Word study

Punishment

5 Hebrew and 1 Greek words behind this English word

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

Compare the Hebrew words side by side

Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)

  • עָוֺן âvôniniquity, guilt, or punishment of iniquitytranslated this way 15 times of its 230 uses · Strong’s H5771Noun  ·  Translated: iniquity 128, iniquities 37, guilt 20, punishment 12

    Genesis 4:13 But Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is greater than I can bear.

    Leviticus 5:17 If someone sins and violates any of the LORD’s commandments even though he was unaware, he is guilty and shall bear his punishment.

    Full study and all 214 verses →
  • פְּקֻדָּה pequddâhoversight, mustering, visitation, storetranslated this way 8 times of its 30 uses · Strong’s H6486Noun  ·  Translated: punishment 8, oversight 2

    Jeremiah 10:15 They are worthless, a work to be mocked. In the time of their punishment they will perish.

    Hosea 9:7 The days of punishment have come; the days of retribution have arrived — let Israel know it. The prophet is called a fool, and the inspired man insane, because of the greatness of your iniquity and hostility.

    Full study and all 29 verses →
  • מִשְׁפָּט mishpâṭjudgmenttranslated this way 3 times of its 406 uses · Strong’s H4941Noun  ·  Translated: justice 111, ordinances 73, judgments 40, judgment 40Full study and all 394 verses →
  • שֵׁבֶט shêbeṭrod, staff, club, sceptretranslated this way 2 times of its 168 uses · Strong’s H7626Noun  ·  Translated: tribes 70, tribe 42, rod 22, scepter 14

    Job 21:9 Their homes are safe from fear; no rod of punishment from God is upon them.

    Job 37:13 Whether for punishment or for His land, He accomplishes this in His loving devotion.

    Full study and all 159 verses →
  • חַטָּאָה chaṭṭââhoffence, penalty, occasiontranslated this way 2 times of its 292 uses · Strong’s H2403Noun  ·  Translated: sin offering 108, sin 83, sins 73, sin offerings 8

    Proverbs 10:16 The labor of the righteous leads to life, but the gain of the wicked brings punishment.

    Zechariah 14:19 This will be the punishment of Egypt and of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.

    Full study and all 271 verses →

Greek words (New Testament)

  • κόλασις kólasischastisement, punishmenttranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G2851Noun  ·  Translated: punishment 2

    Matthew 25:46 And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

    1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. The one who fears has not been perfected in love.

    Full study and all 2 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 punishment: 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.