Word study
Vile
6 Hebrew and 2 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “vile”. 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 “vile” 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)
- תַּעָב taâbloathe, detesttranslated this way 3 times of its 21 uses · Strong’s H8581Verb · Translated: despise 6, abhor 3, vile 2, abhorred 2Full study and all 20 verses →
Job 15:16 how much less man, who is vile and corrupt, who drinks injustice like water?
Psalm 14:1 For the choirmaster. Of David. The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt; their acts are vile. There is no one who does good.
- נְבָלָה nebâlâhsenselessnesstranslated this way 1 time of its 13 uses · Strong’s H5039Noun · Translated: outrage 5, folly 3Full study and all 13 verses →
Judges 19:24 Look, let me bring out my virgin daughter and the man’s concubine, and you can use them and do with them as you wish. But do not do such a vile thing to this man.”
- מָאַס mâasrejecttranslated this way 1 time of its 75 uses · Strong’s H3988Verb · Translated: rejected 36, reject 15, despise 5, despises 3Full study and all 69 verses →
Psalm 15:4 who despises the vile but honors those who fear the LORD, who does not revise a costly oath,
- בְּלִיַּעַל belîaalworthlessnesstranslated this way 1 time of its 27 uses · Strong’s H1100Noun · Translated: wicked 8, worthless 8, scoundrel 2, chaos 2Full study and all 26 verses →
Psalm 41:8 “A vile disease has been poured into him; he will never get up from where he lies!”
- עֶוֶל evelinjustice, unrighteousnesstranslated this way 1 time of its 53 uses · Strong’s H5766Noun · Translated: iniquity 15, injustice 14, wrong 5, wickedness 4Full study and all 51 verses →
Psalm 53:1 For the choirmaster. According to Mahalath. A Maskil of David. The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt; their ways are vile. There is no one who does good.
- תּוֹעֵבַה tôêbahabominationtranslated this way 1 time of its 116 uses · Strong’s H8441Noun · Translated: abominations 52, detestable 30, abomination 14, detests 3Full study and all 111 verses →
Ezekiel 7:20 His beautiful ornaments they transformed into pride and used them to fashion their vile images and detestable idols. Therefore I will make these into something unclean for them.
Greek words (New Testament)
- ῥυπαρός rhyparósfilthy, defiledtranslated this way 1 time of its 2 uses · Strong’s G4508Adjective · Translated: shabby 1, vile 1Full study and all 2 verses →
Revelation 22:11 Let the unrighteous continue to be unrighteous, and the vile continue to be vile; let the righteous continue to practice righteousness, and the holy continue to be holy.”
- ῥυπόω rhypóōI am filthytranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s G4510Verb · Translated: continue to be vile 1Full study and its 1 verse →
Revelation 22:11 Let the unrighteous continue to be unrighteous, and the vile continue to be vile; let the righteous continue to practice righteousness, and the holy continue to be holy.”
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.