Word study
Torment
5 Hebrew and 5 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: torment, tormented, tormenting. 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 “torment” 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)
- בָּעַת bâathfall upon, startle, terrifytranslated this way 2 times of its 16 uses · Strong’s H1204Verb · Translated: terrify 4, overwhelmed 2, frighten 2Full study and all 16 verses →
1 Samuel 16:14 Now the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and a spirit of distress from the LORD began to torment him.
1 Samuel 16:15 Saul’s servants said to him, “Surely a spirit of distress from God is tormenting you.
- יָגָה yâgâhsuffertranslated this way 1 time of its 8 uses · Strong’s H3013Verb · Translated: grieve 3, torment 1, tormentors 1, brought her grief 1Full study and all 8 verses →
Job 19:2 “How long will you torment me and crush me with your words?
- עֱנוּת ĕnûthafflictiontranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s H6039Noun · Translated: torment 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Psalm 22:24 For He has not despised or detested the torment of the afflicted. He has not hidden His face from him, but has attended to his cry for help.
- רֹגֶז rôgezagitation, excitement, ragingtranslated this way 1 time of its 7 uses · Strong’s H7267Noun · Translated: trouble 2, raging 1, thunder 1, excitement 1Full study and all 7 verses →
Isaiah 14:3 On the day that the LORD gives you rest from your pain and torment, and from the hard labor into which you were forced,
- מַעֲצֵבָה maătsêbâhplace of paintranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s H4620Noun · Translated: place of torment 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Isaiah 50:11 Behold, all you who kindle a fire, who array yourselves with firebrands, walk in the light of your fire and of the firebrands you have lit! This is what you will receive from My hand: You will lie down in a place of torment.
Greek words (New Testament)
- βασανίζω basanízōI torment, torture, buffettranslated this way 5 times of its 12 uses · Strong’s G928Verb · Translated: tormented 4, torture 3, agony 2, buffeted 1Full study and all 12 verses →
2 Peter 2:8 (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)—
Revelation 9:5 The locusts were not given power to kill them, but only to torment them for five months, and their torment was like the stinging of a scorpion.
- βασανισμός basanismóstorture, tormenttranslated this way 5 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s G929Noun · Translated: torment 5Full study and all 5 verses →
Revelation 9:5 The locusts were not given power to kill them, but only to torment them for five months, and their torment was like the stinging of a scorpion.
Revelation 14:11 And the smoke of their torment rises forever and ever. Day and night there is no rest for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.”
- βάσανος básanostorture, tormenttranslated this way 2 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s G931Noun · Translated: torment 2, acute pain 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Luke 16:23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham from afar, with Lazarus by his side.
Luke 16:28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also end up in this place of torment.’
- κολαφίζω kolaphízōI strike with the fist, maltreattranslated this way 1 time of its 5 uses · Strong’s G2852Verb · Translated: struck 1, struck him with their fists 1, brutally treated 1, torment 1Full study and all 5 verses →
2 Corinthians 12:7 or because of these surpassingly great revelations. So to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.
- ὀχλέω ochléōI trouble, torment, worrytranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s G3791Verb · Translated: tormented 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Acts 5:16 Crowds also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those tormented by unclean spirits, and all of them were healed.
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.