Hebrew word · H3250

יִסּוֹר

yisor

faultfinder

Found only here. Most lexicons (BDB, HALOT) derive it from yasar, 'to discipline, chasten, instruct', and give 'reprover, faultfinder, corrector'.

Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

faultfinder, reprover, one who reproves

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 40:2

Range of meaning

Found only here. Most lexicons (BDB, HALOT) derive it from yasar, 'to discipline, chasten, instruct', and give 'reprover, faultfinder, corrector'. Others take it as 'one who is to be disciplined', or treat it as a verb, or change one letter of the vowel-less text to read yasur, 'will he turn aside/yield' (from sur).

Against the English

BSB, ESV, NASB, NRSV 'faultfinder'; KJV 'instruct [him]' (a verb); YLT 'is ... instructed' (passive); NIV 'correct him' (verb). Each version has made a real choice here, and the differences reflect a genuine puzzle in the Hebrew, not carelessness.

How it drifted

'Faultfinder' sounds in English like a petty, nitpicking complainer. The root yasar belongs to the world of the teacher or father who disciplines (Proverbs 3:11 musar, 'discipline'). The point is a man taking on the role of disciplining God, not one who nags.

Used elsewhere in the period

The root yasar is used of God disciplining humans (Deuteronomy 8:5; Proverbs 3:11–12). Eliphaz uses its noun in Job 5:17, 'do not despise the discipline (musar) of Shaddai'. LXX Job 40:2 appears to have read a form of sur ('turn aside'). Early Jewish and later commentators disagreed on the form.

Where it appears

Job · 1

  1. Job 40:2 יִסּ֑וֹר a faultfinder

    “Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty? Let him who argues with God give an answer.”

    Here: This word occurs nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible. It is most likely a noun from yasar, 'to discipline, instruct, correct': one who sets someone else straight, 'a corrector'. The question is whether a man who sets out to correct God can win a case against Shaddai. Other readings are listed under debates.

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