Word study
Rebuke
5 Hebrew and 2 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: rebuke, rebuked, rebukes. 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 “rebuke” 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)
- יָכַח yâkachdecide, adjudge, provetranslated this way 20 times of its 56 uses · Strong’s H3198Verb · Translated: rebuke 13, rebukes 3, appointed 2, judge 2Full study and all 54 verses →
Leviticus 19:17 You must not harbor hatred against your brother in your heart. Directly rebuke your neighbor, so that you will not incur guilt on account of him.
2 Kings 19:4 Perhaps the LORD your God will hear all the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to defy the living God, and He will rebuke him for the words that the LORD your God has heard. Therefore lift up a prayer for the remnant that still survives.”
- גָּעַר gâarrebuketranslated this way 14 times of its 14 uses · Strong’s H1605Verb · Translated: rebuke 6, rebuked 4, rebukes 4Full study and all 13 verses →
Genesis 37:10 He told his father and brothers, but his father rebuked him and said, “What is this dream that you have had? Will your mother and brothers and I actually come and bow down to the ground before you?”
Ruth 2:16 Rather, pull out for her some stalks from the bundles and leave them for her to gather. Do not rebuke her.”
- גְּעָרָה geârâhrebuketranslated this way 12 times of its 15 uses · Strong’s H1606Noun · Translated: rebuke 12, threat 3Full study and all 14 verses →
2 Samuel 22:16 The channels of the sea appeared, and the foundations of the world were exposed at the rebuke of the LORD, at the blast of the breath of His nostrils.
Job 26:11 The foundations of heaven quake, astounded at His rebuke.
- רִיב rîbstrive, contendtranslated this way 6 times of its 64 uses · Strong’s H7378Verb · Translated: contend 13, quarreled 4, plead 4, rebuked 4Full study and all 58 verses →
Nehemiah 5:7 and after serious thought I rebuked the nobles and officials, saying, “You are exacting usury from your own brothers!” So I called a large assembly against them
Hosea 2:2 Rebuke your mother, rebuke her, for she is not My wife, and I am not her husband. Let her remove the adultery from her face and the unfaithfulness from between her breasts.
- תּוֹכֵחָה tôkêchâhrebuke, correctiontranslated this way 6 times of its 28 uses · Strong’s H8433Noun · Translated: correction 7, rebuke 6, reproof 5Full study and all 28 verses →
2 Kings 19:3 to tell him, “This is what Hezekiah says: Today is a day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace; for children have come to the point of birth, but there is no strength to deliver them.
Proverbs 1:23 If you had repented at my rebuke, then surely I would have poured out my spirit on you; I would have made my words known to you.
Greek words (New Testament)
- ἐπιτιμάω epitimáōI rebuke, chide, admonish, warntranslated this way 22 times of its 29 uses · Strong’s G2008Verb · Translated: rebuked 16, rebuke 6, admonished 3, warned 2Full study and all 29 verses →
Matthew 8:26 “You of little faith,” Jesus replied, “why are you so afraid?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it was perfectly calm.
Mark 1:25 But Jesus rebuked the spirit. “Be silent!” He said. “Come out of him!”
- ἐλέγχω elénchōI rebuke, exposetranslated this way 6 times of its 17 uses · Strong’s G1651Verb · Translated: rebuke 3, rebuked 2, exposed 2, convict 2Full study and all 17 verses →
Luke 3:19 But when he rebuked Herod the tetrarch regarding his brother’s wife Herodias and all the evils he had done,
1 Timothy 5:20 But those who persist in sin should be rebuked in front of everyone, so that the others will stand in fear of sin.
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.