: justice 111, ordinances 73, judgments 40, judgment 40Full study and all 394 verses →
Greek words (New Testament)
- ῥᾳδιούργημα rhaidioúrgēmaan act of villainytranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s G4467Noun · Translated: crime 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Acts 18:14 But just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio told the Jews, “If this matter involved a wrongdoing or vicious crime, O Jews, it would be reasonable for me to hear your complaint .
- ἀδίκημα adíkēmaa crime, misdeedtranslated this way 1 time of its 3 uses · Strong’s G92Noun · Translated: wrongdoing 1, crime 1, iniquities 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Acts 24:20 Otherwise, let these men state for themselves any crime they found in me when I stood before the Sanhedrin,
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 crime: 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.