Word study
Shameful
6 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “shameful”. 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 “shameful” 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)
- עֲלִילָה ălîlâhwantonness, deedtranslated this way 2 times of its 24 uses · Strong’s H5949Noun · Translated: deeds 12, actions 3, shameful conduct 2, acts 2Full study and all 24 verses →
Deuteronomy 22:14 and he then accuses her of shameful conduct and gives her a bad name, saying, “I married this woman and had relations with her, but I discovered she was not a virgin.”
Deuteronomy 22:17 And now he has accused her of shameful conduct, saying, ‘I discovered that your daughter was not a virgin.’ But here is the proof of her virginity.” And they shall spread out the cloth before the city elders.
- בֹּשֶׁת bôshethshametranslated this way 2 times of its 30 uses · Strong’s H1322Noun · Translated: shame 23, shameful 2Full study and all 29 verses →
Jeremiah 3:24 From our youth, that shameful god has consumed what our fathers have worked for— their flocks and herds, their sons and daughters.
Micah 1:11 Depart in shameful nakedness, O dwellers of Shaphir. The dwellers of Zaanan will not come out. Beth-ezel is in mourning; its support is taken from you.
- כָּלַם kâlambe humiliatedtranslated this way 1 time of its 38 uses · Strong’s H3637Verb · Translated: humiliated 9, ashamed 7, disgraced 3, blush 2Full study and all 38 verses →
1 Samuel 20:34 Jonathan got up from the table in fierce anger and did not eat any food that second day of the month, for he was grieved by his father’s shameful treatment of David.
- זִמָּה zimmâhplan, device, wickednesstranslated this way 1 time of its 29 uses · Strong’s H2154Noun · Translated: indecency 7, lewd 3, depraved 2, depravity 2Full study and all 27 verses →
Proverbs 10:23 The fool delights in shameful conduct, but a man of understanding has wisdom.
- בּוּשׁ bûshbe ashamedtranslated this way 1 time of its 125 uses · Strong’s H954Verb · Translated: ashamed 40, put to shame 36, shame 10, disgraced 8Full study and all 112 verses →
Proverbs 14:35 A king delights in a wise servant, but his anger falls on the shameful.
- לֹא lônottranslated this way 1 time of its 4,657 uses · Strong’s H3808Adverb · Translated: no 309, not 269, never 218, will not 156Full study and all 3,775 verses →
Greek words (New Testament)
- αἰσχρός aischrósbase, disgracefultranslated this way 2 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s G150Adjective · Translated: shameful 2, dishonorable 2Full study and all 4 verses →
1 Corinthians 11:6 If a woman does not cover her head, she should have her hair cut off. And if it is shameful for a woman to have her hair cut or shaved off, she should cover her head.
Ephesians 5:12 For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.
- αἰσχύνη aischýnēshametranslated this way 2 times of its 6 uses · Strong’s G152Noun · Translated: shame 3, shameful 2, humiliation 1Full study and all 6 verses →
2 Corinthians 4:2 Instead, we have renounced secret and shameful ways. We do not practice deceit, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by open proclamation of the truth, we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.
Revelation 3:18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, white garments so that you may be clothed and your shameful nakedness not exposed, and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.
- ὑβρίζω hybrízōI insulttranslated this way 1 time of its 5 uses · Strong’s G5195Verb · Translated: mistreated 1, insult 1, insulted 1, mistreat 1Full study and all 5 verses →
1 Thessalonians 2:2 As you are aware, we had already endured suffering and shameful treatment in Philippi. But in the face of strong opposition, we were bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God.
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.