Word study
Pride
7 Hebrew words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “pride”. 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 “pride” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- גָּאוֹן gâônexaltationtranslated this way 21 times of its 49 uses · Strong’s H1347Noun · Translated: pride 21, majesty 6, proud 4, thickets 4Full study and all 45 verses →
Leviticus 26:19 I will break down your stubborn pride and make your sky like iron and your land like bronze,
Job 35:12 There they cry out, but He does not answer, because of the pride of evil men.
- גַּאֲוָה gaăvâhmajesty, pridetranslated this way 9 times of its 18 uses · Strong’s H1346Noun · Translated: pride 8, majesty 2, proud 2Full study and all 18 verses →
Job 41:15 His rows of scales are his pride, tightly sealed together.
Psalm 10:2 In pride the wicked pursue the needy; let them be caught in the schemes they devise.
- זָדוֹן zâdôninsolence, presumptuousnesstranslated this way 5 times of its 11 uses · Strong’s H2087Noun · Translated: pride 5, presumptuously 2, arrogant 2, Arrogance 2Full study and all 11 verses →
1 Samuel 17:28 Now when David’s oldest brother Eliab heard him speaking to the men, his anger burned against David. “Why have you come down here?” he asked. “And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and wickedness of heart — you have come down to see the battle!”
Proverbs 11:2 When pride comes, disgrace follows, but with humility comes wisdom.
- מָרוֹם mârômheighttranslated this way 2 times of its 53 uses · Strong’s H4791Noun · Translated: high 20, heights 12, lofty 3, heaven 3Full study and all 51 verses →
2 Kings 19:22 Whom have you taunted and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel!
Isaiah 37:23 Whom have you taunted and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel!
- גֹּבַהּ gôbahhheighttranslated this way 2 times of its 17 uses · Strong’s H1363Noun · Translated: height 4, high 4, pride 2Full study and all 16 verses →
2 Chronicles 32:26 Then Hezekiah humbled the pride of his heart— he and the people of Jerusalem— so that the wrath of the LORD did not come upon them during the days of Hezekiah.
Psalm 10:4 In his pride the wicked man does not seek Him; in all his schemes there is no God.
- גֵּוָה gêvâhpridetranslated this way 2 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s H1466Noun · Translated: pride 2, Lift 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Job 33:17 to turn a man from wrongdoing and keep him from pride,
Jeremiah 13:17 But if you do not listen, I will weep in secret because of your pride. My eyes will overflow with tears, because the LORD’s flock has been taken captive.
- תִּפְאָרָה tiphârâhbeauty, glorytranslated this way 2 times of its 49 uses · Strong’s H8597Noun · Translated: glory 14, splendor 10, glorious 8, beauty 3Full study and all 49 verses →
Jeremiah 13:20 Lift up your eyes and see those coming from the north. Where is the flock entrusted to you, the sheep that were your pride?
Ezekiel 24:25 And you, son of man, know that on the day I take away their stronghold, their pride and joy — the desire of their eyes which uplifted their souls — and their sons and daughters as well,
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.
What the Bible says about pride: 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.