Hebrew word · H1970

הָכַר

tahkeru-

to wrong

It appears only here, so its meaning is uncertain.

Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

(Hiphil) to deal wrongly with

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 Job 19:3

Range of meaning

It appears only here, so its meaning is uncertain. Proposals: (1) 'to wrong, treat badly, oppress', linked to Arabic ḥakara (BDB, HALOT, most modern commentators); (2) 'to make oneself a stranger, act as if you don't know someone', linking it to the root nkr (Rashi, Ibn Ezra, KJV); (3) 'to stun, dumbfound', from an Arabic root meaning 'be astonished'.

Against the English

KJV and YLT: 'make yourselves strange'. BSB: 'mistreat'. WEB: 'attack'. Most modern versions: 'wrong' or 'attack'. Underneath these differences is a real uncertainty about the word, not just a difference in style.

How it drifted

The KJV's 'strange' meant 'foreign, estranged'. A modern reader may hear 'odd, weird'.

Used elsewhere in the period

No other occurrence in biblical Hebrew. The Septuagint's 'you press hard on me' and the Vulgate's opprimentes me ('oppressing me') both read it as harsh treatment, which supports option (1). The ḥet spelling in some Hebrew manuscripts fits the Arabic cognate ḥakara.

Where it appears

Job · 1

  1. Job 19:3 תַּהְכְּרוּ־ you have ill-treated

    Ten times now you have reproached me; you shamelessly mistreat me.

    Here: This verb appears only here in the Bible, so its meaning has to be worked out. Most modern lexicons take it as 'wrong, ill-treat', from an Arabic cognate. Older Jewish interpreters and the KJV read it as 'make yourselves strangers'. Either way, it names how the friends are treating Job.

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