Word study

Rebellious

5 Hebrew and 1 Greek words behind this English word

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

Compare the Hebrew words side by side

Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)

  • מְרִי merîrebelliontranslated this way 18 times of its 21 uses · Strong’s H4805Noun  ·  Translated: rebellious 17, rebellion 2, bitter 1, like that rebellious 1

    Deuteronomy 31:27 For I know how rebellious and stiff-necked you are. If you are already rebelling against the LORD while I am still alive, how much more will you rebel after my death!

    Isaiah 30:9 These are rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to obey the LORD’s instruction.

    Full study and all 19 verses →
  • פֶּשַׁע peshatransgressiontranslated this way 6 times of its 93 uses · Strong’s H6588Noun  ·  Translated: transgressions 41, transgression 25, rebellion 9, rebellious acts 4

    Leviticus 16:16 So he shall make atonement for the Most Holy Place because of the impurities and rebellious acts of the Israelites in regard to all their sins. He is to do the same for the Tent of Meeting which abides among them in the midst of their impurities.

    Psalm 25:7 Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my rebellious acts; remember me according to Your loving devotion, because of Your goodness, O LORD.

    Full study and all 90 verses →
  • מָרָה mârâhbe contentious, refractory, rebellioustranslated this way 6 times of its 44 uses · Strong’s H4784Verb  ·  Translated: rebelled 18, rebellious 5, rebelling 4, rebel 3

    Deuteronomy 21:18 If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and does not listen to them when disciplined,

    Psalm 78:8 Then they will not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose heart was not loyal, whose spirit was not faithful to God.

    Full study and all 44 verses →
  • סָרַר sârarbe stubborn, rebellioustranslated this way 5 times of its 17 uses · Strong’s H5637Verb  ·  Translated: stubborn 7, rebellious 5, obstinate 2, defiant 1

    Psalm 66:7 He rules forever by His power; His eyes watch the nations. Do not let the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah

    Isaiah 30:1 “Woe to the rebellious children,” declares the LORD, “to those who carry out a plan that is not Mine, who form an alliance, but against My will, heaping up sin upon sin.

    Full study and all 16 verses →
  • מָרָד mârâdrebellioustranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s H4779Adjective  ·  Translated: rebellious 2

    Ezra 4:12 Let it be known to the king that the Jews who came from you to us have returned to Jerusalem and are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city. They are restoring its walls and repairing its foundations.

    Ezra 4:15 that a search should be made of the record books of your fathers. In these books you will discover and verify that the city is a rebellious city, harmful to kings and provinces, inciting sedition from ancient times. That is why this city was destroyed.

    Full study and all 2 verses →

Greek words (New Testament)

  • ἀνυπότακτος anypótaktosunrulytranslated this way 2 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s G506Adjective  ·  Translated: rebellious 2, insubordination 1, outside of his control 1

    1 Timothy 1:9 We realize that law is not enacted for the righteous, but for the lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinful, for the unholy and profane, for killers of father or mother, for murderers,

    Titus 1:10 For many are rebellious and full of empty talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision,

    Full study and all 4 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.