Word study
Fault
6 Hebrew and 5 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: fault, faults. 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 “fault” 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)
- חָטָא châṭâmisstranslated this way 1 time of its 233 uses · Strong’s H2398Verb · Translated: sinned 73, sin 33, committed 26, sins 21Full study and all 217 verses →
Exodus 5:16 No straw has been given to your servants, yet we are told, ‘Make bricks!’ Look, your servants are being beaten, but the fault is with your own people.”
- מְאוּמָה meûmâhanythingtranslated this way 1 time of its 17 uses · Strong’s H3972Noun · Translated: anything 10, nothing 3, bare 1, fault 1Full study and all 17 verses →
1 Samuel 29:3 Then the commanders of the Philistines asked, “What about these Hebrews?” Achish replied, “Is this not David, the servant of King Saul of Israel? He has been with me all these days, even years, and from the day he defected until today I have found no fault in him.”
- רַע rabad, eviltranslated this way 1 time of its 651 uses · Strong’s H7451Adjective · Translated: evil 263, disaster 72, harm 38, wicked 31Full study and all 615 verses →
- עָוֺן âvôniniquity, guilt, or punishment of iniquitytranslated this way 1 time of its 230 uses · Strong’s H5771Noun · Translated: iniquity 128, iniquities 37, guilt 20, punishment 12Full study and all 214 verses →
Psalm 59:4 For no fault of my own, they move swiftly to attack me. Arise to help me, and take notice.
- עֶוֶל evelinjustice, unrighteousnesstranslated this way 1 time of its 53 uses · Strong’s H5766Noun · Translated: iniquity 15, injustice 14, wrong 5, wickedness 4Full study and all 51 verses →
Jeremiah 2:5 This is what the LORD says: “What fault did your fathers find in Me that they strayed so far from Me? They followed worthless idols, and became worthless themselves.
- סָתַר sâtharhide, concealtranslated this way 1 time of its 80 uses · Strong’s H5641Verb · Translated: hide 34, hidden 13, hid 9, hiding 5Full study and all 80 verses →
Psalm 19:12 Who can discern his own errors? Cleanse me from my hidden faults.
Greek words (New Testament)
- ἄμωμος ámōmosblamelesstranslated this way 1 time of its 9 uses · Strong’s G299Adjective · Translated: blameless 3, unblemished 3, without fault 1, without blemish 1Full study and all 9 verses →
Philippians 2:15 so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine as lights in the world
- ἄμεμπτος ámemptosblamelesstranslated this way 1 time of its 5 uses · Strong’s G273Adjective · Translated: blamelessly 1, blameless 1, faultless 1, blamelessness 1Full study and all 5 verses →
Hebrews 8:7 For if that first covenant had been without fault, no place would have been sought for a second.
- μέμφομαι mémphomaiI blame, censuretranslated this way 1 time of its 2 uses · Strong’s G3201Verb · Translated: does 1, found fault 1Full study and all 2 verses →
Hebrews 8:8 But God found fault with the people and said: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
- ὀνειδίζω oneidízōI reproach, revile, upbraidtranslated this way 1 time of its 9 uses · Strong’s G3679Verb · Translated: insult 3, berated 2, denounce 1, rebuked 1Full study and all 9 verses →
James 1:5 Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
- πταίω ptaíōI stumble, fall, sintranslated this way 1 time of its 5 uses · Strong’s G4417Verb · Translated: stumble 3, stumbles 1, fault 1Full study and all 4 verses →
James 3:2 We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to control his whole body.
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.