Word study
Humiliate
5 Hebrew and 1 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: humiliated, humiliate. 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 “humiliate” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- כָּלַם kâlambe humiliatedtranslated this way 9 times of its 38 uses · Strong’s H3637Verb · Translated: humiliated 9, ashamed 7, disgraced 3, blush 2Full study and all 38 verses →
2 Samuel 10:5 When this was reported to David, he sent messengers to meet the men, since they had been thoroughly humiliated. The king told them, “Stay in Jericho until your beards have grown back, and then return.”
1 Chronicles 19:5 When someone came and told David about his men, he sent messengers to meet them, since the men had been thoroughly humiliated. The king told them, “Stay in Jericho until your beards have grown back, and then return.”
- חָפֵר châphêrbe abashed, ashamedtranslated this way 2 times of its 17 uses · Strong’s H2659Verb · Translated: confounded 6, disgrace 3, ashamed 2, humiliated 2Full study and all 17 verses →
Isaiah 54:4 Do not be afraid, for you will not be put to shame; do not be intimidated, for you will not be humiliated. For you will forget the shame of your youth and will remember no more the reproach of your widowhood.
Jeremiah 15:9 The mother of seven will grow faint; she will breathe her last breath. Her sun will set while it is still day; she will be disgraced and humiliated. And the rest I will put to the sword in the presence of their enemies,” declares the LORD.
- קָלַל qâlalbe slight, swift, triflingtranslated this way 1 time of its 82 uses · Strong’s H7043Verb · Translated: curse 15, cursed 8, curses 5, swifter 5Full study and all 79 verses →
2 Samuel 6:22 and I will humiliate and humble myself even more than this. Yet I will be honored by the maidservants of whom you have spoken.”
- עָנָה ânâhbe occupied, busied withtranslated this way 1 time of its 80 uses · Strong’s H6031Verb · Translated: afflicted 15, humble 12, oppress 5, afflict 4Full study and all 78 verses →
Psalm 55:19 God will hear and humiliate them — the One enthroned for the ages — Selah because they do not change and they have no fear of God.
- שָׁפָל shâphâllowtranslated this way 1 time of its 17 uses · Strong’s H8217Adjective · Translated: lowly 5, beneath 4, humble 3Full study and all 16 verses →
Malachi 2:9 “So I in turn have made you despised and humiliated before all the people, because you have not kept My ways, but have shown partiality in matters of the law.”
Greek words (New Testament)
- καταισχύνω kataischýnōI shame, disgrace, put to utter confusiontranslated this way 2 times of its 13 uses · Strong’s G2617Verb · Translated: never be put to shame 2, put to shame 2, shame 2, dishonors 2Full study and all 12 verses →
Luke 13:17 When Jesus said this, all His adversaries were humiliated. And the whole crowd rejoiced at all the glorious things He was doing.
1 Corinthians 11:22 Don’t you have your own homes in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What can I say to you? Shall I praise you for this? No, I will not!
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.