Bible Encyclopedias
Fret, Fretting

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

(חרה , ḥārāh , מאר , mā'ar ): To "fret" is from for (prefix) and etan , "to eat," "to consume." The word is both transitive and intransitive in King James Version: (1) transitive as translation of ḥārāh , "to burn," Hithpael, "to fret one's self," "to be angry" (Psalm 37:1 , "Fret not thyself because of evil-doers"; Psalm 37:7 , Psalm 37:8; Proverbs 24:19 ); of ḳācaph , "to be angry," etc. (Isaiah 8:21 , "They shall fret themselves, and curse," etc.); of rāghaz , to be moved" (with anger, etc.) (Ezekiel 16:43 , "Thou hast fretted me in all these things," the American Standard Revised Version "raged against me"). For Leviticus 13:55 , see under Fretting below. (2) Intransitive, it is the translation of rā‛am , "to rage," Hiphil, "to provoke to anger" (1 Samuel 1:6 , "Her rival provoked her sore, to make her fret"); of zā‛aph , "to be sad," "to fret" (Proverbs 19:3 , "His heart fretteth against Yahweh").

Fretting in the sense of eating away, consuming, is used of the leprosy, mā'ar , "to be sharp, bitter, painful" (Leviticus 13:51 , Leviticus 13:52; Leviticus 14:44 , "a fretting leprosy"; in Leviticus 13:55 we have "it (is) fret inward" ("fret" past participle), as the translation of pehetheth from pāḥath , "to dig" (a pit), the word meaning "a depression," "a hollow or sunken spot in a garment affected by a kind of leprosy," the Revised Version (British and American) "it is a fret."

Revised Version has "fretful" for "angry" (Proverbs 21:19 ), margin "vexation."

Bibliography Information
Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. Entry for 'Fret, Fretting'. International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. https://www.studylight.org/​encyclopedias/​eng/​isb/​f/fret-fretting.html. 1915.