LIBERTY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF DIVINITY

Word Study: Verb

Submitted to Dr. xxxx xxxxxx

in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of

OTCL 505

Hebrew Language Tools

by

xxxxxxxx

December 8th, 20xx

 Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 1

Hebrew Word ................................................................................................................................ 2

Hebrew Word Usage ..................................................................................................................... 2

English Words Usage .................................................................................................................... 3

Contextual Setting ......................................................................................................................... 3

Bibliography .................................................................................................................................. 5

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 Introduction

The passage I chose for my word study assignment is Lamentations 1:18-20, which says

“The Lord is righteous; for I have rebelled against his commandment: hear, I pray you,
all people. and behold my sorrow: my virgins and my young men are gone into captivity.
I called for my loves, but they deceived me: my priests and mine elders gave up the ghost
in the city, while they sought their meat to relieve their souls. Behold, O Lord; for I am in
distress: my bowels are troubled; mine heart is turned within me; for I have grievously
rebelled: abroad bereaveth, at home there is as death” (KJV).
Chet Roden says in our textbook that if a word is used multiple times in a passage, that it

has some significance to the passage.1

Thus, the verb that I decided to focus on for this word study is “rebelled.” The book of

Lamentations is 5 separate laments, a passionate expression of grief or sorrow, over the kingdom

of Jerusalem being conquered by Babylon.2 It is believed that this book was written firsthand by

someone suffering during the fall of Jerusalem in present tense, due to their way of expressing

pain over the destruction, and even concluding the book of Lamentations with the complaint that

God has forsaken Israel and abandoned them.3 Some scholars do believe that the unnamed author

of this book was the prophet of Jeremiah, with the Latin vulgate crediting him as the author.4

This passage is similar to the laments in the book of Psalms, where they are expressions of

sorrow and grieving over a great military defeat that has led to the pillaging of Jerusalem. The

laments are not just about the fall of Jerusalem, but the belief that God has forsaken Israel/Judah

1
Chet Roden, Elementary Biblical Hebrew: An Introduction to the language and its History (San Diego:
Cognella, 2009), 64.
2
Ed Hindson & Yates, Gary. The Essence of the Old Testament: A Survey. B&H Academic. Nashville, TN.
(2012) pg. 332.
3
Ibid.
4
HCSB Study Bible. Holman Bible Publishers, 2010.

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for their rebellious ways. The author is speaking on behalf of Judah, saying that she has rebelled

against God’s commandments.

Hebrew Word

The English word rebel in the passage of Lamentations 1:18-20 derives from the Hebrew

word marah, or ‫מָ ָרה‬. It is a 1st person verb and a primitive root. The Blue Letter Bible website

lists this word as the numbered word #H4784 in Strong’s Hebrew concordance/Lexicon.5 The

word is pronounced as mä·rä'. Strong’s definition of marah is “to be (causatively, make) bitter

(or unpleasant); (figuratively) to rebel (or resist; causatively, to provoke): Bitter, change, be

disobedient, disobey, provocation.”6 In the Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament,

the word marah is defined as “to be recalcitrant.”7 Which can translated to someone having an

uncooperative attitude.

Hebrew Word Usage

Strong’s Greek Hebrew Dictionary states that the word marah is used 44 times in the

King James Version translation, and 43 times in the HCSB translation.8 The word marah is used

the most in the book of Psalms with 10 times, followed by Deuteronomy with 8 times, and then

Isaiah being used 4 times. The book of Lamentations only uses the word marah 3 times, and all 3

are in the chosen passage for this wordy study assignment.

5
“Lexicon:: Strong’s H4784 – marah – King James Version,” Blue Letter Bible, accessed December 7 th,
2019, https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H4784&t=KJV
6
Ibid.
7
Walter Baumgartner and Ludwig Koehler, The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament
Leiden: Brill, (2000).
8
“Hebrew Strong’s Number: 4784” in Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary.

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 English Words Usage

Marah is used about 19 times translated as the English word rebel, 9 times translated to

the word rebellious, 7 times in the manner of provoke, about 2 times for disobedient, and about

once each for English words such as against, bitter, changed, disobeyed, grievously,

provocation, and rebels. When used with the Qal (simple and active) stem, the word can

translated to the English words of disobedient or rebellious, within the context of it being

directed towards a father figure or God. When used with the Hiphil stem (active and causative)

the word can be translated as to “show rebelliousness, show disobedience, or disobey.”9

Contextual Setting

From reading the translations, it’s easy to determine that the majority of the times the

word marah is used is in reference to someone being told something, and going against it.

Another contextual setting could be mankind being uncooperative with God’s teachings, and

thinking their own ways are better. In the context of Lamentations 1, the author is portraying

Jerusalem as a grieving widow, after it’s destruction at the hands of the Babylonian empire.10

Feeling abandoned by the allies of Israel and forsaken by God, due to a misplace of trust in her

worldly allies over God. A proud princess now depicted as a slave that is acknowledging their

sins are why they are in bondage now, and pleading to God to free them. The sin being that

Jerusalem has put their own ways above God and His ways in favor of worldly things. They

rebelled and had an attitude that was in disposition of God’s commandments. Similar to

Deuteronomy 9:23, when God gave the Israelites a direct commandment to take a certain land,

9
“Lexicon:: Strong’s H4784 – marah – King James Version,” Blue Letter Bible
10
Hindson. The Essence of the Old Testament: A Survey. pg. 334

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but disobeyed God and refused to do it. Within this act of rebellion, can be argued a lack of faith

in God’s way amongst the rebellious attitude. Lamentations does provide the proper context for

this, as the book concludes with the idea that Jerusalem was abandoned by God, and there being

no resolution between God and Israel.

In this setting, the word uses the Qal stem, but in verses like Psalm 78:56 and Psalm

106:7,33,and 43, it is used with the Hiphil stem, which translate the word to provoke instead of

rebel. The context of the listed Psalms passages is in reference to people provoking God by their

disobedient ways.

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 Bibliography

Baumgartner, Walter and Ludwig Koehler, The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old
Testament Leiden: Brill, (2000).
HCSB Study Bible. Holman Bible Publishers, 2010.

“Hebrew Strong’s Number: 4784” in Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary.

Hindson, Ed, & Gary Yates. The Essence of the Old Testament: A Survey. B&H Academic.
Nashville, TN. (2012) pg. 332.

“Lexicon:: Strong’s H4784 – marah – King James Version,” Blue Letter Bible, accessed
December 7th, 2019,
https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H4784&t=KJV

Roden, Chet. Elementary Biblical Hebrew: An Introduction to the language and its History (San
Diego: Cognella, 2009), 64.