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The seven deadly sins
Pride
Latin superbia · Greek hyperēphania · set against it: humility
In the Bible pride is being “high” — raised up in heart and eyes, above others and before God. “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall,” says Proverbs 16:18, and haughty eyes come first among the things the LORD hates (Proverbs 6:17). Later readers saw it in two stories. At Babel the builders said, “let us build for ourselves a city with a tower that reaches to the heavens, that we may make a name for ourselves” (Genesis 11:4). Nebuchadnezzar looked at his city and said, “Is this not Babylon the Great, which I myself have built” (Daniel 4:30); he lost his kingdom for a time and afterward praised the King of heaven, who “is able to humble those who walk in pride” (Daniel 4:37).
Gregory the Great called pride the queen and root of the other vices, and medieval writers often put it first. Humility was set against it. Dante makes pride the first terrace of his Mount Purgatory, where the proud walk bent under heavy stones past carvings of humble deeds. Artists drew Pride as a richly dressed woman with a mirror and a peacock, the bird that spreads its tail to be seen.
Key verses
Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to Him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,“Come,” they said, “let us build for ourselves a city with a tower that reaches to the heavens, that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of all the earth.”the king exclaimed, “Is this not Babylon the Great, which I myself have built by the might of my power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?”Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, for all His works are true and all His ways are just. And He is able to humble those who walk in pride.I tell you, this man, rather than the Pharisee, went home justified. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”All verses on this topic
Sources
Adapted and shortened from the Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0
Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary © 2023 Tyndale House Publishers · CC BY-SA 4.0 — Pride; Humility; Babel; Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadrezzar*; Gregory the Great, Moralia in Job 31.45 (c. 578–595); Dante Alighieri, Purgatorio, cantos 10–27 (c. 1308–1320)
Adapted from Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary: articles chosen, shortened and retold in our own words (history, nature and daily life only) and, in languages other than English, machine-translated. The original work by Tyndale House Publishers is available for free at tyndaleopenresources.com.
