בָּזָה
to despise
also: hold in contempt, disdain fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
See every Qal verb in the Hebrew Bible →
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Verb
- An action or state-of-being word.
Stem
- Niphal
- Usually the simple passive or reflexive of the Qal (“he was written”). Here: ‘despised ψ 15’
- Qal
- The basic, simple active stem — the plain form of the verb (“he wrote”).
- Hiphil
- The causative active stem (“he caused / brought about”).
Form
- Participle Active
- A verbal adjective expressing ongoing or characteristic action (“writing / one who writes”).
- Perfect
- A completed action or state — Hebrew marks aspect (completeness) more than strict tense (“he wrote”).
- Sequential Imperfect
- An imperfect with prefixed waw — the standard past-narrative form (waw-consecutive imperfect).
- Imperfect
- An incomplete, ongoing, or future action (“he will / would write”).
- Participle Passive
- A verbal adjective expressing action received (“written”).
- Infinitive Construct
- A bound verbal noun, frequently with prepositions (“to write / in writing”).
State
- Absolute
- The independent form of a noun, not bound to a following word.
- Construct
- A noun bound to a following noun in a possessive / “of” relationship (the construct chain).
Person
- 3rd Person
- The one spoken about (“he / she / it / they”).
- 2nd Person
- The one addressed (“you”).
- 1st Person
- The speaker (“I / we”).
Gender
- Masculine
- Grammatically masculine.
- Feminine
- Grammatically feminine.
- Common
- Either gender — not distinguished for this form.
Number
- Singular
- One.
- Plural
- More than one (in Hebrew, generally three or more).
Grammatical forms 19 distinct
- Verb, Niphal, Participle Active, Masculine, Singular, Absolute 8 times (19%)
- Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular 7 times (16%)
- Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular 3 times (7%)
- Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular 2 times (5%)
- Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular 2 times (5%)
- Verb, Qal, Perfect, 2nd Person, Feminine, Singular 2 times (5%)
- Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular 2 times (5%)
- Verb, Qal, Participle Passive, Masculine, Singular, Absolute 2 times (5%)
+11 more forms (15 occurrences)
Parsed forms decoded from the imported morphology (morphhb / Westminster Leningrad Codex — WLC text public domain, morphhb tagging CC BY 4.0), counted across 43 parsed occurrences — not distinct verses.
Every verse where H959 appears — 41 distinct verses across 18 books. Click any verse to open its interlinear word-by-word view. Verse text shown in the World English Bible for context — . Each verse’s Hebrew form is shown with its reference; the English is not keyword-highlighted, since the data carries no word-level English alignment. Use “Compare translations” on any verse to read it across multiple English versions. This concordance covers the Hebrew Bible; Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) occurrences are not indexed here.
Genesis 1 verse
Numbers 1 verse
1 Samuel 3 verses
- 1 Samuel 2:30 וּ/בֹזַ֥/י conj + Qal ptcp.act mp cs + sfx pers 1cs Therefore Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, I said indeed that your house, and the house of your father, should walk before me forever: but now Yahweh says, Be it far from me; for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed.
- 1 Samuel 10:27 וַ/יִּבְזֻ֕/הוּ conj + Qal wimpf 3mp + sfx pers 3ms But certain worthless fellows said, How shall this man save us? They despised him, and brought him no present. But he held his peace.
- 1 Samuel 17:42 וַ/יִּבְזֵ֑/הוּ conj + Qal wimpf 3ms + sfx pers 3ms When the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him; for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and withal of a fair face.
2 Samuel 3 verses
- 2 Samuel 6:16 וַ/תִּ֥בֶז conj + Qal wimpf 3fs It was so, as the ark of Yahweh came into the city of David, that Michal the daughter of Saul looked out at the window, and saw king David leaping and dancing before Yahweh; and she despised him in her heart.
- 2 Samuel 12:9 בָּזִ֣יתָ Qal pf 2ms Why have you despised the word of Yahweh, to do that which is evil in his sight? You have struck Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.
- 2 Samuel 12:10 בְזִתָ֔/נִי Qal pf 2ms + sfx pers 1cs Now therefore the sword will never depart from your house, because you have despised me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.'
2 Kings 1 verse
1 Chronicles 1 verse
2 Chronicles 1 verse
Nehemiah 1 verse
Esther 2 verses
- Esther 1:17 לְ/הַבְז֥וֹת prep + Hiphil inf.cs For this deed of the queen will come abroad to all women, to make their husbands contemptible in their eyes, when it shall be reported, The king Ahasuerus commanded Vashti the queen to be brought in before him, but she didn't come.
- Esther 3:6 וַ/יִּ֣בֶז conj + Qal wimpf 3ms But he scorned the thought of laying hands on Mordecai alone; for they had made known to him the people of Mordecai: therefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even the people of Mordecai.
Psalms 8 verses
- Psalms 15:4 נִבְזֶ֤ה Niphal ptcp.act ms In whose eyes a vile man is despised, But who honors those who fear Yahweh; He who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and doesn't change;
- Psalms 22:6 וּ/בְז֥וּי conj + Qal ptcp.pass ms cs But I am a worm, and no man; A reproach of men, and despised by the people.
- Psalms 22:24 בָזָ֨ה Qal pf 3ms For he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, Neither has he hidden his face from him; But when he cried to him, he heard.
- Psalms 51:17 תִבְזֶֽה Qal impf 2ms The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
- Psalms 69:33 בָזָֽה Qal pf 3ms For Yahweh hears the needy, And doesn't despise his captive people.
- Psalms 73:20 תִּבְזֶֽה Qal impf 2ms As a dream when one wakes up, So, Lord, when you awake, you will despise their fantasies.
- Psalms 102:17 בָ֝זָ֗ה Qal pf 3ms He has responded to the prayer of the destitute, And has not despised their prayer.
- Psalms 119:141 וְ/נִבְזֶ֑ה conj + Niphal ptcp.act ms I am small and despised. I don't forget your precepts.
Proverbs 3 verses
- Proverbs 14:2 בּוֹזֵֽ/הוּ Qal ptcp.act ms cs + sfx pers 3ms He who walks in his uprightness fears Yahweh, But he who is perverse in his ways despises him.
- Proverbs 15:20 בּוֹזֶ֥ה Qal ptcp.act ms A wise son makes a father glad, But a foolish man despises his mother.
- Proverbs 19:16 בּוֹזֵ֖ה Qal ptcp.act ms cs He who keeps the commandment keeps his soul, But he who is contemptuous in his ways shall die.
Ecclesiastes 1 verse
Isaiah 2 verses
- Isaiah 37:22 בָּזָ֨ה Qal pf 3fs this is the word which Yahweh has spoken concerning him: The virgin daughter of Zion has despised you and ridiculed you; the daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you.
- Isaiah 53:3 נִבְזֶה֙ נִבְזֶ֖ה Niphal ptcp.act ms Niphal ptcp.act ms He was despised, and rejected by men; a man of suffering, and acquainted with disease: and as one from whom men hide their face he was despised; and we didn't respect him.
Jeremiah 2 verses
- Jeremiah 22:28 נִבְזֶ֜ה Niphal ptcp.act ms Is this man Coniah a despised broken vessel? is he a vessel in which none delights? why are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into the land which they don't know?
- Jeremiah 49:15 בָּז֖וּי Qal ptcp.pass ms For, behold, I have made you small among the nations, and despised among men.
Ezekiel 5 verses
- Ezekiel 16:59 בָּזִ֥ית Qal pf 2fs For thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will also deal with you as you have done, who have despised the oath in breaking the covenant.
- Ezekiel 17:16 בָּזָה֙ Qal pf 3ms As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, surely in the place where the king dwells who made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he broke, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die.
- Ezekiel 17:18 וּ/בָזָ֥ה conj + Qal pf 3ms For he has despised the oath by breaking the covenant; and behold, he had given his hand, and yet has done all these things; he shall not escape.
- Ezekiel 17:19 בָּזָ֔ה Qal pf 3ms Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: As I live, surely my oath that he has despised, and my covenant that he has broken, I will even bring it on his own head.
- Ezekiel 22:8 בָּזִ֑ית Qal pf 2fs You have despised my holy things, and have profaned my Sabbaths.
Daniel 1 verse
Obadiah 1 verse
Malachi 4 verses
- Malachi 1:6 בּוֹזֵ֣י בָזִ֖ינוּ Qal ptcp.act mp cs Qal pf 1cp "A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am a father, then where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is the respect due me? Says Yahweh of Hosts to you, priests, who despise my name. You say, 'How have we despised your name?'
- Malachi 1:7 נִבְזֶ֥ה Niphal ptcp.act ms You offer polluted bread on my altar. You say, 'How have we polluted you?' In that you say, 'Yahweh's table contemptible.'
- Malachi 1:12 נִבְזֶ֥ה Niphal ptcp.act ms "But you profane it, in that you say, 'Yahweh's table is polluted, and its fruit, even its food, is contemptible.'
- Malachi 2:9 נִבְזִ֥ים Niphal ptcp.pass mp "Therefore I have also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according to the way you have not kept my ways, but have had respect for persons in the law.
About this entry
At a glance — auto-summarized from this page’s data, not written by a person. Every figure links to its source below. This summary describes the numbers; it doesn’t interpret them.
בזה — transliterated bâzâh — is a Hebrew verb carrying the sense “to despise.” It first appears in Genesis 25:34. With 41 verses in 18 books, it is a moderately common word in the Hebrew Bible. Across 3 stems, its meaning turns on the binyan (Qal, Niphal). From the same root come בזה, בזיון and נמבזה. Each statement above links to its evidence; the full detail follows below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H959 catalogs a Hebrew word from the Hebrew Old Testament.
These counts are not copied from any lexicon or concordance. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged Hebrew Old Testament. What Lemma adds →
- 41
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 41 distinct verses.
- 18 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 18 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #837
- by frequency
- Top 1000 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 837 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 41 occurrences in the concordance →
By section of the Old Testament
By traditional corpus
Conventional, traditional groupings — biblical authorship is debated, so this is a traditional corpus grouping, not an authorship claim. Each share is this word’s portion of its verses in that division of the Hebrew canon. Each figure is a share of the word’s 41 distinct verses.
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 21 verses · 51%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 18 verses · 44%
- Torah (Pentateuch) 2 verses · 5%
How translations render this word
Counts come from each version’s own published word-to-Strong’s tagging or interlinear alignment — an approximate guide to how each version renders this word, not a word-level alignment the data otherwise carries. Because each total is that version’s own tagged count, the per-version totals vary from one another and need not match the appearance or distinct-verse counts above. These counts may also differ from a printed concordance because Lemma counts each distinctly tagged rendering and does not collapse phrase taggings into a single head-word total. This is a fixed set of word-tagged versions (KJV, ASV, BSB, ULT) and does not change with the reading translation you choose elsewhere. Each version’s license is shown beside its name below (and on Sources).
- King James Version: Despised 8×, Despiseth 3×, Despise 2×
- American Standard Version: Despised 7×, He hath despised 3×, Despiseth 2×
- Berean Standard Bible: Despised 7×, Despise 5×, Despises 4×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: Despised 8×, Is despised 4×, Despise 3×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H959 across 43 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 20 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H959 across 43 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 21 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
Renders H959 across 44 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 17 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H959 across 50 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 23 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Senses in the full BDB
Hebrew verbs can shift meaning by stem (binyan): Qal is the basic action, Niphal is often passive or reflexive, Piel often intensifies or makes it factitive, and Hiphil is typically causative. The senses below are grouped under the stem BDB assigns to each.
What do BDB’s symbols mean?
BDB uses these scholarly abbreviations:
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 𝔊 | the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation, LXX) |
| 𝔙 | the Vulgate (the Latin translation) |
| 𝔖 | the Syriac version (the Peshitta) |
| 𝔗 | the Targum (the Aramaic translation) |
| ψ | the Psalms |
| √ | root (the underlying root or stem) |
| ‖ | parallel passage (a synonymous or contrasted parallel) |
| † | the dagger: every passage where the word occurs is cited |
The 6 senses and sub-senses the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency), with BDB’s own verbatim wording and sub-sense lettering. Shown in Hebrew script with BDB’s own scholarly abbreviations. The condensed entry is in the Lexicon Entry tab. See also the Forms in the corpus table below.
Qal
- Pf. Nu 15:31 +; בָּזִיתָ 2 S 12:9; sf. בְּזִתָ֑נִי 2 S 12:10, etc.; Impf. וַיִּ֫בֶז Gn 25:34 Est 3:6; sf. וַיִּבְזֵהוּ 1 S 17:42; 3 fs. וַתִּבֶז 2 S 6:16 1 Ch 15:29; 2 ms. תִּבְזֶה ψ 51:19; 73:20; וַיִּבְזוּ Ne 2:19; וַיִּבְזֻהוּ 1 S 10:27; Inf. cstr. בְּזֹה Is 49:7 (Di Ew§ 150 b); Pt. act. בּוֹזֶה Pr 15:20; 19:16; בּוֹזֵהוּ Pr 14:2; בּוֹזִים 2 Ch 36:16; בּוֹזֵי Mal 1:6; sf. בֹּזַי 1 S 2:30; pass. בָּזוּי Je 49:15 +; f. בְּזוּיָה Ec 9:16;—despise, regard with contempt, sq. acc. rei, birthright Gn 25:34 (J); words of י׳ Nu 15:31 (P; not elsewhere. in Hex); 2 S 12:9 cf. 2 Ch 36:16; name of י׳ Mal 1:6(×2) (cf. infr.); oath (אָלָה) Ez 16:59; 17:16, 18, 19; holy things Ez 22:8; one’s own ways Pr 19:16 (i.e. is careless of them, lives recklessly, opp. שֹׁמֵר נַפְשׁוֹ, cf. נֹצֵר דַּרְכּוֹ 16:17); distress of the distressed ψ 22:25 (‖ שִׁקֵּץ, subj. י׳); prayer, subj. id. ψ 102:18; broken & contrite heart ψ 51:19 (c. לֹא), cf. on other hand 73:20; sq. acc. pers. Saul 1 S 10:27, David 17:42 cf. Pr 15:20, י׳ 1 S 2:30 2 S 12:10 Pr 14:2, his prisoners ψ 69:34 (subj. י׳); sq. לְ, וַתִּבֶז לוֹ בְּלִבָּהּ 2 S 6:16 = 1 Ch 15:29; sq. עַל pers. Ne 2:19; [2 K 19:21 = Is 37:22, בּוּז] sq. Inf. וַיִּבֶז בְּעֵינָיו לִשְׁלֹחַ יָד Est 3:6; בְּזֹה נֶפֶשׁ Is 49:7 a despising of soul, i.e. one despised from the soul, thoroughly despised; on otherviews v. Che Di. Pt. pass. despised, of pers. cstr. בְּזוּי עָם despised of people (‖ חֶרְפַּת אָדָם) ψ 22:7, cf. בָּזוּי בָאָדָם Je 49:15 also Ob v 2; of wisdom Ec 9:16. e.g. Numbers 15:31
Niphal
- Pt. נִבְזֶה ψ 15:4 +; f. נִבְזָה 1 S 15:9 (so read for נמבזה cf. We Dr); pl. נִבְזִים Mal 2:9;— e.g. Psalms 15:4
- 1. despised ψ 15:4; 119:141 Is 53:3(×2) Je 22:28. e.g. Psalms 15:4
- 2. vile, worthless 1 S 15:9. e.g. 1 Samuel 15:9
- 3. despicable, contemptible Mal 1:7 said of table of י׳, cf. v 12 2:9; Dn 11:21 as subst. of Antiochus Epiph. e.g. Malachi 1:7
Hiphil
- Inf. לְהַבְזוֹת בַּעְלֵיהֶן Est 1:17 so as to cause to despise their lords (cause their lords to be despised). e.g. Esther 1:17
Senses from the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon (Brown, Driver, Briggs; Oxford 1906 — public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). Full attribution on Sources.
Word origin
vb. despise (Pal. 𝔗 בְּזָא, cf. بَزَا raise the head loftily and disdainfully)—
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Origin: a primitive root
Jastrow Dictionary
A second Hebrew/Aramaic lexicon for comparison, covering Aramaic and post-biblical (Talmudic, Targumic, Midrashic) usage that the biblical-Hebrew BDB does not. Matched by lemma rather than by Strong’s number, so a lemma may carry more than one Jastrow headword (shown separately below), and the entries cover usage well beyond the Bible.
בָּזָה
- , v. בזי
בזי
- √בז to tread, v. בּוּז) to tread upon, whence to despise, spurn, degrade. Ab. d’R. Nath. ch. XXIX הבּוֹזֶה את חבירו וכ׳ he who spurns his neighbor (rebuking him) for a sacred cause. Ib. הן בּוֹזִין בעצמן they make themselves contemptible (neglecting their appearance). Part. pass. בָּזוּי, f. בְּזוּיָה. Y. Sot. V, end, 20ᵈ שהיתה נבואתו ב׳ his prophetic gift was degraded (by him). Ruth. R. to I, 1 מי שהוא ב׳ בדבריו he who becomes contemptible through his own words (in not practicing what he teaches). Cant. R. to VI, 5 מה עז זו ב׳ as the goat is despised כך בְּזוּיִין וכ׳ so were the Israelites made despicable at Shittim (through debauchery); a. fr.
- same. Ab. d’R. Nath. l. c. Y. Sot. l. c. he (Isaac) is called Buzi, שבי׳ את וכ׳ because he made all idolatrous temples appear contemptible (by his willingness to be sacrificed to the Lord). Gen. R. s. 30 (play on בוז Job XII, 5) שהיו מְבַזִּים עליו they sneered at him. Snh. 65ᵇ בִּיזִּיתוֹ thou hast insulted him. Aboth III, 11 המְבַזֶּה את וכ׳ he who disregards the festive weeks (treating them as week days); a. fr.—Part. Pu. מְבוּזֶּה, pl. מְבוּזִּין. Ab. Zar. III, 3 המב׳ common vessels, opp. מכובדין ornamental; Tosef. ib. V (VI), 1 בזויין ed. Zuck. (Var. מב׳); Y. ib. III, 42ᵈ; a. e. e.g. Job 12:5
- to be despised, humbled, exposed. Y. Taan. II, beg. 65ᵃ you cannot compare המִתְבַּזֶּה מעצמו וכ׳ one who humbles himself to one who is humbled by others. Keth. 97ᵇ. Ruth. R. to I, 1 אימתי ד"ת מִתְבַּזִּין וכ׳ when are the words of the Law despised by the people? When the scholars make them contemptible (through their conduct); a. fr.
בִּזָּה
- , v. בִּיוָּה
זֶה
- (b. h.) this, that. Men. 53ᵇ יבא זה וכ׳ let this one come and receive this &c.; זה זה משה ‘this one’ that means Moses; זאת זו התורה ‘this’—that means the Law. Gen. R. s. 4 לגיון זה this legion; a. v. fr.—זֶהוּ = זה הוא, this is. Sabb. 40ᵇ הפשרו זהו בישולו (also זה הוא) warming it is the cooking of it, v. הֶפְשֵׁר; a. fr.—Gitt. VIII, 4 אי זֹהו Y. ed. (Mish. אֵיזֶהוּ); a. v. fr.
A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (Marcus Jastrow; London, Luzac, 1903) — Public Domain. Digitized via Sefaria. Digitized via Sefaria. Full attribution on Sources.
Forms in the corpus
The 39 distinct written forms H959 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that stem’s occurrences in the concordance. Hebrew forms include their vowel points and cantillation, so a single lemma takes many written forms.
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H959, grouped by Strong’s listed origin. These share a root / origin per the lexicon — not necessarily a shared meaning. Each links to that word’s own entry.
Derived from this word
Proper names from this root
People and places named from this root — a name, not an additional meaning of the word.
Compare all same-root words → Showing 4 of 5 — not the complete family. 1 of the same-root words is a proper name (a person or place). They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 35 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 41 Hebrew verses it occurs in. You can read those verses in Greek by switching the Old Testament edition to the Septuagint.
Read these verses in the Septuagint
- Genesis 25:34
- Numbers 15:31
- 1 Samuel 2:30
- 2 Samuel 6:16
- 2 Kings 19:21
- 1 Chronicles 15:29
- 2 Chronicles 36:16
- Esther 1:17
- Psalms 15:4
- Proverbs 14:2
- Ecclesiastes 9:16
- Isaiah 37:22
This is a verse-level parallel only — the same verses exist in both the Hebrew and Greek Old Testaments. No word-level Hebrew↔Greek correspondence is claimed: the data carries no such alignment, so no Greek word is shown as this Hebrew word’s translation. Coverage is not total — the Septuagint omits the deuterocanon and renumbers the Psalms, so some Hebrew verses have no direct Greek parallel.
