Proverbs 22:4 · Symbol · Humility
The Hebrew and Greek Words for Humility
Three Hebrew words and a Greek family of five carry humility in Scripture, from Proverbs to the letters of Paul and Peter.
The verb Peter chose for putting on humility pictures a servant tying on his apron for work.
The rewards of humility and the fear of the LORD are wealth and honor and life.
- The word
- עֲנָוָה (anavah), H6038
- First appears
- 2 Samuel 22:36 “You have given me Your shield of salvation,…”
Summary
Hebrew speaks of humility with the noun anavah and the adjective anav, and Greek with tapeinophrosyne and the words around it. Both begin with being low, in circumstances or in mind, and both are used of the poor whom God lifts up as well as of the lowly heart He looks for. The Greek noun joins the word for low to the word for mind, and Paul and Peter tell believers to put it on.
- Of the uses of anavah (Strong's H6038) in the Hebrew Bible, three are in Proverbs.
- Anav (H6035) can mean low in mind, that is gentle, or low in circumstances, that is needy.
- Of the uses of tapeinophrosyne (G5012) in the New Testament, two are in Colossians 2.
- Tapeinos (G5011) is the word Jesus uses of His own heart in Matthew 11:29.
- Peter's verb for putting on humility is egkomboomai (G1463), found only in 1 Peter 5:5.
The Rewards of Humility
Proverbs uses anavah more than any other book.
The words of Scripture for humility show what the lowly mind before God and others meant to the writers who used them. The words matter to every reader because the English word humble covers what Hebrew and Greek say in several ways, from poverty to gentleness to a whole posture of mind.
The question the page answers is what these words meant in their own languages and where Scripture uses them. The answer starts with Proverbs, where anavah is most at home, and ends with the apostles, who made tapeinophrosyne a garment for the church.
In Proverbs 15:33 "humility comes before honor", and Proverbs 18:12 repeats the line after "Before his downfall a man's heart is proud".
The Word Family
Each word stands with the sense and the count the lexicon gives.
Humility in Hebrew and Greek is a family of words about being low, set against words about being high and empty.
| Word | Strong's | The lexicon's sense | Uses |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hebrew | |||
| anavah | H6038 | modesty in a person, clemency in God | 5 |
| anav | H6035 | humble or needy | 22 |
| tsana | H6800 | to be humble | 2 |
| Greek | |||
| tapeinophrosyne | G5012 | humiliation of mind, modesty | 7 |
| tapeinos | G5011 | low in circumstances or disposition | 8 |
| tapeinoo | G5013 | to bring low, to humble | 14 |
| tapeinosis | G5014 | low estate in rank or feeling | 4 |
| egkomboomai | G1463 | to clothe oneself | 1 |
| The words for pride | |||
| ga'on | H1347 | arrogance or majesty | 49 |
| hyperephanos | G5244 | appearing above others, haughty | 5 |
| kenodoxia | G2754 | empty glorying, self-conceit | 1 |
tapeinos, tapeinoo, tapeinosis, egkomboomai, The words for pride, ga'on, hyperephanos, kenodoxia
The Humble and the Poor
The adjective anav names the needy and the meek together, and God takes their side.
The lexicon gives anav (H6035) the sense "depressed (figuratively), in mind (gentle) or circumstances (needy, especially saintly)" and counts 22 uses.
He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them His way.The psalm uses anav of the people God leads, the lowly who are teachable.
Now Moses was a very humble man, more so than any man on the face of the earth.Numbers uses the same word, anav, of Moses.
Psalm 37:11 promises that "the meek will inherit the land", the verse Jesus takes up in the Beatitudes.
Tapeinophrosyne in the New Testament
The Greek noun names a grace of the church in five verses and its imitation in two.
The noun joins tapeinos, low, to the word for mind, and the lexicon gives it as "humiliation of mind, i.e. modesty". Paul says he served the Lord "with great humility" (Acts 20:19).
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves.Paul sets tapeinophrosyne against kenodoxia, empty pride, a word that stands only here in the New Testament.
Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with hearts of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.The verse shows tapeinophrosyne as a garment the church puts on.
One chapter earlier the word is turned. In Colossians 2:18 and 23 the Berean text renders it "false humility", joined to the worship of angels and to harsh treatment of the body.
Peter tells all believers to clothe themselves with humility toward one another (1 Peter 5:5). His verb is egkomboomai (G1463), which the lexicon ties to "the apron as being a badge of servitude".
Low in Circumstance and Low in Mind
The Greek adjective and noun name a low estate as often as a humble mind, and God lifts up both.
Carl Bloch, Christ and Child, 1873. Public domain, as Wikimedia Commons states its licence. Wikimedia Commons, File:Carl_Bloch_-_Christ_and_Child.jpg.
Tapeinos and tapeinosis often name a low place in life. James tells "the brother in humble circumstances" to exult in his high position (James 1:9).
For He has looked with favor on the humble state of His servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed.Mary uses tapeinosis of her own low estate, which God looked upon with favor.
Jesus uses the adjective of His heart. In Matthew 11:29 He calls Himself "gentle and humble in heart", so the word for a low estate becomes the word for the mind of the Son of God.
Voices on the Words
Two commentators read Peter's word for putting on humility as the picture of a garment.
1703 to 1791 · John Wesley
John Wesley taught that every believer, elder or younger, should give up his own will and fasten humility on for good.
“And be all - Elder or younger. Subject to each other - Let every one be ready, upon all occasions, to give up his own will. Be clothed with humility-Bind it on, (so the word signifies,) so that no force may be able to tear it from you.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament · on 1 Peter 5:5Evangelical
1802 to 1910 · Jamieson, Fausset & Brown
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown taught that pride first made clothing needed and that the Christian is clothed in humility to receive the righteousness of Christ.
“Clothing was the original badge of man's sin and shame. Pride caused the need of man's clothing, and pride still reigns in dress; the Christian therefore clothes himself in humility (1Pe 3:3, 4). God provides him with the robe of Christ's righteousness, in order to receive which man must be stripped of pride.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible · on 1 Peter 5:5Reformed
Put On Humility
The command and its reason stand together in 1 Peter 5:5.
Scripture turns the words for being low into a call, and the call comes with a promise from Proverbs.
Young men, in the same way, submit yourselves to your elders. And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”Peter gives this command to the whole church, young and old, right after his charge to the elders (1 Peter 5:1 to 4).
Sources
Scripture is the Berean Standard Bible.
- STEP Bible, Translators Brief lexicon of Extended Strongs for Hebrew and for Greek (Tyndale House, Cambridge, CC BY 4.0), entries h6038, h6035, h6800, g5012, g5011, g5013, g5014, g1463, h1347, g5244 and g2754.
- The tagged Hebrew and Greek texts with Strong's numbers and morphology, and the occurrence list of each word the page counts.
- John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755), on 1 Peter 5:5.
- Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871), on 1 Peter 5:5.