Word study

Flog

1 Hebrew and 5 Greek words behind this English word

The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: flogged, flog, flogging. 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 “flog” or one of its forms.

Compare the Greek words side by side

Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)

  • נָכָה nâkâhsmitetranslated this way 2 times of its 496 uses · Strong’s H5221Verb  ·  Translated: struck 145, strike 59, put 31, defeated 28

    Deuteronomy 25:2 If the guilty man deserves to be beaten, the judge shall have him lie down and be flogged in his presence with the number of lashes his crime warrants.

    Proverbs 17:26 It is surely not good to punish the innocent or to flog a noble for his honesty.

    Full study and all 460 verses →

Greek words (New Testament)

  • μαστιγόω mastigóōI flog, scourgetranslated this way 5 times of its 7 uses · Strong’s G3146Verb  ·  Translated: flog 4, flogged 1, had 1, chastises 1

    Matthew 10:17 But beware of men, for they will hand you over to their councils and flog you in their synagogues.

    Mark 10:34 who will mock Him and spit on Him and flog Him and kill Him. And after three days He will rise again.”

    Full study and all 7 verses →
  • φραγελλόω phragellóōI flagellate, scourgetranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G5417Verb  ·  Translated: Jesus flogged 1, flogged 1

    Matthew 27:26 So Pilate released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed Him over to be crucified.

    Mark 15:15 And wishing to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed Him over to be crucified.

    Full study and all 2 verses →
  • μάστιξ mástixa scourge, lash, sufferingstranslated this way 2 times of its 6 uses · Strong’s G3148Noun  ·  Translated: affliction 2, diseases 1, afflictions 1, flogged 1

    Acts 22:24 the commander ordered that Paul be brought into the barracks. He directed that Paul be flogged and interrogated to determine the reason for this outcry against him.

    Hebrews 11:36 Still others endured mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.

    Full study and all 6 verses →
  • δέρω dérōI flay, flog, scourge, beattranslated this way 1 time of its 15 uses · Strong’s G1194Verb  ·  Translated: beat 8, beaten 3, strike 1, flogged 1

    Acts 5:40 At this, they yielded to Gamaliel. They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and released them.

    Full study and all 15 verses →
  • μαστίζω mastízōI flog, scourgetranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s G3147Verb  ·  Translated: flog 1

    Acts 22:25 But as they stretched him out to strap him down, Paul said to the centurion standing there, “Is it lawful for you to flog a Roman citizen without a trial?”

    Full study and its 1 verse →
How to study a word well
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
  4. 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.
  5. See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
  6. Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
  7. 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.