Word study
Downfall
9 Hebrew words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “downfall”. 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 “downfall” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- מַפֶּלֶת mappelethcarcass, ruin, overthrowtranslated this way 6 times of its 8 uses · Strong’s H4658Noun · Translated: downfall 6, carcass 1, fallen trunk 1Full study and all 8 verses →
Proverbs 29:16 When the wicked thrive, rebellion increases; but the righteous will see their downfall.
Ezekiel 26:15 This is what the Lord GOD says to Tyre: ‘Will not the coastlands quake at the sound of your downfall, when the wounded groan at the slaughter in your midst?
- תְּבוּסָה tebûsâhdown-treading = ruin, downfalltranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s H8395Noun · Translated: downfall 1Full study and its 1 verse →
2 Chronicles 22:7 Ahaziah’s downfall came from God when he went to visit Joram. When Ahaziah arrived, he went out with Joram to meet Jehu son of Nimshi, whom the LORD had anointed to destroy the house of Ahab.
- כָּשַׁל kâshalstumble, stagger, tottertranslated this way 1 time of its 63 uses · Strong’s H3782Verb · Translated: stumble 23, stumbled 7, fall 5, stumbles 4Full study and all 59 verses →
2 Chronicles 28:23 He sacrificed to the gods of Damascus, who had defeated him, and he said, “Because the gods of the kings of Aram have helped them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me.” But these gods were the downfall of Ahaz and of all Israel.
- נָפַל nâphalfall, lietranslated this way 1 time of its 432 uses · Strong’s H5307Verb · Translated: fall 104, fell 77, fallen 54, falls 21Full study and all 403 verses →
Esther 6:13 Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened. His advisers and his wife Zeresh said to him, “Since Mordecai, before whom your downfall has begun, is Jewish, you will not prevail against him — for surely you will fall before him.”
- נָבַט nâbaṭlooktranslated this way 1 time of its 68 uses · Strong’s H5027Verb · Translated: look 24, looked 8, see 7, consider 6Full study and all 66 verses →
Psalm 92:11 My eyes see the downfall of my enemies; my ears hear the wailing of my wicked foes.
- שֶׁבֶר sheberbreaking, fracture, crushing, breach, crashtranslated this way 1 time of its 44 uses · Strong’s H7667Noun · Translated: destruction 17, wound 4, brokenness 3, broken 2Full study and all 42 verses →
Proverbs 18:12 Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.
- מִשְׁבָּת mishbâthcessation, annihilationtranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s H4868Noun · Translated: downfall 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Lamentations 1:7 In the days of her affliction and wandering Jerusalem remembers all the treasures that were hers in days of old. When her people fell into enemy hands she received no help. Her enemies looked upon her, laughing at her downfall.
- יָרַד yâradcome or go down, descendtranslated this way 1 time of its 372 uses · Strong’s H3381Verb · Translated: went 56, go 55, come 35, came 26Full study and all 341 verses →
- מִכְשׁוֹל mikshôla stumbling, means or occasion of stumbling, stumbling-blocktranslated this way 1 time of its 14 uses · Strong’s H4383Noun · Translated: stumbling block 6, stumbling blocks 2Full study and all 14 verses →
Ezekiel 18:30 Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each according to his ways, declares the Lord GOD. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, so that your iniquity will not become your downfall.
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.