Hebrew word · H2611

חָנֵף

chanef

profane

Polluted, profane, godless, corrupt. The verb ḥānap means to be polluted or defiled, used of land defiled by bloodshed and unfaithfulness (Num 35:33; Jer 3:1–2; Ps 106:38). The adjective describes a person whose way of life is corrupted and alienated from God (Job 8:13; Isa 9:17; 10:6).

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

What it means

hypocritical, godless, profane, hypocrite, irreligious

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 33:14

Range of meaning

Polluted, profane, godless, corrupt. The verb ḥānap means to be polluted or defiled, used of land defiled by bloodshed and unfaithfulness (Num 35:33; Jer 3:1–2; Ps 106:38). The adjective describes a person whose way of life is corrupted and alienated from God (Job 8:13; Isa 9:17; 10:6).

Against the English

KJV “hypocrites” narrows the word to pretending or two-facedness. BSB “ungodly,” WEB/ESV “godless” and YLT “profane” are closer to the Hebrew.

How it drifted

Jerome's Latin Vulgate often rendered ḥānēp as hypocrita (including here: possedit tremor hypocritas), and the KJV followed. Hypocrisy can be part of it, but the Hebrew stresses pollution and godlessness, not playacting.

Used elsewhere in the period

Job 8:13; 15:34; 34:30; Isa 9:16 (Eng. 9:17); Isa 10:6, where Assyria is sent against “a godless nation,” meaning Judah itself.

From the study of Isaiah 9:17

Range of meaning

As an adjective: polluted, profane, godless, alienated from God. The related verb ḥānap means 'to be polluted or defiled', used of land defiled by bloodshed (Numbers 35:33; Psalm 106:38) and by unfaithfulness (Jeremiah 3:1–2, 9). The noun ḥōnep means godlessness (Isaiah 32:6). The person is someone whose life has defiled them and cut them off from God.

Against the English

KJV and NLT use 'hypocrite'. Most modern versions (BSB, ESV, NASB: 'godless'; WEB: 'profane'; NIV: 'ungodly') are closer to the Hebrew.

How it drifted

Later Greek translators of Job (and Aquila and Theodotion elsewhere) sometimes rendered ḥānēp with hypokritēs. The Vulgate followed with hypocrita here ('omnis hypocrita est'), and the KJV took 'hypocrite' from that tradition. In modern English 'hypocrite' means someone who fakes virtue. The Hebrew is not mainly about pretending. It describes real defilement and godlessness.

Used elsewhere in the period

Hebrew Bible: Job 8:13; 13:16; 15:34; Psalm 35:16; Proverbs 11:9; Isaiah 10:6 ('a godless nation', said of Israel in this same poem cycle); 33:14. The Greek of Isaiah here, as usually printed, has anomoi ('lawless'). Later Hebrew keeps the sense of flattery or insincerity, which partly explains the Greek choice.

From the study of Isaiah 10:6

Range of meaning

An adjective from the root ḥ-n-p, 'to be polluted, defiled, profaned.' The verb describes land polluted by bloodshed (Numbers 35:33; Psalm 106:38) and by unfaithfulness (Jeremiah 3:1–2). The adjective describes a person or people who are defiled and alienated from God: 'godless, impious, profane' (HALOT, BDB). In Isaiah it stands next to 'evildoer' (9:17 [Eng. 9:17], 'everyone is ḥānēp and an evildoer') and 33:14 ('the sinners in Zion… the ḥănēpîm').

Against the English

KJV: 'hypocritical.' BSB, NIV, ESV, NASB: 'godless.' WEB, YLT: 'profane.' 'Profane' or 'polluted' sits closest to the root; 'godless' captures the result. 'Hypocritical' brings in an idea that is not in the root at all.

How it drifted

Some Greek translators of Job used hypokritēs ('actor, pretender') for ḥānēp. The Latin tradition also used hypocrita in Job. Later Hebrew developed a sense of flattery and insincerity for the root. The KJV translators inherited that line and used 'hypocrite' throughout Job and Isaiah. The biblical-period word is about defilement and estrangement from God, not acting a part.

Used elsewhere in the period

Hebrew Bible: Job 8:13; 13:16; Psalm 35:16; Proverbs 11:9; Isaiah 9:17; 32:6; 33:14. The Septuagint here renders it 'lawless' (anomos). In Aramaic and Syriac the cognate ḥanpā came to mean 'pagan, heathen.'

Where it appears

Job · 8

  1. Job 8:13 חָנֵ֣ף [the] godless

    Such is the destiny of all who forget God; so the hope of the godless will perish.

    Here: Someone who has become defiled and estranged from God, the moral counterpart of land polluted by bloodshed. The point is godlessness, not play-acting, despite the KJV's "hypocrite".

  2. Job 13:16 חָנֵ֥ף a godless [person]

    Moreover, this will be my salvation, for no godless man can appear before Him.

  3. Job 15:34 חָנֵ֣ף [the] godless

    For the company of the godless will be barren, and fire will consume the tents of bribery.

    Here: A person polluted by turning away from God, irreligious at the core. It is singular here, the stock figure of 'the godless man' Eliphaz has been describing since v. 20.

  4. Job 17:8 חָנֵ֥ף [the] godless

    The upright are appalled at this, and the innocent are stirred against the godless.

  5. Job 20:5 חָנֵ֣ף [the] godless

    the triumph of the wicked has been brief and the joy of the godless momentary?

    Here: Someone who has cut himself off from God and become morally defiled. The related verb is used of land polluted by bloodshed. It does not mainly mean someone who pretends to be good. The noun is singular, and the singular carries straight into verse 6 ("his arrogance... his head"), sketching one particular godless man. In context Job is meant to see himself in that sketch.

  6. Job 27:8 חָ֭נֵף a godless [person]

    For what is the hope of the godless when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?

    Here: Someone cut off from God and defiled in how he lives. The idea is not mainly a pretender. Job takes up the exact phrase Bildad used in 8:13, 'the hope of the godless'.

  7. Job 34:30 חָנֵ֗ף godless

    that godless men should not rule or lay snares for the people.

    Here: An adjective describing that man: someone defiled and estranged from God, a godless person whose life pollutes what is around him. It is a favourite word in Job for the wicked whose prosperity does not last (8:13; 15:34; 20:5). It does not mean only someone who pretends.

  8. Job 36:13 וְֽחַנְפֵי־ and [people] godless of

    The godless in heart harbor resentment; even when He binds them, they do not cry for help.

    Here: 'And' plus a plural adjective used as a noun and bound to the next word: 'the profane-of-heart.' The word describes someone polluted and estranged from God, not mainly someone pretending to be good. The 'and' sets these people against the responsive sufferers of vv. 8–11.

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 35:16 בְּ֭חַנְפֵי <in> godless [ones] of

    Like godless jesters at a feast, they gnashed their teeth at me.

Proverbs · 1

  1. Proverbs 11:9 חָ֭נֵף a godless [person]

    With his mouth the ungodly man destroys his neighbor, but through knowledge the righteous are rescued.

    Here: A person who has cut himself off from God and whose life is polluted or profaned. This is the only time the word appears in Proverbs. With "mouth" in front of it, the picture is a godless man who uses speech to deceive and do harm.

Isaiah · 3

  1. Isaiah 9:17 חָנֵ֣ף [is] godless

    Therefore the Lord takes no pleasure in their young men; He has no compassion on their fatherless and widows. For every one of them is godless and wicked, and every mouth speaks folly. Despite all this, His anger is not turned away; His hand is still upraised.

    Here: 'Godless/defiled': morally polluted and cut off from God. The related verb describes land defiled by bloodshed. It does not mean a pretender (see drift).

  2. Isaiah 10:6 חָנֵף֙ godless

    I will send him against a godless nation; I will dispatch him against a people destined for My rage, to take spoils and seize plunder, and to trample them down like clay in the streets.

    Here: 'Polluted' or 'godless': a people defiled and cut off from God by their injustice (see 10:1–2). It describes a condition of pollution, not faked piety.

  3. Isaiah 33:14 חֲנֵפִ֑ים godless [people]

    The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling grips the ungodly: “Who of us can dwell with a consuming fire? Who of us can dwell with everlasting flames?”

    Here: People morally polluted and estranged from God, whose lives defile the land. The word means “godless” or “corrupt” more than “two-faced.”

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