Lexical Summary
ga'own: Pride, majesty, exaltation, arrogance
Original Word: גָּאוֹן
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: ga'own
Pronunciation: gah-ohn'
Phonetic Spelling: (gaw-ohn')
KJV: arrogancy, excellency(-lent), majesty, pomp, pride, proud, swelling
Word Origin: [from H1342 (גָּאָה - highly exalted)]
1. the same as H1346
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
majesty, pomp, pride, proud, swelling
From ga'ah; the same as ga'avah -- arrogancy, excellency(-lent), majesty, pomp, pride, proud, swelling.
see HEBREW ga'ah
see HEBREW ga'avah
Brown-Driver-Briggs
Hosea 5:5 —
Job 40:10 5t.; construct
Leviticus 26:19 31t.; suffix etc.
Exodus 15:7 9t.; plural suffix
Ezekiel 16:56; —
exaltation, majesty, excellence,
, e.g. Egypt Ezekiel 32:12, Chaldeans Isaiah 13:11,19; Isaiah 14:11, Philistines Zechariah 9:6, Assyria Zechariah 10:11, Jacob Psalm 47:5; Amos 6:8; Amos 8:7; Nahum 2:3, Israel Hosea 5:5; Hosea 7:10 (probably appellation of ), Nahum 2:3, Judah Jeremiah 13:9, Jerusalem Jeremiah 13:9; Ezekiel 16:56; pride of her strength Ezekiel 30:6,18; Ezekiel 33:28; Ezekiel 7:24 (but Ew Hi Co read ); Leviticus 26:19; Ezekiel 24:21; the fruit of land of Judah will become majestic and beautiful Isaiah 4:2; the majesty of all the splendour (of Tyre) Isaiah 23:9; Zion is to become an everlasting excellency Isaiah 60:15.
Exodus 15:7; Isaiah 24:14; Micah 5:3; Isaiah 2:10,19,21; Job 37:4; Job 40:10.
majesty of Jordan, referring to the green and shady banks, clothed with willows, tamarisks, and cane, in which the lions made their covert Jeremiah 49:19; Jeremiah 50:44; Zechariah 11:3, and therefore dangerous Jeremiah 12:5 (Ew thinks of the swelling of its agitated waters); majesty of thy waves Job 38:11.
pride (bad sense) Job 35:12; Psalm 59:13; Proverbs 8:13; Proverbs 16:18; Ezekiel 7:20; Ezekiel 16:49; Zephaniah 2:10; of Moab Isaiah 16:6 (twice in verse) = Jeremiah 48:29 (twice in verse).
Topical Lexicon
The Scope of the Term Gaʾon (Strong’s 1347) gathers in a spectrum of ideas that run from magnificent splendor to inflated arrogance. Scripture applies it to the matchless greatness of the LORD, to the legitimate glory He confers on His people, and to the sinful self-exaltation that provokes His judgment. About forty-nine occurrences, scattered from Leviticus to Zechariah, display this two-edged usage and furnish a rich theology of glory and pride.
God’s Majesty and Exaltation
At its purest, gaʾon celebrates the incomparable grandeur of the covenant God.
• Isaiah 2:10 portrays rebels fleeing “the splendor of His majesty.”
• In Psalm 93:1 the LORD’s royal robe is strength; His kingdom is “from everlasting,” and the psalm closes exalting the LORD “for endless days,” a theme echoed by gaʾon texts that exalt His unassailable throne.
• Isaiah 12:5 links the singing of the redeemed to the LORD’s “excellent things,” underscoring that worship is a response to divine greatness, never a means of magnifying man.
Because His majesty is intrinsic, God remains unthreatened by human boasting and is fully able to abase it whenever He wills (Daniel 4:37).
Human Pride and Divine Opposition
Gaʾon turns negative when creaturely hearts claim what belongs to the Creator.
• Proverbs 16:18 warns, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”
• Proverbs 8:13 is more personal: “To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate arrogant pride, evil conduct, and perverse speech.”
• Leviticus 26:19 opens the covenant curses: “I will break down your stubborn pride and make your sky like iron and your land like bronze.” Hard-hearted Israel would learn that gaʾon against God secures drought, defeat, and exile.
• Hosea 5:5 summarizes the spiritual cause: “Israel’s arrogance testifies against them.” Pride is not merely an emotional attitude; it is evidence in a cosmic courtroom, exposing the soul’s rebellion against its rightful King.
National Hubris and Inevitable Collapse
Entire empires are judged for gaʾon.
• Isaiah 13:19 forecasts for Babylon that “the splendor and beauty of the Chaldeans will be overthrown like Sodom and Gomorrah.”
• Ezekiel 30:6 strikes Egypt: “The pride of her strength will come to an end.”
• Obadiah 3 exposes Edom: “The pride of your heart has deceived you.”
• Amos 6:8 hears the LORD swear, “I abhor the pride of Jacob.” Even the covenant nation is not immune; privilege heightens responsibility.
These texts unite to show that political power, cultural achievement, and military might all dissolve under the weight of arrogance. Whatever rises in self-exaltation God vows to bring low (Isaiah 2:11–12).
Israel’s Glory and Future Redemption
Paradoxically, gaʾon can denote the very glory God intends for His people.
• Psalm 47:4 describes the Promised Land as “the pride of Jacob, whom He loves.”
• Micah 5:4 foresees Messiah standing “in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD His God,” securing safety for His flock.
• Isaiah 4:2 envisions “the Branch of the LORD” as “beautiful and glorious”; Israel’s future fertility and beauty will surpass her former gaʾon.
• Ezekiel 24:21 calls the temple “the pride of your strength.” Its destruction in 586 B.C. showed that even legitimate glory becomes an idol when divorced from obedience, yet prophetic hope flows on: Zechariah 2:5 promises that the LORD Himself will be “a wall of fire around her” and “the glory within.” The fulfilled restoration in Christ culminates in the heavenly Jerusalem, whose radiance is the Lamb Himself (Revelation 21:23).
Nature’s Swelling Might as an Emblem
Gaʾon also illustrates surge or majesty in creation.
• Job 38:11 recalls the Creator’s decree to the sea: “Here your proud waves must stop.”
• Jeremiah 12:5; 49:19; 50:44; and Zechariah 11:3 speak of “the pride of the Jordan,” the luxuriant thickets along the river where lions once roared. Such imagery fuses awe-inspiring power with the warning that God can wither even the wild luxuriance He once planted.
Ministry Lessons and Contemporary Application
1. Worship must hold God’s gaʾon central. Services that magnify human personality or performance flirt with the very pride Scripture condemns.
2. Personal discipleship requires vigilance against subtle forms of self-exaltation—intellectual superiority, social media envy, doctrinal one-upmanship. James 4:6, echoing Proverbs 3:34, still stands: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
3. National leaders and citizens alike must remember that “righteousness exalts a nation” (Proverbs 14:34); unrepentant gaʾon courts catastrophe.
4. Suffering may be God’s scalpel to excise pride. Israel’s exile, Nebuchadnezzar’s madness (Daniel 4), and Paul’s thorn (2 Corinthians 12:7) all illustrate a loving purpose behind humbling.
Intertextual and Theological Connections
• Gaʾon converges with the New Testament concept of kauchaomai (“to boast”). Jeremiah 9:23–24 sets the theological frame: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom… but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me.” Paul quotes this in 1 Corinthians 1:31, shifting all legitimate boasting to the cross of Christ.
• The crucifixion is the climactic inversion of gaʾon. Humanity’s violent pride meets divine majesty veiled in suffering; resurrection then vindicates true glory (Philippians 2:5–11).
• Eschatologically, Revelation 18’s fall of Babylon reprises Isaiah 13, showing that the pattern of humbling gaʾon persists to the end of the age.
Key References
Leviticus 26:19; Job 38:11; Psalm 47:4; Proverbs 8:13; 16:18; Isaiah 2:10–12; 4:2; 13:19; Jeremiah 12:5; Ezekiel 24:21; Hosea 5:5; Amos 6:8; Zechariah 11:3. Each text supplies a facet of the same diamond: only God possesses unblemished gaʾon; every attempt to seize it apart from Him ends in ruin, yet He delights to clothe the humble with a reflected splendor that will shine forever in Christ.
Forms and Transliterations
בִּגְא֕וֹן בִּגְא֣וֹן בִּגְא֥וֹן בִגְאוֹנָ֑ם בגאון בגאונם גְּא֣וֹן גְּא֥וֹן גְּא֧וֹן גְּא֨וֹן גְּאֹנֽוֹ׃ גְּאוֹנ֑וֹ גְּאוֹנ֔וֹ גְּאוֹנְךָ֖ גְּאוֹנֶ֖ךָ גְּאוֹנָ֑ם גְּאוֹנָֽיִךְ׃ גְאֽוֹן־ גְאוֹן־ גָּא֑וֹן גָּא֨וֹן גָֽא֣וֹן גאון גאון־ גאונו גאוניך׃ גאונך גאונם גאנו׃ וְגָא֨וֹן ׀ וּגְאוֹנ֛וֹ וגאון וגאונו כִּגְא֖וֹן כגאון לְגָא֣וֹן לִגְא֣וֹן לגאון מִגְּא֣וֹן מגאון biḡ’ōwn ḇiḡ’ōwnām ḇiḡ·’ō·w·nām biḡ·’ō·wn bigon gā’ōwn ḡā’ōwn gā·’ō·wn ḡā·’ō·wn gaon gə’ōnōw gə’ōwn ḡə’ōwn- gə’ōwnām gə’ōwnāyiḵ ḡə’ōwneḵā gə’ōwnḵā gə’ōwnōw gə·’ō·nōw gə·’ō·w·nā·yiḵ gə·’ō·w·nām ḡə·’ō·w·ne·ḵā gə·’ō·w·nōw gə·’ō·wn ḡə·’ō·wn- gə·’ō·wn·ḵā geon geoNam geoNayich geonCha geoNecha geoNo kiḡ’ōwn kiḡ·’ō·wn kigon lə·ḡā·’ō·wn ləḡā’ōwn legaon liḡ’ōwn liḡ·’ō·wn ligon mig·gə·’ō·wn miggə’ōwn miggeon ū·ḡə·’ō·w·nōw ūḡə’ōwnōw ugeoNo vegaon vigoNam wə·ḡā·’ō·wn wəḡā’ōwn
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