Word study
Wrong
4 Hebrew and 4 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: wrong, wronged, wrongs. 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 “wrong” 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 6 times of its 651 uses · Strong’s H7451Adjective · Translated: evil 263, disaster 72, harm 38, wicked 31Full study and all 615 verses →
Genesis 50:17 ‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I beg you, please forgive the transgression and sin of your brothers, for they did you wrong.’ So now, Joseph, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” When their message came to him, Joseph wept.
Judges 11:27 I have not sinned against you, but you have done me wrong by waging war against me. May the LORD, the Judge, decide today between the Israelites and the Ammonites.”
- עָוָה âvâhbend, twisttranslated this way 6 times of its 17 uses · Strong’s H5753Verb · Translated: done wrong 4, perverted 2Full study and all 17 verses →
2 Samuel 7:14 I will be his Father, and he will be My son. When he does wrong, I will discipline him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men.
1 Kings 8:47 and when they come to their senses in the land to which they were taken, and they repent and plead with You in the land of their captors, saying, ‘We have sinned and done wrong; we have acted wickedly,’
- עֶוֶל evelinjustice, unrighteousnesstranslated this way 5 times of its 53 uses · Strong’s H5766Noun · Translated: iniquity 15, injustice 14, wrong 5, wickedness 4Full study and all 51 verses →
Job 34:32 Teach me what I cannot see; if I have done wrong, I will not do it again.’
Psalm 37:1 Of David. Do not fret over those who do evil; do not envy those who do wrong.
- לֹא lônottranslated this way 2 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 →
Greek words (New Testament)
- ἀδικέω adikéōI act unjustly towardstranslated this way 9 times of its 28 uses · Strong’s G91Verb · Translated: harm 7, wrong 4, wronged 3, harmed 2Full study and all 24 verses →
Acts 25:10 Paul replied, “I am standing before the judgment seat of Caesar, where I ought to be tried. I have done nothing wrong to the Jews, as you yourself know very well.
1 Corinthians 6:7 The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means that you are thoroughly defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated?
- κακός kakósbad, eviltranslated this way 7 times of its 50 uses · Strong’s G2556Adjective · Translated: evil 29, wrong 6, harm 3, bad 3Full study and all 45 verses →
John 18:23 Jesus replied, “If I said something wrong, testify as to what was wrong. But if I spoke correctly, why did you strike Me?”
Acts 23:9 A great clamor arose, and some scribes from the party of the Pharisees got up and contended sharply, “We find nothing wrong with this man. What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?”
- ἄτοπος átoposimproper, unrighteous, perversetranslated this way 2 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s G824Adjective · Translated: wrong 2, unusual 1, wicked 1Full study and all 4 verses →
Luke 23:41 We are punished justly, for we are receiving what our actions deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
Acts 25:5 So if this man has done anything wrong, let some of your leaders come down with me and accuse him there.”
- κακῶς kakōsbadly, evillytranslated this way 2 times of its 16 uses · Strong’s G2560Adverb · Translated: sick 8, ill 2Full study and all 16 verses →
John 18:23 Jesus replied, “If I said something wrong, testify as to what was wrong. But if I spoke correctly, why did you strike Me?”
James 4:3 And when you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may squander it on your pleasures.
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.