What does ὑπερήφανος (hyperḗphanos) mean in the Bible?
Hyperephanos is the Greek adjective for proud, arrogant, or haughty. Its form suggests a person who shows himself above others, and the New Testament uses it for a posture God opposes.
Greek · G5244
ὑπερήφανος
Arrogant
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ὑπερήφανοςG5244
Pronunciationhyperḗphanos
What does ὑπερήφανος (hyperḗphanos) mean in the Bible?
Hyperephanos is the Greek adjective for proud, arrogant, or haughty. Its form suggests a person who shows himself above others, and the New Testament uses it for a posture God opposes.
Reader summary
Full entry for ὑπερήφανος (G5244) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G5244?
The BSB source-word alignment has 5 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include [the] proud (2), arrogant (2), [those who are] proud (1).
Where does ὑπερήφανος (hyperḗphanos) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Luke 1:51. Its strongest book concentrations include 1 Peter (1), 2 Timothy (1), James (1), Luke (1).
What This Word Actually Means
Hyperephanos is the Greek adjective for proud, arrogant, or haughty. Its form suggests a person who shows himself above others, and the New Testament uses it for a posture God opposes. Mary sings that God scatters the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. Paul includes arrogance among sins that mark humanity's rebellion and among the self-loving corruption of the last days.
James and Peter both cite the scriptural principle that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. The word is not a label for confidence, leadership, or appropriate courage. It names a self-exalting heart that resists dependence, despises others, and stands under divine opposition. Hyperephanos therefore belongs with humility, repentance, and grace, not with personality critique.
How the Bible Uses It
Hyperephanos names arrogant pride, the self-exalting posture God scatters, judges, and opposes. Its New Testament uses press the reader toward humility before God and lowliness toward others.
- Luke.1.51
He has performed mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who are proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
Mary celebrates God scattering the proud in the thoughts of their hearts, placing arrogance under the Lord's reversing mercy and judgment.
- Rom.1.30
Slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, and boastful. They invent new forms of evil; they disobey their parents.
Paul includes arrogance in a sin list describing humanity's exchange of God's truth for rebellion, not a minor social flaw.
- 2Tim.3.2
For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,
Arrogance appears among last-days loves turned inward, showing pride as part of a broader disordered self-love.
- Jas.4.6
But He gives us more grace. This is why it says: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
James says God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble in a call to repentance, submission, and nearness to God.
- 1Pet.5.5
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 applies the same principle to church life, urging humility toward one another under God's mighty hand.
Old Testament background
In the LXX, ὑπερήφανος frequently translates גֵּאֶה (H1343), גָּאָה (H1341), and related Hebrew words for pride and arrogance - especially in the Psalms and wisdom literature. It also renders the root of זָדוֹן (H2087) in some contexts. The word carries strong resonance with the Hebrew wisdom tradition's condemnation of pride and the prophetic tradition's announcement of God's judgment against the proud.
Proverbs 3:34 in the LXX ('God opposes the proud') is the most important LXX text for understanding the NT's use of the word.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It[the] proud2×James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:5
arrogant2×Romans 1:30, 2 Timothy 3:2
[those who are] proud1×Luke 1:51
Show sample aligned rows
Luke 1:51ὑπερηφάνουςto[those who are] proudAdjective - Accusative Masculine PluralRomans 1:30ὑπερηφάνουςtoarrogantAdjective - Accusative Masculine Plural2 Timothy 3:2ὑπερήφανοιtoarrogantAdjective - Nominative Masculine PluralJames 4:6ὑπερηφάνοιςto[the] proudAdjective - Dative Masculine Plural1 Peter 5:5ὑπερηφάνοιςto[the] proudAdjective - Dative Masculine Plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowLuke 1:51
Aligned rows5
Books represented5
Luke1Romans12 Timothy1James11 Peter1
Source forms
ὑπερηφάνοις2xhyperēphanoisJames 4:6, 1 Peter 5:5
ὑπερηφάνους2xhyperēphanousLuke 1:51, Romans 1:30
ὑπερήφανοι1xhyperēphanoi2 Timothy 3:2
Parsing patterns
Adjective - Accusative Masculine Plural2xLuke 1:51, Romans 1:30
Adjective - Dative Masculine Plural2xJames 4:6, 1 Peter 5:5
Adjective - Nominative Masculine Plural1x2 Timothy 3:2
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Do not use hyperephanos to condemn confidence, courage, or responsible leadership. The word targets arrogant self-exaltation before God and others.
- Do not preach humility as self-hatred. James and Peter call for lowliness under God that receives grace and serves others.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that hyperephanos condemns all confidence or public leadership. The word targets haughty self-exaltation.
- Do not claim that humility means denying gifts or accepting abuse. James and Peter call believers to humble dependence on God and ordered love for others.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Arrogance rooted in self-exaltation; displaying oneself as superior to others in contempt.
Strong'sG5244
Lexical occurrences5 versesGreek text appearances5 timesWord forms3 forms5 referencesVerse guides0 guides
Study linkJames 4:1–6Source Gloss
arrogant
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
5 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Luke 1:51Adjective Accusative Plural Masculine
ὑπερηφάνουςuperhfanouv
proud, arrogant
Read verseRomans 1:30Adjective Accusative Plural Masculine
ὑπερηφάνους,uperhfanouv
proud, arrogant
Read verse2 Timothy 3:2Adjective Nominative Plural Masculine
ὑπερήφανοι,uperhfanoi
proud, arrogant
Read verseJames 4:6Adjective Dative Plural Masculine
ὑπερηφάνοιςuperhfanoiv
proud, arrogant
Read verse1 Peter 5:5Adjective Dative Plural Masculine
ὑπερηφάνοιςuperhfanoiv
proud, arrogant
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 3 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Form patterns3Aligned forms5Case patternAccusative (2)Number patternPlural (5)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Plural · Masculine2 Tim 3:21×
Dative · Plural · MasculineJas 4:6 · 1 Pet 5:52×
Accusative · Plural · MasculineLuke 1:51 · Rom 1:302×
Selected Scripture Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Witnesses
proud
Showing 1 selected witness from 5 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
ὑπερήφανος is built from these roots:
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
Hyperephanos is severe because Scripture treats pride as more than an attitude problem. It is a vertical and horizontal disorder. Vertically, the proud resist dependence on God and stand under His opposition. Horizontally, they lift themselves above others, turning gifts, knowledge, position, or strength into reasons for contempt. Mary's song places the proud under God's scattering reversal.
Romans 1 includes arrogance in the anatomy of rebellion. Second Timothy 3 places arrogance among loves curved inward. James and Peter give the pastoral answer: humble yourself, submit to God, clothe yourself with humility, and receive grace. The word should make teachers careful. It should not become a weapon for shaming confidence or silencing leadership. It should expose the self-exalting posture that cannot receive grace because it insists on being above.
Anchor passage
Jas.4.6
Doctrinal connections
- G5012 Tapeinophrosyne: Humility is the direct pastoral contrast in James 4 and 1 Peter 5.
- G5485 Charis: God gives grace to the humble, making grace the answer to pride rather than self-improvement alone.
- G5259 hypotasso: Peter joins humility to submission in the church's ordered life.
- G25 Agapao: 2 Timothy 3 shows arrogance growing among disordered loves of self and money.
- G1391 Doxa: Pride seeks glory for the self, while Scripture directs glory to God.
- Luke 1:51: Divine reversal scatters proud thoughts and lifts the lowly in Mary's song.
Hyperephanos carries the sense of being conspicuously above or haughty. The word's force is moral, not merely emotional; it describes arrogant self-elevation.
From Old to New Testament
From Babel to the prophets to Mary's song, Scripture warns that God brings down the proud and gives mercy to the lowly. James and Peter apply that pattern directly to the church: grace is received by the humble, not seized by the self-exalting.