Word study
Humiliation
4 Hebrew and 2 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “humiliation”. 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 “humiliation” 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)
- כָּלַם kâlambe humiliatedtranslated this way 1 time of its 38 uses · Strong’s H3637Verb · Translated: humiliated 9, ashamed 7, disgraced 3, blush 2Full study and all 38 verses →
2 Samuel 19:3 So they returned to the city quietly that day, as people steal away in humiliation after fleeing a battle.
- תַּעֲנִית taănîthhumiliationtranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s H8589Noun · Translated: humiliation 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Ezra 9:5 At the evening offering, I got up from my humiliation with my tunic and cloak torn, and I fell on my knees, spread out my hands to the LORD my God,
- בֹּשֶׁת bôshethshametranslated this way 1 time of its 30 uses · Strong’s H1322Noun · Translated: shame 23, shameful 2Full study and all 29 verses →
Ezra 9:7 From the days of our fathers to this day, our guilt has been great. Because of our iniquities, we and our kings and priests have been delivered into the hands of the kings of the earth and subjected to the sword and to captivity, to pillage and humiliation, as we are this day.
- כְּלִמּוּת kelimmûthignominytranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s H3640Noun · Translated: humiliation 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Jeremiah 23:40 And I will bring upon you everlasting shame and perpetual humiliation that will never be forgotten.”
Greek words (New Testament)
- αἰσχύνη aischýnēshametranslated this way 1 time of its 6 uses · Strong’s G152Noun · Translated: shame 3, shameful 2, humiliation 1Full study and all 6 verses →
Luke 14:9 Then the host who invited both of you will come and tell you, ‘Give this man your seat.’ And in humiliation, you will have to take the last place.
- ταπείνωσις tapeínōsisabasement, low conditiontranslated this way 1 time of its 4 uses · Strong’s G5014Noun · Translated: humble state 1, humiliation 1, lowly 1, low position 1Full study and all 4 verses →
Acts 8:33 In His humiliation He was deprived of justice. Who can recount His descendants? For His life was removed from the earth.”
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.