Word study
Rebel
5 Hebrew words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: rebelled, rebel, rebels, rebelling. 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 “rebel” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- מָרָה mârâhbe contentious, refractory, rebellioustranslated this way 27 times of its 44 uses · Strong’s H4784Verb · Translated: rebelled 18, rebellious 5, rebelling 4, rebel 3Full study and all 44 verses →
Numbers 20:10 Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly in front of the rock, and Moses said to them, “Listen now, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?”
Deuteronomy 1:26 But you were unwilling to go up; you rebelled against the command of the LORD your God.
- מָרַד mâradrebeltranslated this way 21 times of its 24 uses · Strong’s H4775Verb · Translated: rebelled 13, rebel 7, rebelling 1, revolt 1Full study and all 23 verses →
Genesis 14:4 For twelve years they had been subject to Chedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled.
Numbers 14:9 Only do not rebel against the LORD, and do not be afraid of the people of the land, for they will be like bread for us. Their protection has been removed, and the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them!”
- פָּשַׁע pâsharebel, transgresstranslated this way 20 times of its 41 uses · Strong’s H6586Verb · Translated: rebelled 16, rebellion 6, transgressors 5, committed 2Full study and all 37 verses →
2 Kings 1:1 After the death of Ahab, Moab rebelled against Israel.
2 Chronicles 21:8 In the days of Jehoram, Edom rebelled against the hand of Judah and appointed their own king.
- נָצָה nâtsâhstruggletranslated this way 2 times of its 14 uses · Strong’s H5327Verb · Translated: fighting 4, rebelled 2, rubble 2Full study and all 13 verses →
Numbers 26:9 and the sons of Eliab were Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. It was Dathan and Abiram, chosen by the congregation, who rebelled against Moses and Aaron with the followers of Korah who rebelled against the LORD.
- סָרָה sârâha turning aside, defection, apostasy, withdrawaltranslated this way 2 times of its 7 uses · Strong’s H5627Noun · Translated: rebellion 3, accusing him of a crime 1, rebelling 1, rebelled 1Full study and all 7 verses →
Isaiah 1:5 Why do you want more beatings? Why do you keep rebelling? Your head has a massive wound, and your whole heart is afflicted.
Isaiah 31:6 Return to the One against whom you have so blatantly rebelled, O children of Israel.
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.