Word study
Error
5 Hebrew and 1 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: error, errors. 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 “error” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- שְׁגָגָה shegâgâhsin of error, inadvertencetranslated this way 3 times of its 19 uses · Strong’s H7684Noun · Translated: unintentionally 11, error 3Full study and all 18 verses →
Leviticus 22:14 If anyone eats a sacred offering in error, he must add a fifth to its value and give the sacred offering to the priest.
Numbers 15:29 You shall have the same law for the one who acts in error, whether he is a native-born Israelite or a foreigner residing among you.
- שָׁגָה shâgâhgo astray, errtranslated this way 1 time of its 21 uses · Strong’s H7686Verb · Translated: stray 4, strays unintentionally 2, captivated 2, led astray 2Full study and all 19 verses →
1 Samuel 26:21 Then Saul replied, “I have sinned. Come back, David my son. I will never harm you again, because today you considered my life precious. I have played the fool and have committed a grave error!”
- תׇּהֳלָה tohŏlâherrortranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s H8417Noun · Translated: error 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Job 4:18 If God puts no trust in His servants, and He charges His angels with error,
- מְשׁוּגָה meshûgâherrortranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s H4879Noun · Translated: error 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Job 19:4 Even if I have truly gone astray, my error concerns me alone.
- שְׁגִיאָה shegîâherrortranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s H7691Noun · Translated: errors 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Psalm 19:12 Who can discern his own errors? Cleanse me from my hidden faults.
Greek words (New Testament)
- πλάνη plánēa wandering, errortranslated this way 5 times of its 10 uses · Strong’s G4106Noun · Translated: error 5, deception 2, deceitful 1, deceit 1Full study and all 10 verses →
Romans 1:27 Likewise, the men abandoned natural relations with women and burned with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.
James 5:20 consider this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and cover over a multitude of sins.
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.