Word study
Despise
8 Hebrew and 2 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: despised, despise, despises, despising. 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 “despise” 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)
- בָּזָה bâzâhdespisetranslated this way 38 times of its 43 uses · Strong’s H959Verb · Translated: despised 24, despise 6, despises 5, contemptible 2Full study and all 41 verses →
Genesis 25:34 Then Jacob gave some bread and lentil stew to Esau, who ate and drank and then got up and went away. Thus Esau despised his birthright.
Numbers 15:31 He shall certainly be cut off, because he has despised the word of the LORD and broken His commandment; his guilt remains on him.”
- מָאַס mâasrejecttranslated this way 12 times of its 75 uses · Strong’s H3988Verb · Translated: rejected 36, reject 15, despise 5, despises 3Full study and all 69 verses →
Job 5:17 Blessed indeed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.
Psalm 53:5 There they are, overwhelmed with dread, where there was nothing to fear. For God has scattered the bones of those who besieged you. You put them to shame, for God has despised them.
- נָאַץ nâatscontemn, spurntranslated this way 9 times of its 24 uses · Strong’s H5006Verb · Translated: despised 6, despise 3Full study and all 24 verses →
Psalm 107:11 because they rebelled against the words of God and despised the counsel of the Most High.
Proverbs 1:30 They accepted none of my counsel; they despised all my reproof.
- בּוּז bûzdespisetranslated this way 8 times of its 11 uses · Strong’s H936Verb · Translated: despise 5, despises 2, Whoever shows contempt 1, scorns 1Full study and all 11 verses →
Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.
Song of Solomon 8:1 O that you were to me like a brother who nursed at my mother’s breasts! If I found you outdoors, I would kiss you, and no one would despise me.
- גָּעַל gâalabhor, loathetranslated this way 7 times of its 10 uses · Strong’s H1602Verb · Translated: despise 5, despised 2, abhorred 1, defiled 1Full study and all 9 verses →
Leviticus 26:11 And I will make My dwelling place among you, and My soul will not despise you.
Jeremiah 14:19 Have You rejected Judah completely? Do You despise Zion? Why have You stricken us so that we are beyond healing? We hoped for peace, but no good has come, and for the time of healing, but there was only terror.
- תַּעָב taâbloathe, detesttranslated this way 6 times of its 21 uses · Strong’s H8581Verb · Translated: despise 6, abhor 3, vile 2, abhorred 2Full study and all 20 verses →
Deuteronomy 23:7 Do not despise an Edomite, for he is your brother. Do not despise an Egyptian, because you lived as a foreigner in his land.
Job 9:31 then You would plunge me into the pit, and even my own clothes would despise me.
- שָׂנֵא sânêhatetranslated this way 3 times of its 143 uses · Strong’s H8130Verb · Translated: hate 65, hated 23, hates 17, enemies 6Full study and all 139 verses →
2 Samuel 5:8 On that day he said, “Whoever attacks the Jebusites must use the water shaft to reach the lame and blind who are despised by David.” That is why it is said, “The blind and the lame will never enter the palace.”
Psalm 119:113 The double-minded I despise, but Your law I love.
- קָלַל qâlalbe slight, swift, triflingtranslated this way 2 times of its 82 uses · Strong’s H7043Verb · Translated: curse 15, cursed 8, curses 5, swifter 5Full study and all 79 verses →
Genesis 16:4 And he slept with Hagar, and she conceived. But when Hagar realized that she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.
2 Samuel 19:43 “We have ten shares in the king,” answered the men of Israel, “so we have more claim to David than you. Why then do you despise us? Were we not the first to speak of restoring our king?” But the men of Judah spoke more fiercely than the men of Israel.
Greek words (New Testament)
- καταφρονέω kataphronéōI despise, scorntranslated this way 5 times of its 9 uses · Strong’s G2706Verb · Translated: despise 5, look 1, disregard 1, show disrespect 1Full study and all 9 verses →
Matthew 6:24 No one can serve two masters: Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
Luke 16:13 No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
- ἐξουθενέω exouthenéōI ignore, despisetranslated this way 2 times of its 11 uses · Strong’s G1848Verb · Translated: belittle 2Full study and all 11 verses →
1 Corinthians 1:28 He chose the lowly and despised things of the world, and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are,
Galatians 4:14 And although my illness was a trial to you, you did not despise or reject me. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus Himself.
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.