Word study
Lowly
7 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “lowly”. 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 “lowly” 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)
- שָׁפָל shâphâllowtranslated this way 5 times of its 17 uses · Strong’s H8217Adjective · Translated: lowly 5, beneath 4, humble 3Full study and all 16 verses →
Job 5:11 He sets the lowly on high, so that mourners are lifted to safety.
Psalm 138:6 Though the LORD is on high, He attends to the lowly; but the proud He knows from afar.
- עָנָו ânâvpoor, afflicted, humble, meektranslated this way 2 times of its 20 uses · Strong’s H6035Adjective · Translated: humble 7, poor 5, oppressed 2, lowly 2Full study and all 19 verses →
Psalm 76:9 when God rose up to judge, to save all the lowly of the earth. Selah
Isaiah 11:4 but with righteousness He will judge the poor, and with equity He will decide for the lowly of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth and slay the wicked with the breath of His lips.
- שָׁפֵל shâphêlbe or become low, be abasedtranslated this way 2 times of its 30 uses · Strong’s H8213Verb · Translated: humbled 5, humbles 2, bring 2, bring him low 2Full study and all 28 verses →
Proverbs 16:19 It is better to be lowly in spirit among the humble than to divide the spoil with the proud.
Jeremiah 13:18 Say to the king and to the queen mother: “Take a lowly seat, for your glorious crowns have fallen from your heads.”
- שַׁח shachlow, lowlytranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s H7807Adjective · Translated: lowly 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Job 22:29 When men are brought low and you say, ‘Lift them up!’ then He will save the lowly.
- עָנִי ânîpoor, afflicted, humble, meektranslated this way 1 time of its 76 uses · Strong’s H6041Adjective · Translated: poor 33, afflicted 22, oppressed 7, humble 4Full study and all 74 verses →
Psalm 10:9 He lies in wait like a lion in a thicket; he lurks to seize the oppressed; he catches the lowly in his net.
- צָעִיר tsâîrlittle, insignificant, youngtranslated this way 1 time of its 23 uses · Strong’s H6810Adjective · Translated: younger 6, youngest 4, little 4Full study and all 23 verses →
Psalm 119:141 I am lowly and despised, but I do not forget Your precepts.
- שֶׁפֶל shephellow estate, conditiontranslated this way 1 time of its 2 uses · Strong’s H8216Pr, Preposition-b · Translated: low estate 1, lowly positions 1Full study and all 2 verses →
Ecclesiastes 10:6 Folly is appointed to great heights, but the rich sit in lowly positions.
Greek words (New Testament)
- ταπεινός tapeinóshumble, lowlytranslated this way 1 time of its 8 uses · Strong’s G5011Adjective · Translated: humble 3, to 2, lowly 1, downcast 1Full study and all 8 verses →
Romans 12:16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but associate with the lowly. Do not be conceited.
- ἀγενής agenḗswithout family, ignobletranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s G36Adjective · Translated: lowly 1Full study and its 1 verse →
1 Corinthians 1:28 He chose the lowly and despised things of the world, and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are,
- 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 →
Philippians 3:21 who, by the power that enables Him to subject all things to Himself, will transform our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body.
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.