Word study
Slander
4 Hebrew and 5 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: slander, slandered, slanders. 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 “slander” 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)
- דִּבָּה dibbâhwhispering, defamation, evil reporttranslated this way 3 times of its 9 uses · Strong’s H1681Noun · Translated: slander 3, report 2, bad report 2, infamy 1Full study and all 9 verses →
Psalm 31:13 For I hear the slander of many; there is terror on every side. They conspire against me and plot to take my life.
Proverbs 10:18 The one who conceals hatred has lying lips, and whoever spreads slander is a fool.
- רָכִיל râkîlslander, > tale-bearer, informertranslated this way 2 times of its 6 uses · Strong’s H7400Noun · Translated: gossip 2, spreading slander 1, slanderers 1, slander 1Full study and all 6 verses →
Leviticus 19:16 You must not go about spreading slander among your people. You must not endanger the life of your neighbor. I am the LORD.
Jeremiah 9:4 “Let everyone guard against his neighbor; do not trust any brother, for every brother deals craftily, and every friend spreads slander.
- רָגַל râgalfoot it, go abouttranslated this way 2 times of its 25 uses · Strong’s H7270Verb · Translated: spies 11, spy 8, spied 3, accused us of spying 1Full study and all 24 verses →
2 Samuel 19:27 and he has slandered your servant to my lord the king. Yet my lord the king is like the angel of God, so do what is good in your eyes.
Psalm 15:3 who has no slander on his tongue, who does no harm to his neighbor, who casts no scorn on his friend,
- לָשַׁן lâshanuse the tonguetranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s H3960Verb · Translated: Whoever slanders 1, slander 1Full study and all 2 verses →
Psalm 101:5 Whoever slanders his neighbor in secret, I will put to silence; the one with haughty eyes and a proud heart, I will not endure.
Proverbs 30:10 Do not slander a servant to his master, or he will curse you, and you will bear the guilt.
Greek words (New Testament)
- βλασφημία blasphēmíaabusive or scurrilous language, blasphemytranslated this way 5 times of its 18 uses · Strong’s G988Noun · Translated: blasphemy 6, slander 5, blasphemous 3, blasphemies 2Full study and all 17 verses →
Matthew 15:19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander.
Mark 7:22 greed, wickedness, deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, arrogance, and foolishness.
- βλασφημέω blasphēméōI speak evil against, blasphemetranslated this way 4 times of its 34 uses · Strong’s G987Verb · Translated: blaspheme 4, slander 4, blasphemed 3, heaped abuse 3Full study and all 34 verses →
2 Peter 2:10 Such punishment is specially reserved for those who indulge the corrupt desires of the flesh and despise authority. Bold and self-willed, they are unafraid to slander glorious beings.
Jude 1:8 Yet in the same way these dreamers defile their bodies, reject authority, and slander glorious beings.
- καταλαλέω katalaléōI speak evil oftranslated this way 3 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s G2635Verb · Translated: slander 3, speaks 2Full study and all 3 verses →
James 4:11 Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. And if you judge the law, you are not a practitioner of the law, but a judge of it.
1 Peter 2:12 Conduct yourselves with such honor among the Gentiles that, though they slander you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us.
- δυσφημία dysphēmíaevil report, defamationtranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G1426Verb · Translated: slandered 1, slander 1Full study and all 2 verses →
1 Corinthians 4:13 when we are slandered, we answer gently. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.
2 Corinthians 6:8 through glory and dishonor, slander and praise; viewed as imposters, yet genuine;
- καταλαλία katalalíaevil-speaking, backbiting, detractiontranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G2636Noun · Translated: slander 2Full study and all 2 verses →
2 Corinthians 12:20 For I am afraid that when I come, I may not find you as I wish, and you may not find me as you wish. I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, rage, rivalry, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorder.
1 Peter 2:1 Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander.
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.
What the Bible says about slander: passages by topic →
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.