Word study
Scoff
5 Hebrew and 2 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: scoff, scoffing. 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 “scoff” 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)
- לָעַג lâagmock, deridetranslated this way 2 times of its 18 uses · Strong’s H3932Verb · Translated: mocks 6, mock 3, mocked 2, scoff 2Full study and all 18 verses →
Job 11:3 Should your babbling put others to silence? Will you scoff without rebuke?
Psalm 59:8 But You, O LORD, laugh at them; You scoff at all the nations.
- שָׁרַק shâraqhisstranslated this way 2 times of its 12 uses · Strong’s H8319Verb · Translated: hiss 5, hisses 2, whistle 2, scoff 2Full study and all 12 verses →
Jeremiah 19:8 I will make this city a desolation and an object of scorn. All who pass by will be appalled and will scoff at all her wounds.
Jeremiah 49:17 “Edom will become an object of horror. All who pass by will be appalled and will scoff at all her wounds.
- תָּעַע tâamocktranslated this way 1 time of its 2 uses · Strong’s H8591Verb · Translated: deceiver 1, scoffing 1Full study and all 2 verses →
2 Chronicles 36:16 But they mocked the messengers of God, despising His words and scoffing at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD against His people was stirred up beyond remedy.
- לוּץ lûtsscorntranslated this way 1 time of its 28 uses · Strong’s H3887Verb · Translated: mocker 11, mockers 4, mock 3, mocks 2Full study and all 27 verses →
Proverbs 9:12 If you are wise, you are wise to your own advantage; but if you scoff, you alone will bear the consequences.
- קָלַס qâlasmock, scofftranslated this way 1 time of its 4 uses · Strong’s H7046Verb · Translated: jeered 1, scorned 1, mock 1, scoff 1Full study and all 4 verses →
Habakkuk 1:10 They scoff at kings and make rulers an object of scorn. They laugh at every fortress and build up siege ramps to seize it.
Greek words (New Testament)
- ἐκμυκτηρίζω ekmyktērízōI deride, scoff at, mock greatlytranslated this way 1 time of its 2 uses · Strong’s G1592Verb · Translated: scoffing 1, sneered 1Full study and all 2 verses →
Luke 16:14 The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all of this and were scoffing at Jesus.
- ἐμπαιγμός empaigmósmockerytranslated this way 1 time of its 2 uses · Strong’s G1701Noun · Translated: mocking 1, scoffing 1Full study and all 2 verses →
2 Peter 3:3 Most importantly, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.
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.