Word study
Subvert
3 Hebrew and 1 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: subverting, subvert, subverts. 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 “subvert” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- עָוַת âvathbe bent, crookedtranslated this way 2 times of its 11 uses · Strong’s H5791Verb · Translated: pervert 3Full study and all 10 verses →
Psalm 119:78 May the arrogant be put to shame for subverting me with a lie; I will meditate on Your precepts.
Lamentations 3:36 to subvert a man in his lawsuit— of these the Lord does not approve.
- נָטָה nâṭâhstretch out, spread out, extend, incline, bendtranslated this way 1 time of its 215 uses · Strong’s H5186Verb · Translated: incline 24, stretch 23, stretched 21, outstretched 19Full study and all 207 verses →
Proverbs 17:23 A wicked man takes a covert bribe to subvert the course of justice.
- סָלַף sâlaphtwist, pervert, overturntranslated this way 1 time of its 7 uses · Strong’s H5557Verb · Translated: twists 2, overthrows 1, undermines 1, subverts 1Full study and all 7 verses →
Proverbs 19:3 A man’s own folly subverts his way, yet his heart rages against the LORD.
Greek words (New Testament)
- διαστρέφω diastréphōI pervert, corrupt, opposetranslated this way 1 time of its 7 uses · Strong’s G1294Verb · Translated: perverse 3, subverting 1, turn 1, perverting 1Full study and all 7 verses →
Luke 23:2 And they began to accuse Him, saying, “We found this man subverting our nation, forbidding payment of taxes to Caesar, and proclaiming Himself to be Christ, a King.”
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.