Word study

Oppressor

5 Hebrew words behind this English word

The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: oppressor, oppressors. 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 “oppressor” or one of its forms.

Compare the Hebrew words side by side

Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)

  • נָגַשׂ nâgaspress, drive, oppress, exacttranslated this way 6 times of its 23 uses · Strong’s H5065Verb  ·  Translated: taskmasters 4, oppressor 4, oppressors 2, collect 2

    Exodus 3:7 The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the affliction of My people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their oppressors, and I am aware of their sufferings.

    Job 3:18 The captives enjoy their ease; they do not hear the voice of the oppressor.

    Full study and all 23 verses →
  • עָשַׁק âshaqoppress, wrong, extorttranslated this way 5 times of its 36 uses · Strong’s H6231Verb  ·  Translated: oppressed 8, oppress 6, oppressors 3, defraud 2

    Psalm 72:4 May he vindicate the afflicted among the people; may he save the children of the needy and crush the oppressor.

    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 35 verses →
  • יָנָה yânâhsuppress (?), oppress, maltreattranslated this way 5 times of its 19 uses · Strong’s H3238Verb  ·  Translated: oppress 5, take advantage 2, oppressor 2, oppressed 2

    Isaiah 49:26 I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh; they will be drunk on their own blood, as with wine. Then all mankind will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”

    Jeremiah 25:38 He has left His den like a lion, for their land has been made a desolation by the sword of the oppressor, and because of the fierce anger of the LORD.

    Full study and all 19 verses →
  • לָחַץ lâchatssqueeze, presstranslated this way 3 times of its 19 uses · Strong’s H3905Verb  ·  Translated: oppressed 6, oppress 3, oppressors 3

    Judges 6:9 I delivered you out of the hands of Egypt and all your oppressors. I drove them out before you and gave you their land.

    Isaiah 19:20 It will be a sign and a witness to the LORD of Hosts in the land of Egypt. When they cry out to the LORD because of their oppressors, He will send them a savior and defender to rescue them.

    Full study and all 18 verses →
  • צוּק tsûqconstrain, bring into straits, press upontranslated this way 2 times of its 11 uses · Strong’s H6693Verb  ·  Translated: inflict 3, oppressor 2

    Isaiah 51:13 But you have forgotten the LORD, your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth. You live in terror all day long because of the fury of the oppressor who is bent on destruction. But where is the fury of the oppressor?

    Full study and all 10 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.

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.