Hebrew word · H1605

גָּעַר

go'er

to rebuke

To shout at, rebuke, threaten, blast.

Appears 14 times in 13 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

(Qal) to rebuke, reprove, corrupt

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Isaiah 17:13

Range of meaning

To shout at, rebuke, threaten, blast. Used of a father correcting a son (Gen 37:10), but most strikingly of God's shout against the sea and hostile powers: the sea flees at God's gaʿar (Ps 104:7), the seabed is laid bare 'at your rebuke' (Ps 18:15), God 'rebuked the Red Sea and it dried up' (Ps 106:9), he 'rebukes the sea and makes it dry' (Nah 1:4).

Against the English

English 'rebuke' now means a verbal telling-off. KJV, BSB, WEB and most modern versions keep 'rebuke'; YLT's 'pushed against' tries, awkwardly, to convey force.

How it drifted

'Rebuke' in English narrowed to verbal correction between people; the Hebrew word in God's mouth is closer to a war-cry or blast that physically drives an enemy back.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Psalms passages above tie the word to God's victory over the waters. Related Northwest Semitic material (the Ugaritic Baal texts, where the storm-god defeats Yamm, 'Sea') supplies the background image of a divine warrior who masters the raging waters; scholars widely connect gaʿar to this motif (see TDOT s.v. gāʿar). At Qumran the word is also used for God's power that subdues evil forces.

From the study of Psalm 119:21

Range of meaning

To rebuke, threaten or check. Used of a superior confronting someone who resists: Jacob rebuking Joseph (Gen 37:10), Boaz telling his workers not to rebuke Ruth (Ruth 2:16). Most often God is the subject, and his rebuke is an act of power that halts, scatters or destroys. At his rebuke the waters flee (Ps 104:7), the Red Sea dries up (Ps 106:9), the sea and rivers dry up (Nah 1:4), and the nations are rebuked and the wicked destroyed (Ps 9:5). It is also used in the phrase "The LORD rebuke you" spoken to the accuser (Zech 3:2).

Against the English

In English "rebuke" usually means a sharp verbal correction, such as a parent or a boss telling someone off. The Hebrew can mean that, but when God is the subject it is closer to a blast or a command that stops an enemy in its tracks. Here "rebuke" is accurate, but it sounds weaker than the Hebrew.

Used elsewhere in the period

In Ugaritic myth the related root g'r is used when one god confronts a rival (the Baal cycle, in the conflict with Yamm, "Sea"). This is the same pattern of a deity rebuking chaos that Hebrew poetry uses for God and the sea. Among the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Genesis Apocryphon (1Q20 20:28–29) says an afflicting spirit was "rebuked" (the same root) when Abram prayed. The War Scroll uses the root for God's rebuke of hostile spirits. The Septuagint usually translates it with epitimaō, the word the Gospels use when Jesus "rebukes" the wind and demons (Mark 1:25; 4:39) (Kee, NTS 1968; Macintosh, VT 1969).

From the study of Psalm 68:30

Range of meaning

To shout at, roar at, rebuke, check. Between humans it can mean a sharp reproof (Gen 37:10, Jacob rebukes Joseph; Ruth 2:16). When God is the subject it is a powerful, effective blast: at God's ga'ar the sea flees and dries up (Ps 104:7; Ps 18:15; Nah 1:4; Isa 50:2), and nations run like chaff before the wind (Isa 17:13).

Against the English

'Rebuke' (BSB, KJV, WEB, YLT, NIV, ESV, NASB) is the traditional gloss, and it suits the human uses. Applied to God it sounds to a modern ear like a verbal scolding. The 1985 Jewish Publication Society version renders it 'Blast', which comes closer to the force.

How it drifted

In modern English 'rebuke' has narrowed to disapproving words. The Hebrew word, when used of God, belongs to the vocabulary of divine warfare against chaos and enemies.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the Old Testament, God's ga'ar is aimed again and again at the waters and at monsters of the deep (Ps 106:9, 'he rebuked the Red Sea and it dried up'). The Greek Septuagint usually translates it with epitimaō, the same verb the Gospels use when Jesus 'rebukes' the wind and sea (Mark 4:39). That echo is deliberate.

Where it appears

Genesis · 1

  1. Genesis 37:10 וַיִּגְעַר־ and he rebuked

    He told his father and brothers, but his father rebuked him and said, “What is this dream that you have had? Will your mother and brothers and I actually come and bow down to the ground before you?”

Ruth · 1

  1. Ruth 2:16 תִגְעֲרוּ־ you must rebuke

    Rather, pull out for her some stalks from the bundles and leave them for her to gather. Do not rebuke her.”

Psalms · 4

  1. Psalm 9:5 גָּעַ֣רְתָּ you have rebuked

    You have rebuked the nations; You have destroyed the wicked; You have erased their name forever and ever.

    Here: God's "rebuke" is not a scolding but a blast of the divine voice that drives an enemy back and breaks its power, as when the sea flees at his rebuke (Ps 104:7). It opens the line and sets the scene as a battle won by God's shout. It is also the gimel (G) line of the psalm's alphabet pattern.

  2. Psalm 68:30 גְּעַ֨ר rebuke

    Rebuke the beast in the reeds, the herd of bulls among the calves of the nations, until it submits, bringing bars of silver. Scatter the nations who delight in war.

    Here: A command addressed to God (continuing v. 28, 'Summon your power, O God'). God's ga'ar in the Psalms is a battle-blast that drives back the sea and routs enemies, not a verbal reprimand.

  3. Psalm 106:9 וַיִּגְעַ֣ר and he rebuked

    He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up; He led them through the depths as through a desert.

    Here: God's blast against the sea: not a scolding but a forceful, threatening shout that makes the waters back off. It is the first of three quick 'and he… and it… and he…' verbs that tell the rescue as one fast run of events.

  4. Psalm 119:21 גָּ֭עַרְתָּ you rebuke

    You rebuke the arrogant—the cursed who stray from Your commandments.

    Here: God's rebuke. In the Hebrew Bible this is a forceful word that stops and drives back, used of God facing down the sea and hostile nations, not a mild scolding. The verb form is a completed action ("you have rebuked"), so the psalmist speaks of something God has done or always does. It also starts the verse with gimel (ג), the letter that every line of this stanza must begin with.

Isaiah · 2

  1. Isaiah 17:13 וְגָ֥עַר and he will rebuke

    The nations rage like the rush of many waters. He rebukes them, and they flee far away, driven before the wind like chaff on the hills, like tumbleweeds before a gale.

    Here: 'And he blasts/rebukes.' The subject is unnamed but obviously God. Not a scolding but a war-roar that drives back the waters, the move God makes against the sea in the Psalms. One word is enough to reverse the whole scene.

  2. Isaiah 54:9 וּמִגְּעָר־ and from rebuking

    “For to Me this is like the days of Noah, when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth. So I have sworn that I will not be angry with you or rebuke you.

    Here: 'And that I will not rebuke'. Coming from God, this word often means a fierce blast or roar that drives back the sea and leaves people stunned. Isaiah 51:20 has used it for the devastation of Jerusalem's people.

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 29:27 גָעַ֔רְתָּ have you rebuked

    So now, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth, who poses as a prophet among you?

Nahum · 1

  1. Nahum 1:4 גּוֹעֵ֤ר [he is] rebuking

    He rebukes the sea and dries it up; He makes all the rivers run dry. Bashan and Carmel wither, and the flower of Lebanon wilts.

    Here: A participle, so it describes something God does by nature: he is the One who shouts down the sea. This is not a mild verbal correction. It is a blast of command or a war cry that makes the opponent fall back, and the drying that follows shows its effect.

Zechariah · 2

  1. Zechariah 3:2 יִגְעַ֨ר וְיִגְעַ֤ר may he rebuke, and may he rebuke

    And the LORD said to Satan: “The LORD rebukes you, Satan! Indeed, the LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebukes you! Is not this man a firebrand snatched from the fire?”

    Here: Most likely a wish or formula, “may Yahweh rebuke.” In Hebrew poetry this is the word Yahweh uses to drive back the sea and hostile powers. It is a word that stops someone, not just a scolding.

Malachi · 2

  1. Malachi 2:3 גֹעֵ֤ר [am] about to rebuke

    Behold, I will rebuke your descendants, and I will spread dung on your faces, the waste from your feasts, and you will be carried off with it.

  2. Malachi 3:11 וְגָעַרְתִּ֤י and I will rebuke

    I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your land, and the vine in your field will not fail to produce fruit,” says the LORD of Hosts.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.