Word study

Defy

4 Hebrew and 2 Greek words behind this English word

The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: defy, defied, defying. 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 “defy” 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)

  • חָרַף châraphreproachtranslated this way 9 times of its 41 uses · Strong’s H2778Verb  ·  Translated: taunted 9, defy 7, taunt 4, taunts 3

    1 Samuel 17:10 Then the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel this day! Give me a man to fight!”

    2 Kings 19:4 Perhaps the LORD your God will hear all the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to defy the living God, and He will rebuke him for the words that the LORD your God has heard. Therefore lift up a prayer for the remnant that still survives.”

    Full study and all 40 verses →
  • מָרָה mârâhbe contentious, refractory, rebellioustranslated this way 3 times of its 44 uses · Strong’s H4784Verb  ·  Translated: rebelled 18, rebellious 5, rebelling 4, rebel 3

    1 Kings 13:21 and the prophet cried out to the man of God who had come from Judah, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Because you have defied the word of the LORD and have not kept the commandment that the LORD your God gave you,

    Psalm 105:28 He sent darkness, and it became dark— yet they defied His words.

    Full study and all 44 verses →
  • מָרַר mârarbe bittertranslated this way 1 time of its 14 uses · Strong’s H4843Verb  ·  Translated: bitter 2, rage 2

    Exodus 23:21 Pay attention to him and listen to his voice; do not defy him, for he will not forgive rebellion, since My Name is in him.

    Full study and all 13 verses →
  • זוּד zûdbe presumptuoustranslated this way 1 time of its 10 uses · Strong’s H2102Verb  ·  Translated: cooking 1, treated israel with arrogance 1, acts willfully 1, presumptuously 1

    Jeremiah 50:29 Summon the archers against Babylon, all who string the bow. Encamp all around her; let no one escape. Repay her according to her deeds; do to her as she has done. For she has defied the LORD, the Holy One of Israel.

    Full study and all 10 verses →

Greek words (New Testament)

  • ἀντιλέγω antilégōI speak or say in opposition, contradicttranslated this way 1 time of its 11 uses · Strong’s G483Verb  ·  Translated: contradict 2

    John 19:12 From then on, Pilate tried to release Him, but the Jews kept shouting, “If you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who declares himself a king is defying Caesar.”

    Full study and all 11 verses →
  • πράσσω prássōI do, fare, requiretranslated this way 1 time of its 36 uses · Strong’s G4238Verb  ·  Translated: done 8, do 4, to do 3, practice 2

    Acts 17:7 and Jason has welcomed them into his home. They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, named Jesus!”

    Full study and all 34 verses →
How to study a word well
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
  4. 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.
  5. See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
  6. Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
  7. 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.