Exalted pride or arrogance β the lifted-up posture of a heart that forgets its dependence on God.
The Hebrew gevah derives from gavah (to be high, lifted up) and denotes proud arrogance β the inward disposition that sets itself against God. It appears in Job 22:29 ('When men are humbled, you say, 'Lift them up!' and he saves the humble person'), in Proverbs 8:13 where wisdom declares hatred for gevah, and in Ezekiel 7:10 where gevah is connected to doom: 'The rod has budded, pride (gevah) has blossomed β violence has grown into a rod to punish the wicked.'
Biblical anthropology consistently identifies pride (gevah, gaavah, gaon) as the root sin β the primordial turn from God-centeredness to self-centeredness. Proverbs 8:13 places gevah in the mouth of divine Wisdom herself as the primary object of her hatred: 'To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate pride (gevah) and arrogance.' This connects to Isaiah 14's portrait of Lucifer's fall β 'I will make myself like the Most High' β and to the NT principle of James 4:6: 'God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.'