Word study
Drunkard
4 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: drunkard, drunkards. 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 “drunkard” 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)
- שִׁכּוֹר shikkôrdrunkentranslated this way 8 times of its 11 uses · Strong’s H7910Adjective · Translated: drunk 3, drunkards 3, like drunkards 2, drunkard 2Full study and all 11 verses →
Job 12:25 They grope in the darkness without light; He makes them stagger like drunkards.’’
Psalm 107:27 They reeled and staggered like drunkards, and all their skill was useless.
- סָבָא sâbâimbibe, drink largelytranslated this way 4 times of its 6 uses · Strong’s H5433Verb · Translated: drunkard 3, drink too much 1, imbibe 1, Drunkards 1Full study and all 6 verses →
Deuteronomy 21:20 and say to the elders, “This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he does not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard.”
Proverbs 23:21 For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe them in rags.
- אִישׁ îshmantranslated this way 1 time of its 1,399 uses · Strong’s H376Noun · Translated: man 650, men 198, one 79, each 79Full study and all 1,278 verses →
- שָׁתָה shâthâhdrinktranslated this way 1 time of its 212 uses · Strong’s H8354Verb · Translated: drink 137, drank 24, drinking 20, drinks 6Full study and all 192 verses →
Psalm 69:12 Those who sit at the gate mock me, and I am the song of drunkards.
Greek words (New Testament)
- οἰνοπότης oinopótēsan excessive wine-drinkertranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G3630Noun · Translated: drunkard 2Full study and all 2 verses →
Matthew 11:19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at this glutton and drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is vindicated by her actions.”
Luke 7:34 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at this glutton and drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’
- μέθυσος méthysosa drunkardtranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G3183Noun · Translated: drunkard 1, drunkards 1Full study and all 2 verses →
1 Corinthians 5:11 But now I am writing you not to associate with anyone who claims to be a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a verbal abuser, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.
1 Corinthians 6:10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.
- μεθύω methýōI am drunktranslated this way 1 time of its 6 uses · Strong’s G3184Verb · Translated: drunk 3, drunkards 1, gets drunk 1, get drunk 1Full study and all 6 verses →
Matthew 24:49 And he begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards.
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 drunkard: 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.