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Language Studies
Hebrew Thoughts
râ‘a‘ - רָעַע (Strong's #7489)
Be evil, bad, rage, hurt, break
râ‘a‘ 'be evil, bad, rage, hurt, break' רָעַע (Strong's #7489)
"My people...are wise to do evil but to do good, they know not" (Jeremiah 4:22)
רָעַע râ‘a‘ (Strong's #7489, x83) is the root verb behind the more common and familiar "evil" רַע ra‘ (Strong's #7451, x663). Both "peace" שָׁלוֹם shâlôwm (Strong's #7965, x236) and "good" טוֹב tôwbh (Strong's #2896, x559) appear as opposites to רַע ra‘ as they do to some extent with the verb רָעַע râ‘a‘ (Jeremiah 40:4) and with יָטַב yâtabh (Strong's #3190, x107) "to be good" (Leviticus 5:4; Isaiah 41:23; Jeremiah 4:22, 10:5 and 3 other verses).
As such, and from its use in other ancient languages, it seems that the idea behind רָעַע râ‘a‘ is that of "rage, disturbance, breaking", the opposites of peaceful calm, and actions that are contrary to doing good. We naturally use the the words bad or evil for that, in English, but the Hebrew is broader in meaning with a wide range of translations from causing hurt, pain, affliction, breaking, doing harm, dishonesty, to ethical, immoral and idolatrous issues etc.
Whilst the noun first occurs in the Fall passage about knowing good and evil (Genesis 3:5) the verb is first encountered in Lot's dealing with the men of Sodom and their desire to "deal wickedly" with his angelic visitors (Genesis 19:7,9). It is often used to describe the way the Israelites were treated by the Egyptians (Exodus 5:23; Numbers 20:15; Deuteronomy 26:6).
God seems, several times, to be the subject of רָעַע râ‘a‘ (Psalm 44:2; Jeremiah 25:29, 31:28; Micah 4:6; Zechariah 8:14) causing affliction, even of his own people or city. Clearly the verb can mean "destructive action" rather than "pure evil". Zechariah 8:14 is translated variously as "thus says the Lord, just as I purposed to do evil/punish/harm/afflict...". Joshua 24:15,20 has Joshua challenging the people to a record of all the good God had done yet they were regarding "serving the Lord" as "evil", to this he replies that though he once did them good he could turn and do them "harm/evil".
One's eye עַיִן ‘ayin could "be evil" which was usually an idiom for spite or lack of generosity and in Deuteronomy 15:9 is sourced from a "wicked heart". Equally, one's lips could "do evil" or swear to do something bad (Leviticus 5:4).
Similar to רָעַע râ‘a‘ is רָשַׁע râsha‘ (Strong's #7561, x34) "to act wickedly" and to the noun form רָשָׁע râshâ‘ (Strong's #7563, x263) of which it is paralleled - both using the participle form of רָעַע râ‘a‘: "I hate the gathering of evildoers // and will not sit with the wicked" (Psalm 26:5), "don't fret because of evildoers // nor be envious of the wicked" (Proverbs 24:19). Psalm 37:1, worded almost the same as Proverbs 24:19, switches out רָשַׁע râshâ‘ for עֶוְל ‘evel (Strong's #5766, x55) "wicked iniquity or injustice".
Jeremiah 11:16 describes a tree (Israel) which is burned by God and the branches of which become "broken" or "fruitless/worthless" as a result. The idea of "breaking" or "harming" is readily seen in Jeremiah 15:12 "Can anyone break/smash/harm iron?". Other verbs meaning to "break, crush, crash, oppress" have similar forms: רָעַשׁ râ‘ash (Strong's #7493, x30), רָצַח râtsach (Strong's #7523, x30), רָצַץ râtsats (Strong's #7533, x19) and more besides.
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