Word study
Innocent
2 Hebrew and 4 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “innocent”. 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 “innocent” 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)
- נָקִי nâqîclean, free from, exempttranslated this way 32 times of its 43 uses · Strong’s H5355Adjective · Translated: innocent 28, released 2, free 2, guilt of shedding innocent 2Full study and all 42 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 19:10 Thus innocent blood will not be shed in the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, so that you will not be guilty of bloodshed.
- צַדִּיק tsaddîqjust, righteoustranslated this way 8 times of its 205 uses · Strong’s H6662Adjective · Translated: righteous 162, righteous man 23, innocent 7, more righteous 3Full study and all 197 verses →
Genesis 20:4 Now Abimelech had not gone near her, so he replied, “Lord, would You destroy a nation even though it is innocent?
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.
Greek words (New Testament)
- ἀκέραιος akéraiossimple, unsophisticated, innocenttranslated this way 2 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s G185Adjective · Translated: innocent 2, pure 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Matthew 10:16 Behold, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
Romans 16:19 Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I rejoice over you. But I want you to be wise about what is good and innocent about what is evil.
- ἀναίτιος anaítiosguiltlesstranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G338Adjective · Translated: innocent 2Full study and all 2 verses →
Matthew 12:5 Or haven’t you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath and yet are innocent?
Matthew 12:7 If only you had known the meaning of ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.
- ἄθωος áthōosguiltlesstranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G121Adjective · Translated: innocent 2Full study and all 2 verses →
Matthew 27:4 “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood,” he said. “What is that to us?” they replied. “You bear the responsibility.”
Matthew 27:24 When Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but that instead a riot was breaking out, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “You bear the responsibility.”
- καθαρός katharósclean, pure, unstainedtranslated this way 2 times of its 27 uses · Strong’s G2513Adjective · Translated: pure 14, clean 9, innocent 2, clear 2Full study and all 23 verses →
Acts 18:6 But when they opposed and insulted him, he shook out his garments and told them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent of it. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”
Acts 20:26 Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men.
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.