Word

ταπεινόω

tapeinóō · G5013 · Greek · 14 occurrences

See all 14 in Search

Meanings

to make low

To cause something to become low in height

Examples
Luke 3:5 ‘EVERY RAVINE WILL BE FILLED, AND EVERY MOUNTAIN AND HILL WILL BE LOWERED; THE CROOKED WILL BECOME STRAIGHT, AND THE ROUGH ROADS SMOOTH;
to make humble, to bring down low

To cause someone to be in a low status

Examples
Matthew 23:12 “Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.
2 Corinthians 11:7 Or did I commit a sin by humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached the gospel of God to you without charge?
Philippians 2:8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death: death on a cross.
to make humble, to humble

(Derivative of ταπεινός ‘humble,’) To cause someone to be or to become humble

Examples
Matthew 18:4 “So whoever will humble himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
James 4:10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.
to humiliate, to put to shame

To cause someone to become disgraced and humiliated, with the implication of embarrassment and shame

Examples
2 Corinthians 12:21 I am afraid that when I come again my God may humiliate me before you, and I may mourn over many of those who have sinned in the past and not repented of the impurity, sexual immorality, and indecent behavior which they have practiced.
to live in humble circumstances, to live like those of low status

To live in circumstances regarded as characteristic of low status

Examples
Luke 14:11 “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Luke 18:14 “I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other one; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

How it’s used In 5 roles

Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.

the word studied the word it goes with

Who or what does itSubject

14 occurrences in 9 groups

ὑψόωto lift up, to exalt 3
Not stated (participle) 3
Other words · 7 groups that occur once or twice (9) 9

What it acts on, or what is saidObject

7 occurrences in 3 groups

ἑαυτοῦhimself, herself, itself 5
ἐγώI, we 1
ἐμαυτοῦmyself 1

With prepositionsPrepositional phrases

3 occurrences in 3 groups

ἐνώπιονin front of+ κύριοςLord 1
πρόςto, toward, with+ σύyou 1
ὑπόby, under+ χείρhand 1

What it doesIt is the subject

3 occurrences in 1 groups

ὑψόωto lift up, to exalt 3

What is done to itIt is the object

1 occurrences in 1 groups

εἴδωto know 1

When two words share a role, as in “Paul and Barnabas said”, the verse appears under each, so a section’s counts can add up to more than the number of occurrences.

MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.

In the other Testament 4 words

עָנָה ʻânâh · H6031 · to answer, to respond, to speak up: עָנָה (ʻânâh, H6031) serves as the primary Hebrew equivalent for ταπεινόω (tapeinóō, G5013), both denoting the act of humbling or afflicting, whether self-imposed or externally inflicted, with shared application to both physical humiliation and internal spiritual lowering.
דָּכָא dâkâʼ · H1792 · to crush: ταπεινόω (tapeinóō, G5013) emphasizes the figurative lowering of status or condition (humiliation, abasement), while דָּכָא (dâkâʼ, H1792) focuses on physical crushing or breaking that extends metaphorically to spiritual contrition and oppression; both share the semantic domain of bringing low, but Greek centers on social/spiritual humiliation whereas Hebrew emphasizes destructive force resulting in a crushed or contrite state.
דָּכָה dâkâh · H1794 · to crush, to be crushed: Greek ταπεινόω emphasizes the act of humbling or bringing low (often with moral/spiritual dimension), while Hebrew דָּכָה focuses on crushing or breaking down (physical brokenness extending to spiritual contrition).
שָׁחַח shâchach · H7817 · to become low, to be in distress: Greek ταπεινόω emphasizes the completed state or result of humiliation/lowering (often internal/spiritual lowering), while Hebrew שָׁחַח emphasizes the physical action of bending/bowing down, with humiliation as derivative.

Semantic domains 6 entries

To humiliate, to put to shame25.198: Paul asks the Corinthians, “did I commit a sin by humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached the gospel of God to you without charge?” (2 Corinthians 11:7).
To level off, to make level79.87: Luke records John's preaching, quoting Isaiah, “EVERY RAVINE WILL BE FILLED, AND EVERY MOUNTAIN AND HILL WILL BE LOWERED” (Luke 3:5).
To make low81.7: Paul writes, “I know how to get along with little, and I also know how to live in prosperity” (Philippians 4:12).
To make humble, to bring down low87.62: Jesus teaches, “whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted” (Matthew 23:12).
To live in humble circumstances, to live like those of low status87.63: Paul writes, “I know how to get along with little, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need” (Philippians 4:12).
To make humble, to humble88.56: James instructs believers, “Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you” (James 4:10).

Word family 4 words

Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.

ταπεινός tapeinós · G5011 · dejected, downheearted, downcast · 8×ταπεινόωtapeinóō · G5013ταπεινοφροσύνη tapeinophrosýnē · G5012 · humble attitude, humility, without arrogance · 7×ταπείνωσις tapeínōsis · G5014 · humility, humble behavior, low status · 4×

Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon ταπεινῷ; future ταπεινώσω; 1 aorist ἐταπείνωσα; passive, present ταπεινοῦμαι; 1 aorist…

ταπεινῷ; future ταπεινώσω; 1 aorist ἐταπείνωσα; passive, present ταπεινοῦμαι; 1 aorist ἐταπεινώθην; 1 future ταπεινωθήσομαι; (ταπεινός); to make low, bring low (Vulg.humilio);
a. properly: ὄρος, βουνόν, i. e. to level, reduce to a plain, passive, Lk 3:5 from Isa 40:4.
b. metaphorically, to bring into it humble condition, reduce to meaner circumstances; i. e. α. to assign a lower rank or place to; to abase; τινα, passive, to be ranked below others who are honored or rewarded (R. V. to humble): Mt 23:12; Lk 14:11; Lk 18:14. β. ταπεινῷ ἐμαυτόν, to humble or abase myself, by frugal living, 2 Cor 11:7; in the passive of one who submits to want, Phm 4:12; ἑαυτόν, of one who stoops to the condition of s servant, Phm 2:8.
c. to lower, depress (English humble): τινα, one's soul, bring down one's pride; ἐμαυτόν, to have a modest opinion of oneself, to behave in an unassuming manner devoid of all haughtiness, Mt 18:4; Mt 23:12; Lk 14:11; Lk 18:14; passive, ταπεινοῦμαι ἐνώπιον κυρίου (see ἐνώπιον, 2 b. at the end) in a middle sense (Buttmann, 52 (46)), to confess and deplore one's spiritual littleness and unworthiness, Jas 4:10 (in the same sense ταπεινοῦν τήν ψυχήν αὐτοῦ, Sir. 2:17 Sir. 7:17; the Sept. for נַפְשׁו עִנָּה, he afflicted his soul, of persons fasting, Lev 16:29, Lev 16:31; Lev 23:27, Lev 23:32; Isa 58:3, Isa 58:5, Isa 58:10; τήν ψυχήν τίνος, to disturb, distress, the soul of one, Protevangelium Jacobi,
c. 2.13.15 (rather, to humiliate; see the passages)); ὑπό τήν χεῖρα τοῦ Θεοῦ, to submit oneself in a lowly spirit to the power and will of God, 1 Pet 5:6 (cf. Gen 16:9); equivalent to to put to the blush, 2 Cor 12:21. ((Hippocrates), Xenophon, Plato, Diodorus, Plutarch; the Sept. for עָנָה, שָׁפֵל and הִשְׁפִּיל, דִּכָּא, הִכְנִיעַ, etc.) (See references under the word ταπεινοφροσύνη.)

Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (1889), public domain

Topical studies with this word 5 entries

Shame, Disgrace, Humiliation3 occurrences Uneven [Rough], Level [Smooth]1 occurrence High, Low, Deep1 occurrence Low Status or Rank [including persons of low status]10 occurrences Humility4 occurrences

Meanings adapted from the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament, © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0 and the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew (from the Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew), © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0; MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.

Sources

eRhema lexical overview, based on the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew and the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (© United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Macula Hebrew and Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0); released under CC BY-SA 4.0