5197. hubristés

Lexical Summary

hubristés: Insolent, violent, arrogant, one who behaves with wanton violence or outrage.

Original Word: ὑβριστής
Part of Speech: Noun, Masculine
Transliteration: hubristés
Pronunciation: hoo-bris-tace'
Phonetic Spelling: (hoo-bris-tace')
KJV: despiteful, injurious
NASB: insolent, violent aggressor
Word Origin: [from G5195 (ὑβρίζω - mistreated)]

1. an insulter, i.e. maltreater

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance

violent, injurious.

From hubrizo; an insulter, i.e. Maltreater -- despiteful, injurious.

see GREEK hubrizo

HELPS Word-studies

Cognate: 5197 hybristḗs (a masculine noun derived from 5195 /hybrízō) – properly, someone "damaging" others by lashing out with a nasty spirit. This kind of individual is insolent (delights in wrong-doing) – finding pleasure in hurting others (G. R. Berry). See 5195 (hybrizō).

NAS Exhaustive Concordance

Word Origin
from hubrizó
Definition
a violent, insolent man
NASB Translation
insolent (1), violent aggressor (1).

Thayer's Greek Lexicon

STRONGS NT 5197: ὑβριστής

ὑβριστής, ὑβριστοῦ, ὁ (ὑβρίζω), from Homer down, "an insolent man, 'one who, uplifted with pride, either heaps insulting language upon others or does them some shameful act of wrong'" (Fritzsche, Ep. ad Romans, i., p. 86; (cf. Trench, Synonyms, § xxix.; Schmidt, chapter 177; Cope on Aristotle, rhet. 2, 2, 5 (see ὕβρις))): Romans 1:30; 1 Timothy 1:13.

Topical Lexicon

Semantic Nuances

The term ὑβριστής conveys more than simple roughness; it depicts an aggressive arrogance that delights in humiliating or injuring others. It combines outward violence with inward contempt, the swagger of one who feels above all restraint—divine or human.

Occurrences in the New Testament

• Romans 1:30 portrays humanity’s descent into depravity, listing the “insolent” (ὑβριστάς) among those whom God “gave over” to a debased mind. Here the word stands between “God-haters” and “arrogant,” emphasizing hostility that is both vertical (against God) and horizontal (against neighbor).
• 1 Timothy 1:13 recounts Paul’s pre-conversion past: “I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a violent man” (ὑβριστήν). Paul uses the singular to own the vice personally, intensifying the wonder of God’s mercy that transformed such a man into an apostle.

Cultural and Historical Background

In classical Greek thought hubris was a capital vice—an extravagant pride that provoked the judgment of the gods. Greco-Roman law punished it as a social cancer. Scripture acknowledges this cultural understanding but grounds the offense in rebellion against the Creator. Thus, while pagan courts condemned hubris for disrupting civic harmony, Paul indicts it for dishonoring God and marring His image in humanity.

Theological Significance

1. Violation of the greatest commandments: insolence rejects the love of God (Romans 1:30) and love of neighbor (contrast Matthew 22:37-39).
2. Link to blasphemy: Paul couples ὑβριστής with βλάσφημος (“blasphemer”) in 1 Timothy 1:13, showing that violence toward people and irreverence toward God spring from the same root.
3. Evidence of total depravity: the vice list of Romans 1 culminates in a mind void of judgment, underscoring humanity’s need for the gospel.

Related Biblical Concepts

• ἀσεβής (“ungodly”)—lack of reverence that precedes insolence.
• ὑπερήφανος (“arrogant”)—inner pride that often erupts as ὑβριστής.
• πρᾳΰτης (“gentleness”)—the Spirit-wrought virtue that counters insolence (Galatians 5:23).

Contrasts with Christlike Virtue

Jesus models the antithesis of ὑβριστής. Though omnipotent, He is “gentle and humble in heart” (Matthew 11:29). His meekness disarms hostility, bearing the violence of sinners rather than perpetrating it. In Him the believer finds both example and enabling grace to reject insolence.

Pastoral Implications

1. Testimony: Paul’s transformation assures that even the most aggressive sinners are not beyond redeeming grace.
2. Church discipline: patterns of verbal or physical abuse must be confronted as evidence of the flesh, not merely personality quirks.
3. Leadership qualifications: an overseer must be “not violent but gentle” (1 Timothy 3:3), the polar opposite of ὑβριστής.

Practical Ministry Applications

• Counseling: help converts identify lingering attitudes of contempt, replacing them with servant-heartedness.
• Evangelism: when faced with scoffing hostility, remember Paul once embodied the same vice; patience may win the next apostle.
• Social witness: advocate for the oppressed; challenge cultural norms that celebrate brutality in word or deed.

Eschatological Considerations

2 Timothy 3:3 forecasts a culture “without self-control, brutal,” echoing the spirit of ὑβριστής that will intensify before Christ’s return. The church must therefore cultivate gentleness as a prophetic counterculture, pointing forward to the peace of the coming kingdom.

Summary

ὑβριστής exposes the violent arrogance lodged in fallen hearts, displayed both in Paul’s pre-conversion life and in society at large. The gospel alone subdues such insolence, replacing it with humility, gentleness, and sacrificial love—virtues made possible through union with the humble, crucified, and risen Christ.

Forms and Transliterations

υβριστας υβριστάς ὑβριστάς υβριστην υβριστήν ὑβριστήν υβριστής υβριστικόν υβριστού υβριστών υγίακε υγιάσει υγιασθέν υγιασθή υγιασθήναι υγιάσθησαν υγιάσωσιν hybristas hybristás hybristen hybristēn hybristḗn ubristas ubristen ubristēn

Englishman's Concordance

Romans 1:30 N-AMP
GRK: καταλάλους θεοστυγεῖς ὑβριστάς ὑπερηφάνους ἀλαζόνας
NAS: haters of God, insolent, arrogant,
KJV: haters of God, despiteful, proud,
INT: slanderers hateful to God insolent arrogant boastful

1 Timothy 1:13 N-AMS
GRK: διώκτην καὶ ὑβριστήν ἀλλὰ ἠλεήθην
NAS: and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet
KJV: and injurious: but
INT: persecutor and insolent but I was shown mercy

Strong's Greek 5197
2 Occurrences

ὑβριστάς — 1 Occ.
ὑβριστήν — 1 Occ.