Bible Encyclopedias
Confusion

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

kon -fū´zhun ( בּשׁת , bōsheth , "shame, paleness," כּלמּה , kelimmāh , "blushing," תּהוּ , tōhū ; ἀκαταστασία , akatastası́a , σύγχυσις , súgchusis ): In the Old Testament bōsheth (1 Samuel 20:30; Psalm 109:29 the King James Version) and kelimmāh (Psalm 44:15; Isaiah 30:3 ) are the words most frequently translated "confusion"; tōhū , "wastiness," "emptiness" is so translated (Isaiah 24:10; Isaiah 34:11; Isaiah 41:29 ), also ḳālōn , "lightness," "contempt" (Job 10:15 = ignominy, the American Standard Revised Version) and tebhel , "profanation" (Leviticus 18:23; Leviticus 20:12 ); ra‛ash , "shaking," "trembling," rendered "confused" in Isaiah 9:5 the King James Version; compare the Revised Version (British and American). Greek akatastasia , "instability" is translated "confusion" (1 Corinthians 14:33; James 3:16 ); sugchusis , "a pouring out together" (Acts 19:29 ). In The Wisdom of Solomon 14:26, "changing of kind" (the King James Version) is rendered "confusion of sex."