Word study
Fool
6 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: fool, fools. 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 “fool” 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)
- כְּסִיל kesîlstupid fellow, dullard, fooltranslated this way 61 times of its 70 uses · Strong’s H3684Noun · Translated: fool 41, fools 18, foolish 9, fool's 2Full study and all 69 verses →
Psalm 92:6 A senseless man does not know, and a fool does not understand,
Proverbs 1:22 “How long, O simple ones, will you love your simple ways? How long will scoffers delight in their scorn and fools hate knowledge?
- אֱוִיל ĕvîlfoolishtranslated this way 22 times of its 26 uses · Strong’s H191Noun · Translated: fool 13, fools 8, foolish 2, like a deer 1Full study and all 26 verses →
Job 5:2 For resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple.
Psalm 107:17 Fools, in their rebellious ways, and through their iniquities, suffered affliction.
- נָבָל nâbâlfoolish, senselesstranslated this way 12 times of its 18 uses · Strong’s H5036Adjective · Translated: fool 10, foolish 3, fools 2, without understanding 1Full study and all 18 verses →
2 Samuel 3:33 And the king sang this lament for Abner: “Should Abner die the death of a fool?
Psalm 14:1 For the choirmaster. Of David. The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt; their acts are vile. There is no one who does good.
- סָכָל sâkâlfooltranslated this way 4 times of its 7 uses · Strong’s H5530Noun · Translated: fool 4, foolish 3Full study and all 6 verses →
Ecclesiastes 7:17 Do not be excessively wicked, and do not be a fool. Why should you die before your time?
Ecclesiastes 10:3 Even as the fool walks along the road, his sense is lacking, and he shows everyone that he is a fool.
- הָלַל hâlalshinetranslated this way 3 times of its 165 uses · Strong’s H1984Verb · Translated: praise 65, Hallelujah 24, praised 14, boast 9Full study and all 140 verses →
Job 12:17 He leads counselors away barefoot and makes fools of judges.
Ecclesiastes 7:7 Surely extortion turns a wise man into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the heart.
- יָאַל yâalbe foolishtranslated this way 3 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s H2973Verb · Translated: become fools 2, foolishly 1, played the fool 1Full study and all 4 verses →
Isaiah 19:13 The princes of Zoan have become fools; the princes of Memphis are deceived. The cornerstones of her tribes have led Egypt astray.
Jeremiah 5:4 Then I said, “They are only the poor; they have played the fool, for they do not know the way of the LORD, the justice of their God.
Greek words (New Testament)
- ἄφρων áphrōnsenseless, foolish, inconsideratetranslated this way 8 times of its 11 uses · Strong’s G878Adjective · Translated: fool 6, fools 2, foolish 2, of 1Full study and all 10 verses →
Luke 11:40 You fools! Did not the One who made the outside make the inside as well?
1 Corinthians 15:36 You fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.
- μωρός mōrósstupid, foolishtranslated this way 4 times of its 12 uses · Strong’s G3474Adjective · Translated: foolish 6, fool 2, fools 2, foolishness 1Full study and all 12 verses →
Matthew 5:22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ will be subject to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be subject to the fire of hell.
1 Corinthians 3:18 Let no one deceive himself. If any of you thinks he is wise in this age, he should become a fool, so that he may become wise.
- ἀφροσύνη aphrosýnēwant of sense, foolishnesstranslated this way 2 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s G877Noun · Translated: foolishness 2, fool 2Full study and all 4 verses →
2 Corinthians 11:17 In this confident boasting of mine, I am not speaking as the Lord would, but as a fool.
2 Corinthians 11:21 To my shame I concede that we were too weak for that! Speaking as a fool, however, I can match what anyone else dares to boast about.
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 fool: 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.