Word study

Unjust

4 Hebrew and 2 Greek words behind this English word

The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “unjust”. 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 “unjust” 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)

  • עַוָּל avvâlunjust, unrighteous onetranslated this way 4 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s H5767Noun  ·  Translated: unjust 2, wicked 1, like the unjust 1, come to the unjust 1

    Job 27:7 May my enemy be like the wicked and my opponent like the unjust.

    Zephaniah 3:5 The LORD within her is righteous; He does no wrong. He applies His justice morning by morning; He does not fail at dawn, yet the unjust know no shame.

    Full study and all 5 verses →
  • לֹא lônottranslated this way 4 times of its 4,657 uses · Strong’s H3808Adverb  ·  Translated: no 309, not 269, never 218, will not 156Full study and all 3,775 verses →
  • עֶוֶל evelinjustice, unrighteousnesstranslated this way 3 times of its 53 uses · Strong’s H5766Noun  ·  Translated: iniquity 15, injustice 14, wrong 5, wickedness 4

    Job 6:29 Reconsider; do not be unjust. Reconsider, for my righteousness is at stake.

    Psalm 43:1 Vindicate me, O God, and plead my case against an ungodly nation; deliver me from deceitful and unjust men.

    Full study and all 51 verses →
  • בֶּצַע betsagain made by violence, unjust gain, profittranslated this way 3 times of its 22 uses · Strong’s H1215Noun  ·  Translated: gain 6, dishonest gain 4, unjust gain 3

    Proverbs 1:19 Such is the fate of all who are greedy, whose unjust gain takes the lives of its possessors.

    Ezekiel 22:13 Now look, I strike My hands together against your unjust gain and against the blood you have shed in your midst.

    Full study and all 22 verses →

Greek words (New Testament)

  • ἀδικία adikíaunrighteousnesstranslated this way 2 times of its 24 uses · Strong’s G93Noun  ·  Translated: wickedness 9, unrighteousness 3, unjust 2, iniquity 2

    Luke 18:6 And the Lord said, “Listen to the words of the unjust judge.

    Romans 9:14 What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Certainly not!

    Full study and all 23 verses →
  • ἄδικος ádikosunjust, unrighteoustranslated this way 2 times of its 12 uses · Strong’s G94Adjective  ·  Translated: unrighteous 4, dishonest 2, wicked 2, unjust 2

    Romans 3:5 But if our unrighteousness highlights the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unjust to inflict His wrath on us? I am speaking in human terms.

    Hebrews 6:10 For God is not unjust. He will not forget your work and the love you have shown for His name as you have ministered to the saints and continue to do so.

    Full study and all 11 verses →
How to study a word well
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
  4. 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.
  5. See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
  6. Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
  7. 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.