Hebrew word · H1681

דִּבָּה

dibah

slander

Whispering, rumour, defamation, a damaging report. It usually means talk that is hostile, untrue or exaggerated and that spreads through a community. The root seems to carry the idea of gliding or creeping along (compare Song 7:9[10], wine 'gliding' over lips). It is quiet talk that travels.

Appears 9 times in 9 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) whispering, defamation, evil report

1a) whispering

1b) defamation, defaming

1c) evil report, unfavourable saying

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 Proverbs 25:10

Range of meaning

Whispering, rumour, defamation, a damaging report. It usually means talk that is hostile, untrue or exaggerated and that spreads through a community. The root seems to carry the idea of gliding or creeping along (compare Song 7:9[10], wine 'gliding' over lips). It is quiet talk that travels.

Against the English

KJV 'infamy,' BSB 'infamy,' WEB 'bad reputation,' YLT 'evil report,' NASB 'evil report about you.' 'Infamy' turns the Hebrew picture of talk circulating about you into an abstract state of disgrace. 'Evil report' stays closest to the Hebrew.

How it drifted

'Infamy' was a normal word for public disgrace in 1611. Today it suggests notoriety for some monstrous deed, which is more dramatic than the Hebrew.

Used elsewhere in the period

Num 13:32; 14:36–37 (the spies' 'bad report' of the land); Gen 37:2 (Joseph brings 'a bad report of them,' where the suffix refers to the people talked about); Ps 31:13[14] and Jer 20:10 ('the whispering of many'); Ezek 36:3 (Israel become 'the talk' of the peoples); Prov 10:18 ('whoever spreads slander is a fool').

From the study of Ezekiel 36:3

Range of meaning

'Whispering, defamation, bad report', meaning damaging talk spread about someone, true or false (Gen 37:2; Num 13:32; 14:36–37; Ps 31:13; Jer 20:10; Prov 10:18; 25:10).

Against the English

'Slander' (BSB) suggests the talk is false. 'Evil report' (WEB/YLT) is closer to the range, since the word stresses the damage of the talk more than whether it is true. KJV 'infamy' gives the result, disgrace.

Used elsewhere in the period

The best-known use is Num 13:32: the spies 'brought out a bad report (dibbah) of the land', calling it 'a land that devours its inhabitants'. Ezek 36:13–14 quotes the nations saying almost the same thing: 'You devour people.'

From the study of Jeremiah 20:10

Range of meaning

Damaging talk: an evil report, defamation, a whispering campaign. It is always negative in the Hebrew Bible. Often it is talk that spreads among people and does harm whether or not it is true. Some lexicons connect it to a root meaning 'glide' or 'move softly' (compare Song 7:9), which would suggest low, creeping speech, but that link is uncertain.

Against the English

KJV and WEB say 'defaming' and YLT 'evil report'. These capture the damage. BSB, NIV and ESV say 'whispering', which captures the manner but can sound merely private or petty. The word includes both.

Used elsewhere in the period

There are only about nine uses. Joseph brings his brothers' 'bad report' to Jacob (Gen 37:2). The spies spread a 'bad report' of the land (Num 13:32; 14:36–37). Proverbs links it to the fool who 'spreads slander' (Prov 10:18) and to a reputation that cannot be repaired (25:10). Ezekiel 36:3 uses it for the nations' talk about Israel. Psalm 31:14 (Heb.; 31:13 Eng.) has the identical phrase dibbat rabbim, 'the whispering of many'.

Where it appears

Genesis · 1

  1. Genesis 37:2 דִּבָּתָ֥ם report their

    This is the account of Jacob. When Joseph was seventeen years old, he was tending the flock with his brothers, the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah, and he brought their father a bad report about them.

Numbers · 3

  1. Numbers 13:32 דִּבַּ֤ת <the> bad report of

    So they gave the Israelites a bad report about the land that they had spied out: “The land we explored devours its inhabitants, and all the people we saw there are great in stature.

  2. Numbers 14:36 דִבָּ֖ה a bad report

    So the men Moses had sent to spy out the land, who had returned and made the whole congregation grumble against him by bringing out a bad report about the land—

  3. Numbers 14:37 דִבַּת־ <of> [the] unfavorable report of

    those men who had brought out the bad report about the land—were struck down by a plague before the LORD.

    Here: Not neutral news. Dibbah is a damaging account passed from mouth to mouth: a smear or defamatory rumour. The spies are not being described as giving a sober intelligence briefing. They are described as running a smear campaign against the land.

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 31:13 דִּבַּ֥ת [the] slander of

    For I hear the slander of many; there is terror on every side. They conspire against me and plot to take my life.

    Here: The damaging talk that goes around about someone: rumour, a bad report, defamation. Here it is 'the dibbah of many', so the danger is how far it has spread, not one accuser.

Proverbs · 2

  1. Proverbs 10:18 דִ֝בָּ֗ה an evil report

    The one who conceals hatred has lying lips, and whoever spreads slander is a fool.

    Here: Damaging talk about a person, passed around behind their back. It may be false or only one-sided. Either way its aim is to lower someone's standing.

  2. Proverbs 25:10 וְ֝דִבָּתְךָ֗ and evil report your

    lest he who hears you bring shame upon you, and your infamy never go away.

    Here: 'And your evil report.' Most likely the damaging talk that now goes around about you. Some read it as the defamation you yourself spoke. Either way it is talk that spreads from mouth to mouth.

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 20:10 דִּבַּ֣ת [the] whispering of

    For I have heard the whispering of many: “Terror is on every side! Report him; let us report him!” All my trusted friends watch for my fall: “Perhaps he will be deceived so that we may prevail against him and take our vengeance upon him.”

    Here: The damaging talk of many people: low-voiced, hostile and meant to ruin a reputation. The same word is used for the spies' 'bad report' of the land (Numbers 13:32).

Ezekiel · 1

  1. Ezekiel 36:3 וְדִבַּת־ and [the] whispering of

    therefore prophesy and declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: Because they have made you desolate and have trampled you on every side, so that you became a possession of the rest of the nations and were taken up in slander by the lips of their talkers,

    Here: Damaging talk spread about someone. It is the same word used for the spies' 'bad report' about the land in Num 13:32, a report that called it a land that 'devours its inhabitants'.

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