Language Studies

Hebrew Thoughts

lûwts - לוץ (Strong's #3887 )
Scorn

"Surely He scorns the scornful, But gives grace to the humble." (Proverbs 3:34) is a an interesting verb with two or three supposed spellings and possibly two supposed root meanings. Since the middle consonant is a weak letter and often drops out in verbal forms it is supplied almost by conjecture, of its 27 occurrences we find 9 occasions with י 'y', 1 with ו 'w', and 17 with the 2nd root consonant absent altogether. In Duncan's lexicon of 1839 it is simply listed under ל־צ l-ts next to the doubtful root לצץ lâtsats (Strong's #3945).

The root itself is considered to mean "to scorn" or "mock" and so it is translated in 23 of its 27 instances but somehow it also manages to mean "to interpret" in rare uses. Some suppose dual unrelated meanings, a homonym or homograph - words that have the same spelling and even sound but differ in meaning, such as bill (invoice) and bill (duck's beak) in English.

Fuerst (1871, 4th edn.) splits the root into two. He makes the first to mean "to leap, jump" and hence to "mock or deride". This he derives from a biconsonantal root לץ lâts "with the fundamental idea of restless, reckless, wanton hopping and leaping" (you can just imagine "wanton hopping"!). He notes with some legitimacy similar Arabic roots mean "to be restless" or "excited" and that the same sounding syllable עלץ l-ts / עלס l-s / עלז l-z even גּלש l-sh occurs with the regular meaning of elevation or joy. For example, עלץ ‘âlats (Strong's #5970) means "exultant joy" and he transfers the idea into a kind of negative exulting over someone, i.e., mocking.

Proverbs 21:24 describes "A proud and haughty man, scorner is his name" as one who is puffed up, or raised up and haughty, which would fit loosely with the idea above. The word is used in Proverbs 3:34 in contrast to the ענוים ‘anâvîym "meek, humble" (Strong's #6035).

The second root Fuerst derives from the idea of being knotted or twisted together as applied to words, hence an Arabic root "to speak covertly or in riddles" and thus the need for an interpreter, a meaning the word clearly has in Genesis 42:23 of Joseph's brothers speaking to Joseph through an Egyptian interpreter. With less certainty we also have the translations of Job 33:23 as an "intercessor or mediator" or 2 Chronicles 32:31 of an "ambassador or envoy" of the princes of Babylon.

Isaiah 43:27 in the NKJV reads as follows: "Your first father sinned, And your mediators have transgressed against Me.", yet the JPS has "intercessors", NIV "spokesmen", KJV "teachers", Latin Vulgate "interpreters", and Greek Septuagint "rulers". So which should it be? It probably refers to the prophets and particularly the priests who sinned, or perhaps to Moses and Aaron especially as the appointed "go-betweens" or "spokesmen" for God.

Gesenius thinks differently to Fuerst and regards לוץ lûwts as "to stammer", "speak in a foreign tongue", particularly in the sense of it being unintelligible to non-native hearers, hence appearing to be a mocking.

The word "tongue" may give us a clue as to how verbal riducule can be associated with interpreting. In Hebrew "lip" can be used for pronunciation or dialect and "tongue" for a language. The Hebrew לשון "tongue" (Strong's #3956 from #3960) can also be used negatively as in "a slanderer" (Psalm 140:12; Jeremiah 18:18). This has the same affinity to לצ l-ts via the primary syllable לש l-sh with the sense of "to lap, or use the tongue".

This might mean that there are not two root meanings but one, to do with the tongue. For "tongue" covers the concept of interpreting or mediating between parties of different tongues and also the negaitve aspect of mocking and making lapping "la-la" sounds as in the Hebrew inane repetition in Isaiah 28:10-11: "For tsaw lâtsâw tsaw lâtsâw . . . for with stammering/mocking (לעג lâ‘êgh Strong's #3934) lips and another tongue He will speak to this people".

The majority of uses, some 17 out of 27, fall in the book of Proverbs (e.g., 9:7-8; 13:1; 14:6,9; 19:25,28,29; 21:11; 24:9), 3 in Isaiah, 2 in each of Psalms and Job. In the book of Proverbs much is made of the fool and the scoffer or scorner seems to be another unteachable rogue who will not receive wisdom, probably because they are too busy lashing out with the tongue to be learning with the ear. The scorner is akin to the wicked and the sinner in Psalm 1:1 and is to be avoided.

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Meet the Author

Charles Loder has an MA in Jewish Studies from Rutgers University. His work is in Biblical Hebrew and comparative semitic linguistics, along with a focus on digital humanities. His work can be found on his Academia page and Github.