Hebrew word · H2786

חָרַק

charok

to grind

To grind or gnash the teeth. In the Hebrew Bible it is always a sign of hostility, rage, or malice toward a victim.

Appears 5 times in 5 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. · Updated October 31, 2026

What it means

(Qal) to gnash, grind (the teeth)

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

Range of meaning: To grind or gnash the teeth. In the Hebrew Bible it is always a sign of hostility, rage, or malice toward a victim.
Against the English: English readers mostly know 'gnashing of teeth' from Jesus' phrase about outer darkness and connect it with anguish or regret. Here it means snarling aggression.
How it drifted: The Gospel phrase 'weeping and gnashing of teeth' (Matt 8:12 and others) shaped the English idiom toward torment or remorse. In the Old Testament the gesture belongs to the attacker.
Used elsewhere in the period: Job 16:9 (God, or an enemy, 'gnashed his teeth at me'). Ps 35:16 and 37:12 (the wicked gnash their teeth at the righteous). Ps 112:10 (the wicked gnashes his teeth in fury). Acts 7:54 (the council gnashes their teeth at Stephen, in anger).

Range of meaning: To grind or gnash the teeth. In every Hebrew Bible use it is the gesture of a hostile party: rage, scorn, gloating over a fallen victim.
Against the English: English versions agree on 'gnash'. The problem is what readers associate with the phrase, not the translation itself.
How it drifted: Through the Gospels' 'weeping and gnashing of teeth' (Matt 8:12 etc.), English readers link gnashing with the anguish or regret of the condemned. Here, as in the rest of the Hebrew Bible, it is the attacker's snarl.
Used elsewhere in the period: Ps 35:16 (godless mockers 'gnashing at me with their teeth'); Ps 37:12 (the wicked plots against the righteous and gnashes his teeth); Ps 112:10 (the wicked man is vexed and gnashes); Lam 2:16 (enemies 'hiss and gnash their teeth' over ruined Jerusalem, saying 'we have swallowed her').

Range of meaning: To grind or gnash the teeth. In the Hebrew Bible this is a gesture of hostility and fury, usually aimed at a victim: a snarl.
Against the English: 'Gnash his teeth' is an accurate translation. Readers who know the Gospels' 'weeping and gnashing of teeth' may hear it as agony or torment. NLT spells out the anger directly.
How it drifted: Popular use of the New Testament phrase links gnashing with suffering in hell. In the Psalms and Lamentations it is the face of an attacker.
Used elsewhere in the period: Job 16:9 ('he gnashed his teeth at me'); Ps 35:16 (mockers 'gnashing their teeth at me'); Ps 37:12 ('the wicked plots against the righteous and gnashes his teeth at him'); Lam 2:16 (enemies 'hiss and gnash their teeth: we have swallowed her'). The Septuagint here uses brychō. The same Greek verb is used in Acts 7:54, where the council 'gnashed their teeth' at Stephen, which is plainly rage.

Job · 1

Job 16:9 חָרַ֣ק he has gnashed

His anger has torn me and opposed me; He gnashes His teeth at me. My adversary pierces me with His eyes.

Here: The snarl of an attacker. In the Hebrew Bible, gnashing teeth is what enemies do in rage and mockery over a victim, not what a sufferer does in pain.

Psalms · 3

Psalm 35:16 חָרֹ֖ק they gnashed

Like godless jesters at a feast, they gnashed their teeth at me.
Psalm 37:12 וְחֹרֵ֖ק and [is] gnashing

The wicked scheme against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them,

Here: 'And grinding': another ongoing participle. The silent plotting shows itself as open, bodily hostility.
Psalm 112:10 יַחֲרֹ֣ק he will gnash

The wicked man will see and be grieved; he will gnash his teeth and waste away; the desires of the wicked will perish.

Here: Grinding the teeth is a gesture of rage and hostility aimed at someone, the face of an enemy who would bite if he could (Ps 35:16; 37:12; Lam 2:16). Here it is rage he can do nothing with.

Lamentations · 1

Lamentations 2:16 וַיַּֽחַרְקוּ־ and they have gnashed

All your enemies open their mouths against you. They hiss and gnash their teeth, saying, “We have swallowed her up. This is the day for which we have waited. We have lived to see it!”

Here: 'And they ground'. In the Hebrew Bible this is the gesture of a hostile, aggressive enemy, not of someone in pain. The two verbs sharequ and ḥarqu sound alike, a harsh, grating pair.

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