Hebrew word · H1343

גֵּאֶה

ge'eh

proud

Adjective from ga'ah, 'to rise up, grow tall' (used of water rising, Ezek 47:5, and of plants growing tall). Applied to people it means 'haughty, arrogant, self-exalting'. The related noun ga'on can mean majesty (God's own majesty, Isa 2:10, 19, 21) or arrogance, depending on who claims it.

Appears 9 times in 9 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

proud

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Isaiah 2:12

Range of meaning

Adjective from ga'ah, 'to rise up, grow tall' (used of water rising, Ezek 47:5, and of plants growing tall). Applied to people it means 'haughty, arrogant, self-exalting'. The related noun ga'on can mean majesty (God's own majesty, Isa 2:10, 19, 21) or arrogance, depending on who claims it.

Against the English

'Proud' is the usual rendering (KJV, BSB, WEB, ESV, NIV). NASB 1995 says 'proud and lofty'.

How it drifted

Modern English 'proud' is often positive ('proud of my daughter', healthy self-respect). The adjective ge'eh is consistently negative: it means arrogance that sets itself against God and other people.

Used elsewhere in the period

Ps 94:2 ('render to the proud what they deserve'); Prov 15:25 ('YHWH tears down the house of the proud'); Prov 16:19; Job 40:11–12 (God tells Job to look on everyone who is proud and bring him low, using the same pairing of proud and abased as here); Jer 48:29 on Moab's pride.

From the study of Proverbs 15:25

Range of meaning

From the root g-'-h, 'to rise up, be high' (used of water rising, Ezekiel 47:5, and of God's majesty, Exodus 15:1). Applied to people, it means self-exalting, arrogant, haughty: someone who rises above his place and treats others as beneath him. It is less a private feeling than a way of acting toward God and neighbour.

Against the English

All the major versions say 'proud.' That is fine, but English 'proud' covers both healthy satisfaction ('proud of my daughter') and arrogance. The Hebrew carries only the second, and often in the sense of the powerful arrogant.

How it drifted

Modern English has made 'pride' largely positive, as in self-esteem, dignity and 'taking pride in your work.' The biblical word never has this positive sense when applied to human beings.

Used elsewhere in the period

Psalm 94:2–6 asks God to 'repay the proud' and then describes them: 'they kill the widow and the sojourner.' Isaiah 2:12 names a day of Yahweh against 'all that is proud and lofty.' Proverbs 16:19: 'better to be lowly in spirit with the poor than to divide plunder with the proud.' Job 40:11–12: God abases every proud one. The Greek Septuagint here translates it as hybristēs, 'insolent, violent abuser', which shows how ancient Jewish translators understood it: arrogance that turns into mistreating others.

From the study of Proverbs 16:19

Range of meaning

From gaʾah, "to rise up, be high, swell": the sea's "proud waves" (Job 38:11), a plant growing tall (Job 8:11). Applied to people, geʾeh means haughty or arrogant, someone who sets himself up high, often with the power to oppress. The related noun gaʾon ("pride") opens 16:18.

Against the English

All major versions say "the proud," which is accurate. English "proud," though, can be positive ("proud of my children"). The Hebrew word is always negative and suggests arrogant power.

Used elsewhere in the period

Prov 15:25: "YHWH tears down the house of the proud but sets the widow's boundary stone firm," another proud/powerless contrast. Ps 94:2: "render to the proud what they deserve." Isa 2:12: a day against "all that is proud and lofty."

Where it appears

Job · 2

  1. Job 40:11 גֵּ֝אֶ֗ה proud [person]

    Unleash the fury of your wrath; look on every proud man and bring him low.

    Here: "Proud one," literally "one who has risen high." It comes from the same root as gāʾôn, the "majesty" Job is told to put on in v. 10. Job is to wear loftiness and then pull down everyone else who rises high.

  2. Job 40:12 גֵּ֭אֶה proud [person]

    Look on every proud man and humble him; trample the wicked where they stand.

    Here: The one who 'rises high', lifting himself above others and above God. It comes from the same root as the 'majesty' (gaʾon) God has just told Job to put on in verse 10. So the line plays on the word: put on God's height, then bring down every human who makes himself high.

Psalms · 3

  1. Psalm 94:2 גֵּאִֽים׃ proud [people]

    Rise up, O Judge of the earth; render a reward to the proud.

    Here: Plural: 'the proud ones'. The root means 'to rise high'. In this psalm they are powerful people who raise themselves above others and above God. They crush the vulnerable and say 'the LORD does not see' (vv. 4–7).

  2. Psalm 123:4 לִגְאֵי יוֹנִים׃ of arrogant opressors

    We have endured much scorn from the arrogant, much contempt from the proud.

    Here: "Belonging to the proud of...," meaning people who hold themselves high above others. The opening "li-" marks whose contempt this is. The supplied source treats this word and the next as a single entry under H1343.

  3. Psalm 140:5 גֵאִ֨ים׀ proud [people]

    The proud hide a snare for me; the cords of their net are spread along the path, and lures are set out for me. Selah

    Here: 'The proud,' meaning people who lift themselves up over others and over God. It names the hunters by their character. These are the same people verse 4 calls 'wicked' and 'men of violence.'

Proverbs · 2

  1. Proverbs 15:25 גֵּ֭אִים proud [people]

    The LORD tears down the house of the proud, but He protects the boundaries of the widow.

    Here: People who lift themselves up over others. In Hebrew poetry these are the arrogant powerful who act as if no one can hold them to account, often while exploiting the weak (compare Psalm 94:2–6).

  2. Proverbs 16:19 גֵּאִֽים׃ proud [people]

    It is better to be lowly in spirit among the humble than to divide the spoil with the proud.

    Here: People who have risen high and carry themselves that way. The root pictures rising or swelling, like the sea's waves. They are the high ones, set against the low ones in the first half.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 2:12 גֵּאֶ֖ה proud [thing]

    For the Day of the LORD of Hosts will come against all the proud and lofty, against all that is exalted—it will be humbled—

    Here: Something that rises up and towers over others. In people, that means arrogance. The image is of physical height that has turned into self-importance.

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 48:29 גֵּאֶ֣ה proud

    We have heard of Moab’s pomposity, his exceeding pride and conceit, his proud arrogance and haughtiness of heart.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.