Word study
Drunkenness
4 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “drunkenness”. 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 “drunkenness” 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)
- שִׁכָּרוֹן shikkârôndrunkennesstranslated this way 2 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s H7943Noun · Translated: drunkenness 2, drunk 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Jeremiah 13:13 then you are to tell them that this is what the LORD says: ‘I am going to fill with drunkenness all who live in this land— the kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the people of Jerusalem.
Ezekiel 23:33 You will be filled with drunkenness and grief, with a cup of devastation and desolation, the cup of your sister Samaria.
- יַיִן yayinwinetranslated this way 1 time of its 135 uses · Strong’s H3196Noun · Translated: wine 127Full study and all 129 verses →
Genesis 9:24 When Noah awoke from his drunkenness and learned what his youngest son had done to him,
- שְׁתִי shethîdrinking, drinking-bouttranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s H8358Noun · Translated: drunkenness 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Ecclesiastes 10:17 Blessed are you, O land whose king is a son of nobles, and whose princes feast at the proper time— for strength and not for drunkenness.
- רַעַל raalreelingtranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s H7478Noun · Translated: drunkenness 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Zechariah 12:2 “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples. Judah will be besieged, as well as Jerusalem.
Greek words (New Testament)
- μέθη méthēdrunkennesstranslated this way 3 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s G3178Noun · Translated: drunkenness 3Full study and all 3 verses →
Luke 21:34 But watch yourselves, or your hearts will be weighed down by dissipation, drunkenness, and the worries of life — and that day will spring upon you suddenly like a snare.
Romans 13:13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.
- πάροινος pároinosgiven to wine, drunkentranslated this way 1 time of its 2 uses · Strong’s G3943Adjective · Translated: dependent on wine 1, given to drunkenness 1Full study and all 2 verses →
Titus 1:7 As God’s steward, an overseer must be above reproach — not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not greedy for money.
- οἰνοφλυγία oinophlygíadrunkennesstranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s G3632Noun · Translated: drunkenness 1Full study and its 1 verse →
1 Peter 4:3 For you have spent enough time in the past carrying out the same desires as the Gentiles: living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and detestable idolatry.
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 drunkenness: 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.