Word study
Punish
6 Hebrew and 2 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: punish, punished, punishing. 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 “punish” 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)
- פָּקַד pâqadattend to, visit, muster, appointtranslated this way 50 times of its 294 uses · Strong’s H6485Verb · Translated: punish 41, numbered 26, appointed 15, counted 14Full study and all 267 verses →
Exodus 32:34 Now go, lead the people to the place I described. Behold, My angel shall go before you. But on the day I settle accounts, I will punish them for their sin.”
Leviticus 18:25 Even the land has become defiled, so I am punishing it for its sin, and the land will vomit out its inhabitants.
- כֹּה kôhthus, heretranslated this way 8 times of its 534 uses · Strong’s H3541Adverb · Translated: this is what 369, that this is what 74, Thus 16, and ever so 12Full study and all 512 verses →
1 Samuel 3:17 “What was the message He gave you?” Eli asked. “Do not hide it from me. May God punish you, and ever so severely, if you hide from me anything He said to you.”
2 Samuel 3:9 May God punish Abner, and ever so severely, if I do not do for David what the LORD has sworn to him:
- יָסַר yâsardiscipline, chasten, admonishtranslated this way 3 times of its 41 uses · Strong’s H3256Verb · Translated: discipline 10, scourged 4, punish 3, disciplines 2Full study and all 38 verses →
Leviticus 26:18 And if after all this you will not obey Me, I will proceed to punish you sevenfold for your sins.
Deuteronomy 22:18 Then the elders of that city shall take the man and punish him.
- עָשָׂה âsâhdo, maketranslated this way 3 times of its 2,478 uses · Strong’s H6213Verb · Translated: done 292, made 265, make 143, did 112Full study and all 2,206 verses →
- נָקַם nâqamavenge, take vengeancetranslated this way 2 times of its 34 uses · Strong’s H5358Verb · Translated: avenge 8, take vengeance 4, avenged 2, taken vengeance 2Full study and all 31 verses →
Exodus 21:20 If a man strikes his manservant or maidservant with a rod, and the servant dies by his hand, he shall surely be punished.
Exodus 21:21 However, if the servant gets up after a day or two, the owner shall not be punished, since the servant is his property.
- עָנַשׁ ânashfine, mulcttranslated this way 2 times of its 8 uses · Strong’s H6064Verb · Translated: surely be fined 1, fine 1, imposed 1, punish 1Full study and all 8 verses →
Proverbs 17:26 It is surely not good to punish the innocent or to flog a noble for his honesty.
Proverbs 21:11 When a mocker is punished, the simple gain wisdom; and when a wise man is instructed, he acquires knowledge.
Greek words (New Testament)
- παιδεύω paideúōI discipline, educate, train, chastisetranslated this way 3 times of its 13 uses · Strong’s G3811Verb · Translated: disciplined 3, punish 2, educated 2Full study and all 13 verses →
Luke 23:16 Therefore I will punish Him and release Him.”
2 Corinthians 6:9 unknown, yet well-known; dying, and yet we live on; punished, yet not killed;
- τιμωρέω timōréōI punishtranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G5097Verb · Translated: punished 1, frequently had them punished 1Full study and all 2 verses →
Acts 22:5 as the high priest and the whole Council can testify about me. I even obtained letters from them to their brothers in Damascus, and I was on my way to apprehend these people and bring them to Jerusalem to be punished.
Acts 26:11 I frequently had them punished in the synagogues, and I tried to make them blaspheme. In my raging fury against them, I even went to foreign cities to persecute them.
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.