Word study
Scorn
7 Hebrew words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: scorn, scorned, scorns, scorning. 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 “scorn” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- חֶרְפָּה cherpâhreproachtranslated this way 10 times of its 72 uses · Strong’s H2781Noun · Translated: reproach 30, disgrace 16, shame 6, scorn 6Full study and all 72 verses →
Nehemiah 4:4 Hear us, O God, for we are despised. Turn their scorn back upon their own heads, and let them be taken as plunder to a land of captivity.
Psalm 15:3 who has no slander on his tongue, who does no harm to his neighbor, who casts no scorn on his friend,
- מָשָׁל mâshâlproverb, parabletranslated this way 4 times of its 36 uses · Strong’s H4912Noun · Translated: proverb 10, oracle 7, proverbs 7, object of scorn 3Full study and all 36 verses →
Deuteronomy 28:37 You will become an object of horror, scorn, and ridicule among all the nations to which the LORD will drive you.
1 Kings 9:7 then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them, and I will banish from My presence this temple I have sanctified for My Name. Then Israel will become an object of scorn and ridicule among all peoples.
- שְׁרֵקָה sherêqâhhissingtranslated this way 4 times of its 8 uses · Strong’s H8322Noun · Translated: scorn 2, object of scorn 2, contempt 2, and an 1Full study and all 8 verses →
2 Chronicles 29:8 Therefore, the wrath of the LORD has fallen upon Judah and Jerusalem, and He has made them an object of terror, horror, and scorn, as you can see with your own eyes.
Jeremiah 18:16 They have made their land a desolation, a perpetual object of scorn; all who pass by will be appalled and shake their heads.
- לַעַג laagmocking, derisiontranslated this way 2 times of its 7 uses · Strong’s H3933Noun · Translated: derision 2, mockery 2, scorn 2, ridiculed 1Full study and all 7 verses →
Psalm 79:4 We have become a reproach to our neighbors, a scorn and derision to those around us.
Psalm 123:4 We have endured much scorn from the arrogant, much contempt from the proud.
- כְּלִמָּה kelimmâhinsult, reproach, ignominytranslated this way 2 times of its 30 uses · Strong’s H3639Noun · Translated: disgrace 18, reproach 3, shame 3, scorn 2Full study and all 29 verses →
Isaiah 50:6 I offered My back to those who struck Me, and My cheeks to those who tore out My beard. I did not hide My face from scorn and spittle.
Ezekiel 34:29 And I will raise up for them a garden of renown, and they will no longer be victims of famine in the land or bear the scorn of the nations.
- שָׂחַק sâchaqlaughtranslated this way 2 times of its 36 uses · Strong’s H7832Verb · Translated: laugh 5, laughs 5, celebrating 3, mock 3Full study and all 36 verses →
2 Chronicles 30:10 And the couriers traveled from city to city through the land of Ephraim and Manasseh as far as Zebulun, but the people scorned and mocked them.
Job 39:7 He scorns the tumult of the city and never hears the shouts of a driver.
- בּוּז bûzdespisetranslated this way 2 times of its 11 uses · Strong’s H936Verb · Translated: despise 5, despises 2, Whoever shows contempt 1, scorns 1Full study and all 11 verses →
Proverbs 30:17 As for the eye that mocks a father and scorns obedience to a mother, may the ravens of the valley pluck it out and young vultures devour it.
Song of Solomon 8:7 Mighty waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot sweep it away. If a man were to give all the wealth of his house for love, his offer would be utterly scorned.
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.