Word study
Gossip
2 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: gossip, gossips. 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 “gossip” 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)
- רָגַן râganmurmur, whispertranslated this way 4 times of its 7 uses · Strong’s H7279Verb · Translated: gossip 4, grumbled 2, grumble 1Full study and all 7 verses →
Proverbs 16:28 A perverse man spreads dissension, and a gossip divides close friends.
Proverbs 18:8 The words of a gossip are like choice morsels that go down into the inmost being.
- רָכִיל râkîlslander, > tale-bearer, informertranslated this way 2 times of its 6 uses · Strong’s H7400Noun · Translated: gossip 2, spreading slander 1, slanderers 1, slander 1Full study and all 6 verses →
Proverbs 11:13 A gossip reveals a secret, but a trustworthy person keeps a confidence.
Proverbs 20:19 He who reveals secrets is a constant gossip; avoid the one who babbles with his lips.
Greek words (New Testament)
- ψιθυρισμός psithyrismósa whispering, secret slanderingtranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s G5587Noun · Translated: gossip 1Full study and its 1 verse →
2 Corinthians 12:20 For I am afraid that when I come, I may not find you as I wish, and you may not find me as you wish. I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, rage, rivalry, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorder.
- ψιθυριστής psithyristḗsa whisperer, secret slanderertranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s G5588Noun · Translated: gossips 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Romans 1:29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips,
- φλύαρος phlýarosprating, talking foolishlytranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s G5397Adjective · Translated: gossips 1Full study and its 1 verse →
1 Timothy 5:13 At the same time they will also learn to be idle, going from house to house and being not only idle, but also gossips and busybodies, discussing things they should not mention .
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 gossip: 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.