Bible Dictionaries
Ashamed, Shame

Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words

from aischos, "shame," always used in the Passive Voice, signifies (a) "to have a feeling of fear or shame which prevents a person from doing a thing," e.g., Luke 16:3; (b) "the feeling of shame arising from something that has been done," e.g., 2 Corinthians 10:8; Philippians 1:20; 1 John 2:28 , of the possibility of being "ashamed" before the Lord Jesus at His Judgment seat in His Parousia with His saints; in 1 Peter 4:16 , of being ashamed of suffering as a Christian.

a strengthened form of No. 1 (epi, "upon," intensive), is used only in the sense (b) in the preceding paragraph. It is said of being "ashamed" of persons, Mark 8:38; Luke 9:26; the Gospel, Romans 1:16; former evil doing, Romans 6:21; "the testimony of our Lord," 2 Timothy 1:8; suffering for the Gospel, 2 Timothy 1:12; rendering assistance and comfort to one who is suffering for the Gospel's sake, 2 Timothy 1:16 . It is used in Heb., of Christ in calling those who are sanctified His brethren, Hebrews 2:11 , and of God in His not being "ashamed" to be called the God of believers, Hebrews 11:16 . In the Sept., in Job 34:19; Psalm 119:6; Isaiah 1:29 .

another strengthened form (kata, "down," intensive), is used (a) in the Active Voice, "to put to shame," e.g., Romans 5:5; 1 Corinthians 1:27 (AV, "confound"); 1 Corinthians 11:4,5 ("dishonoreth"), and 1 Corinthians 11:22; (b) in the Passive Voice, Romans 9:33; 10:11; 2 Corinthians 7:14; 1 Peter 2:6; 3:16 . See CONFOUND , DISHONOR , SHAME.

"to put to shame," in the Passive Voice, to be ashamed, lit. means "to turn in" (en, "in," trepo, "to turn"), that is, to turn one upon himself and so produce a feeling of "shame," a wholesome "shame" which involves a change of conduct, 1 Corinthians 4:14; 2 Thessalonians 3:14; Titus 2:8 , the only places where it has this meaning. See also REGARD , REVERENCE.

"shame," akin to A, No. 1, signifies (a) subjectively, the confusion of one who is "ashamed" of anything, a sense of "shame," Luke 14:9; those things which "shame" conceals, 2 Corinthians 4:2; (b) objectively, ignominy, that which is visited on a person by the wicked, Hebrews 12:2; that which should arise from guilt, Philippians 3:19; (c) concretely, a thing to be "ashamed" of, Revelation 3:18; Jude 1:13 , where the word is in the plural, lit., "basenesses," "disgraces." See DISHONESTY.

akin to A, No. 4, lit., "a turning in upon oneself," producing a recoil from what is unseemly or vile, is used in 1 Corinthians 6:5; 15:34 . It is associated with aischune in the Psalms, in the Sept., e.g., Psalm 35:26 , where it follows aischune, "let them be clothed with shame (aischune) and confusion (entrope);" Psalm 44:15 , "all the day my shame is before me and the confusion of my face has covered me;" Psalm 69:19 , "Thou knowest my reproach and my shame and my confusion;" so in Psalm 71:13 . In Psalm 109:29 the words are in the opposite order.

Note: Aidos, used in 1 Timothy 2:9 , denotes "modesty, shamefastness" (the right spelling for the AV, "shamefacedness"). In comparison with aischune, aidos is "the nobler word, and implies the nobler motive: in it is involved an innate moral repugnance to the doing of the dishonorable act, which moral repugnance scarcely or not at all exists in aischune" (Trench, Syn, xix). See SHAMEFASTNESS.

"base" (akin to No. 1), is used in 1 Corinthians 11:6; 14:35; Ephesians 5:12 . See FILTHY B, No. 1. Cp. aischrotes, "filthiness," Ephesians 5:4 .

an intensive adjective (a, negative, n euphonic, epi, "upon," intensive, aischune, "shame"), "not ashamed, having no cause for shame," is used in 2 Timothy 2:15 .