Profane
βέβηλοςStrong’s G0952bebēlos
Appears in 5 verses of the New Testament
In short
Bebēlos is the Greek word usually translated “profane”, “worldly” and “profane person”. It appears in 5 verses of the New Testament.
“Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,”
Meaning
Usually translated “profane”, “worldly” and “profane person”. Open the dictionary entry below for the full range of meaning, with the verses it cites.
How it's translated
- profane 3
- worldly 1
- profane person 1
Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.
Where it's used most
- 1 Timothy 3
- 2 Timothy 1
- Hebrews 1
3 books in all.
Explore in Scripture
- 1 Timothy 4:7In contextBut refuse profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness.
- 1 Timothy 6:20In contextO Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called:
- 2 Timothy 2:16But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.
- Hebrews 12:16Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
Greek dictionary
βέβηλος bebēlos · profane
βέβηλος, -ον (βαίνω, whence βηλός, a threshold), [in LXX chiefly for חֹל ;] 1. permitted to be trodden, accessible (see DCG, ii, 422b); hence, 2. (opposite to ἱερός) unhallowed, profane: of things, 1Ti.4:7 6:20, 2Ti.2:16; of men, 1Ti.1:9, Heb.12:16 (cf. κοινός; Cremer, 140). † (AS)
From STEPBible’s Greek lexicon (based on Abbott-Smith).
Webster's 1828 Dictionary
How the English word “profane” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.
PROFA'NE, adjective
[Latin profanus; pro and fanum, a temple.]
- Irreverent to any thing sacred; applied to persons.
- Irreverent; proceeding from a contempt of sacred things, or implying it; as profane words or language; profane swearing.
- Not sacred; secular; relating to secular things; as profane history.
- Polluted; not pure.
All definitions and other forms of “profane”
- Not purified or holy; allowed for common use; as a profane place. and 48. Ezekiel 42:20
- Obscene; heathenish; tending to bring reproach on religion; as profane fables. 1 Timothy 4:7
PROFA'NE, verb transitive
To violate any thing sacred, or treat it with abuse, irreverence, obloquy or contempt; as, to profane the name of God; to profane the sabbath; to profane the Scriptures or the ordinances of God.
- To pollute; to defile; to apply to temporal uses; to use as base or common. Ezekiel 24:21
- To violate. Malachi 2:11
- To pollute; to debase. Leviticus 21:4
- To put to a wrong use.
Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). Verse references are checked against the KJV. Read the full entry.
Verses are from the King James Version. Word meanings come from the original Greek, not from any one translation.