Word study
Guilty
6 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “guilty”. 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 “guilty” 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)
- אָשַׁם âshamoffend, be guiltytranslated this way 12 times of its 33 uses · Strong’s H816Verb · Translated: guilty 8, incur guilt 3, incurs guilt 2, guilt 2Full study and all 32 verses →
Leviticus 5:2 Or if a person touches anything unclean— whether the carcass of any unclean wild animal or livestock or crawling creature— even if he is unaware of it, he is unclean and guilty.
Numbers 5:6 “Tell the Israelites that when a man or woman acts unfaithfully against the LORD by committing any sin against another, that person is guilty
- רָשָׁע râshâwicked, criminaltranslated this way 7 times of its 264 uses · Strong’s H7563Adjective · Translated: wicked 221, wicked man 22, guilty 5Full study and all 249 verses →
Exodus 23:7 Stay far away from a false accusation. Do not kill the innocent or the just, for I will not acquit the guilty.
Deuteronomy 25:1 If there is a dispute between men, they are to go to court to be judged, so that the innocent may be acquitted and the guilty condemned.
- רָשַׁע râshabe wicked, act wickedlytranslated this way 4 times of its 34 uses · Strong’s H7561Verb · Translated: condemn 7, acted wickedly 6, condemned 3, wickedly departed 2Full study and all 34 verses →
Exodus 22:9 In all cases of illegal possession of an ox, a donkey, a sheep, a garment, or any lost item that someone claims, ‘This is mine,’ both parties shall bring their cases before the judges. The one whom the judges find guilty must pay back double to his neighbor.
Job 9:29 Since I am already found guilty, why should I labor in vain?
- חֵטְא chêṭesintranslated this way 4 times of its 32 uses · Strong’s H2399Noun · Translated: sin 9, sins 7, guilt 4, guilty of sin 4Full study and all 32 verses →
Deuteronomy 15:9 Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought in your heart: “The seventh year, the year of release, is near,” so that you look upon your poor brother begrudgingly and give him nothing. He will cry out to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin.
Deuteronomy 23:21 If you make a vow to the LORD your God, do not be slow to keep it, because He will surely require it of you, and you will be guilty of sin.
- דָּם dâmbloodtranslated this way 3 times of its 347 uses · Strong’s H1818Noun · Translated: blood 267, bloodshed 35, bloodguilt 5, blood still 4Full study and all 292 verses →
Exodus 22:2 If a thief is caught breaking in and is beaten to death, no one shall be guilty of bloodshed.
Numbers 35:27 and the avenger of blood finds him outside of his city of refuge and kills him, then the avenger will not be guilty of bloodshed,
- נָקָה nâqâhbe empty(?), cleantranslated this way 2 times of its 36 uses · Strong’s H5352Verb · Translated: go unpunished 10, leave anyone unpunished 2, leave the guilty unpunished 2, acquit 2Full study and all 32 verses →
Numbers 14:18 ‘The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in loving devotion, forgiving iniquity and transgression. Yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished; He will visit the iniquity of the fathers upon their children to the third and fourth generation.’
Nahum 1:3 The LORD is slow to anger and great in power; the LORD will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. His path is in the whirlwind and storm, and clouds are the dust beneath His feet.
Greek words (New Testament)
- ἔνοχος énochosinvolved in, liabletranslated this way 3 times of its 10 uses · Strong’s G1777Adjective · Translated: subject 4, guilty 2, deserves 1, deserving 1Full study and all 8 verses →
Mark 3:29 But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of eternal sin.”
1 Corinthians 11:27 Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.
- ἁμαρτία hamartíaa sintranslated this way 2 times of its 168 uses · Strong’s G266Noun · Translated: sin 88, sins 72, guilty of sin 2, sinful 2Full study and all 146 verses →
John 9:41 “If you were blind,” Jesus replied, “you would not be guilty of sin. But since you claim you can see, your guilt remains.”
James 4:17 Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do, yet fails to do it, is guilty of sin.
- ἔχω échōI have, hold, possesstranslated this way 2 times of its 624 uses · Strong’s G2192Verb · Translated: has 63, have 52, with 35, you have 29Full study and all 560 verses →
John 15:22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin.
John 15:24 If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have seen and hated both Me and My Father.
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.