Word study

Oppression

5 Hebrew words behind this English word

The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “oppression”. 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 “oppression” or one of its forms.

Compare the Hebrew words side by side

Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)

  • עֹשֶׁק ôsheqoppression, extortiontranslated this way 7 times of its 13 uses · Strong’s H6233Noun  ·  Translated: oppression 7, extortion 5, extort 1

    Psalm 73:8 They mock and speak with malice; with arrogance they threaten oppression.

    Ecclesiastes 5:8 If you see the oppression of the poor and the denial of justice and righteousness in the province, do not be astonished at the matter; for one official is watched by a superior, and others higher still are over them.

    Full study and all 13 verses →
  • לַחַץ lachatsoppression, distresstranslated this way 6 times of its 8 uses · Strong’s H3906Noun  ·  Translated: oppression 6, severely 1, affliction 1

    Deuteronomy 26:7 So we called out to the LORD, the God of our fathers; and the LORD heard our voice and saw our affliction, toil, and oppression.

    2 Kings 13:4 Then Jehoahaz sought the favor of the LORD, and the LORD listened to him because He saw the oppression that the king of Aram had inflicted on Israel.

    Full study and all 8 verses →
  • עָשׁוּק âshûqtyrannytranslated this way 3 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s H6217Noun  ·  Translated: oppression 2, oppressed 1, acts of oppression 1

    Job 35:9 Men cry out under great oppression; they plead for relief from the arm of the mighty.

    Ecclesiastes 4:1 Again I looked, and I considered all the oppression taking place under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, and they had no comforter; the power lay in the hands of their oppressors, and there was no comforter.

    Full study and all 3 verses →
  • תֹּךְ tôkinjury, oppressiontranslated this way 2 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s H8496Noun  ·  Translated: oppression 2, violence 1

    Psalm 55:11 Destruction is within; oppression and deceit never leave the streets.

    Psalm 72:14 He will redeem them from oppression and violence, for their blood is precious in his sight.

    Full study and all 3 verses →
  • עֹצֶר ôtserrestraint, coerciontranslated this way 2 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s H6115Noun  ·  Translated: oppression 2, barren 1

    Psalm 107:39 When they are decreased and humbled by oppression, evil, and sorrow,

    Isaiah 53:8 By oppression and judgment He was taken away, and who can recount His descendants? For He was cut off from the land of the living; He was stricken for the transgression of My people.

    Full study and all 3 verses →
How to study a word well
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
  4. 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.
  5. See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
  6. Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
  7. 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.

What the Bible says about oppression: passages by topic →

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.