μέμφομαι

From the study of Hebrews 8:8

Range of meaning

To blame, find fault with, reproach, censure. Its object can be in the accusative or the dative case, and it can be a person or a thing.

Against the English

'Finding fault' (KJV, WEB, NASB) is accurate. BSB and NIV add 'with the people', which settles in the translation a question the Greek leaves a little more open. ESV/NRSV-style renderings ('he finds fault with them when he says') make the fault-finding the content of the quotation itself.

Used elsewhere in the period

Common in classical and Koine Greek for blaming. 2 Maccabees 2:7 has the very construction found in some manuscripts here (μεμψάμενος αὐτοῖς). There, Jeremiah 'rebuked them', which shows the dative can mean 'blaming them'. Sirach 11:7: 'do not find fault before you investigate'. Romans 9:19: 'Why does he still find fault?'

From the study of Romans 9:19

Range of meaning

To find fault with, blame, censure, reproach; to lay a charge against someone. In classical and Koine Greek it is the ordinary word for complaining about someone or holding them responsible (BDAG: 'find fault with, blame').

Against the English

KJV/BSB/WEB 'find fault' is accurate. Some readers take the verse to ask 'why does God still condemn (to hell)?', but the verb names the act of holding someone blameworthy, not a final sentence.

Used elsewhere in the period

Rare in the NT. Hebrews 8:8 has God 'finding fault with them' (Israel under the old covenant), and Mark 7:2 has it in some later manuscripts. In the Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament): Sirach 11:7 ('do not find fault before you investigate') and 41:7 (children blame an ungodly father). It is common in Greek moral writing for assigning responsibility.