Word study
Reproach
2 Hebrew and 2 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: reproach, reproached. 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 “reproach” 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)
- חֶרְפָּה cherpâhreproachtranslated this way 31 times of its 72 uses · Strong’s H2781Noun · Translated: reproach 30, disgrace 16, shame 6, scorn 6Full study and all 72 verses →
Joshua 5:9 Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” So that place has been called Gilgal to this day.
1 Samuel 11:2 But Nahash the Ammonite replied, “I will make a treaty with you on one condition, that I may put out everyone’s right eye and bring reproach upon all Israel.”
- כְּלִמָּה kelimmâhinsult, reproach, ignominytranslated this way 3 times of its 30 uses · Strong’s H3639Noun · Translated: disgrace 18, reproach 3, shame 3, scorn 2Full study and all 29 verses →
Psalm 35:26 May those who gloat in my distress be ashamed and confounded; may those who exalt themselves over me be clothed in shame and reproach.
Ezekiel 36:6 Therefore, prophesy concerning the land of Israel and tell the mountains and hills, the ravines and valleys, that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I have spoken in My burning zeal because you have endured the reproach of the nations.
Greek words (New Testament)
- ἀνεπίληπτος anepílēptosirreproachabletranslated this way 3 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s G423Adjective · Translated: reproach 3Full study and all 3 verses →
1 Timothy 3:2 An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,
1 Timothy 5:7 Give these instructions to the believers, so that they will be above reproach.
- ἀνέγκλητος anénklētosirreproachable, blamelesstranslated this way 2 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s G410Adjective · Translated: blameless 3, reproach 2Full study and all 5 verses →
1 Timothy 3:10 Additionally, they must first be tested. Then, if they are above reproach, let them serve as deacons.
Titus 1:7 As God’s steward, an overseer must be above reproach — not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not greedy for money.
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.