Word study
Wickedness
6 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “wickedness”. 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 “wickedness” 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)
- רַע rabad, eviltranslated this way 28 times of its 651 uses · Strong’s H7451Adjective · Translated: evil 263, disaster 72, harm 38, wicked 31Full study and all 615 verses →
Genesis 6:5 Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was altogether evil all the time.
Judges 9:56 In this way God repaid the wickedness that Abimelech had done to his father in murdering his seventy brothers.
- רֶשַׁע reshawickednesstranslated this way 22 times of its 30 uses · Strong’s H7562Noun · Translated: wickedness 21, wicked 4Full study and all 29 verses →
Deuteronomy 9:27 Remember Your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Overlook the stubbornness of this people and the wickedness of their sin.
1 Samuel 24:13 As the old proverb says, ‘Wickedness proceeds from the wicked.’ But my hand will never be against you.
- רִשְׁעָה rishâhwickednesstranslated this way 10 times of its 13 uses · Strong’s H7564Noun · Translated: wickedness 10, driving 1, crime warrants 1, more wickedly 1Full study and all 13 verses →
Deuteronomy 9:5 It is not because of your righteousness or uprightness of heart that you are going in to possess their land, but it is because of their wickedness that the LORD your God is driving out these nations before you, to keep the promise He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Proverbs 11:5 The righteousness of the blameless directs their path, but the wicked fall by their own wickedness.
- עֶוֶל evelinjustice, unrighteousnesstranslated this way 4 times of its 53 uses · Strong’s H5766Noun · Translated: iniquity 15, injustice 14, wrong 5, wickedness 4Full study and all 51 verses →
2 Samuel 7:10 And I will provide a place for My people Israel and will plant them so that they may dwell in a place of their own and be disturbed no more. No longer will the sons of wickedness oppress them as they did at the beginning
1 Chronicles 17:9 And I will provide a place for My people Israel and will plant them so that they may dwell in a place of their own and be disturbed no more. No longer will the sons of wickedness oppress them as they did at the beginning
- רֹעַ rôabadness, eviltranslated this way 3 times of its 19 uses · Strong’s H7455Noun · Translated: evil 7, bad 4, wickedness 3, and 2Full study and all 19 verses →
Deuteronomy 28:20 The LORD will send curses upon you, confusion and reproof in all to which you put your hand, until you are destroyed and quickly perish because of the wickedness you have committed in forsaking Him.
1 Samuel 17:28 Now when David’s oldest brother Eliab heard him speaking to the men, his anger burned against David. “Why have you come down here?” he asked. “And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and wickedness of heart — you have come down to see the battle!”
- אָוֶן âventrouble, sorrow, wickednesstranslated this way 2 times of its 68 uses · Strong’s H205Noun · Translated: iniquity 27, evil 6, wicked 6, disaster 3Full study and all 68 verses →
1 Samuel 15:23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance is like the wickedness of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has rejected you as king.”
Psalm 36:4 Even on his bed he plots wickedness; he sets himself on a path that is not good; he fails to reject evil.
Greek words (New Testament)
- ἀδικία adikíaunrighteousnesstranslated this way 9 times of its 24 uses · Strong’s G93Noun · Translated: wickedness 9, unrighteousness 3, unjust 2, iniquity 2Full study and all 23 verses →
Acts 1:18 (Now with the reward for his wickedness Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong and burst open in the middle, and all his intestines spilled out.
Romans 1:18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness.
- ἀνομία anomíalawlessness, iniquitytranslated this way 5 times of its 14 uses · Strong’s G458Noun · Translated: lawlessness 7, wickedness 5, lawless acts 2Full study and all 13 verses →
Matthew 23:28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to be righteous, but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
Romans 6:19 I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to escalating wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.
- πονηρία ponēríawickedness, iniquitiestranslated this way 3 times of its 7 uses · Strong’s G4189Noun · Translated: wickedness 3, evil 2, evil intent 1, wicked ways 1Full study and all 7 verses →
Mark 7:22 greed, wickedness, deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, arrogance, and foolishness.
Luke 11:39 Then the Lord said, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.
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.