Word study
Wrongdoing
6 Hebrew and 1 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “wrongdoing”. 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 “wrongdoing” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- עָוֺן âvôniniquity, guilt, or punishment of iniquitytranslated this way 2 times of its 230 uses · Strong’s H5771Noun · Translated: iniquity 128, iniquities 37, guilt 20, punishment 12Full study and all 214 verses →
Deuteronomy 19:15 A lone witness is not sufficient to establish any wrongdoing or sin against a man, regardless of what offense he may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.
2 Samuel 3:8 Abner was furious over Ish-bosheth’s accusation. “Am I the head of a dog that belongs to Judah?” he asked. “All this time I have been loyal to the house of your father Saul, to his brothers, and to his friends. I have not delivered you into the hand of David, but now you accuse me of wrongdoing with this woman!
- תִּפְלָה tiphlâhunsavouriness, unseemlinesstranslated this way 2 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s H8604Noun · Translated: wrongdoing 2, offensive thing 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Job 1:22 In all this, Job did not sin or charge God with wrongdoing.
Job 24:12 From the city, men groan, and the souls of the wounded cry out, yet God charges no one with wrongdoing.
- עָמָל âmâltrouble, labour, toiltranslated this way 2 times of its 55 uses · Strong’s H5999Noun · Translated: labor 15, trouble 14, toil 4, misery 4Full study and all 54 verses →
Habakkuk 1:3 Why do You make me see iniquity? Why do You tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me. Strife is ongoing, and conflict abounds.
Habakkuk 1:13 Your eyes are too pure to look upon evil, and You cannot tolerate wrongdoing. So why do You tolerate the faithless? Why are You silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?
- רַע rabad, eviltranslated this way 1 time of its 651 uses · Strong’s H7451Adjective · Translated: evil 263, disaster 72, harm 38, wicked 31Full study and all 615 verses →
Exodus 23:2 You shall not follow the crowd in wrongdoing. When you testify in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd.
- עָוָה âvâhbend, twisttranslated this way 1 time of its 17 uses · Strong’s H5753Verb · Translated: done wrong 4, perverted 2Full study and all 17 verses →
2 Samuel 19:19 and said, “My lord, do not hold me guilty, and do not remember your servant’s wrongdoing on the day my lord the king left Jerusalem. May the king not take it to heart.
- מַעֲשֶׂה maăsehdeed, worktranslated this way 1 time of its 223 uses · Strong’s H4639Noun · Translated: work 71, works 38, deeds 8, made 7Full study and all 211 verses →
Job 33:17 to turn a man from wrongdoing and keep him from pride,
Greek words (New Testament)
- ἀδίκημα adíkēmaa crime, misdeedtranslated this way 1 time of its 3 uses · Strong’s G92Noun · Translated: wrongdoing 1, crime 1, iniquities 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Acts 18:14 But just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio told the Jews, “If this matter involved a wrongdoing or vicious crime, O Jews, it would be reasonable for me to hear your complaint .
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.