כָּזָב

Judges 16:10 כְּזָבִ֑ים lies

Then Delilah said to Samson, “You have mocked me and lied to me! Now please tell me how you can be tied up.”

Judges 16:13 כְּזָבִ֔ים lies

Then Delilah said to Samson, “You have mocked me and lied to me all along! Tell me how you can be tied up.” He told her, “If you weave the seven braids of my head into the web of a loom and tighten it with a pin, I will become as weak as any other man.”

Psalm 4:2 כָזָ֣ב falsehood

How long, O men, will my honor be maligned? How long will you love vanity and seek after lies? Selah

Here: "A lie": a falsehood, or something that deceives because it fails the person who trusts it. It may mean slander against the speaker, or false gods that let their worshippers down (Amos 2:4 calls idols "their lies").

Psalm 5:6 כָ֫זָ֥ב <of> falsehood

You destroy those who tell lies; the LORD abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit.

Here: A lie, or something false that lets you down when you rely on it. Next to 'bloodshed' in this verse, it points especially to false accusation and treacherous talk that hurts real people.

Psalm 40:4 כָזָֽב׃ falsehood

Blessed is the man who has made the LORD his trust, who has not turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood.

Here: 'A lie': something that promises and does not deliver. Elsewhere this word can mean false gods (Amos 2:4). Together with the previous word it means 'people who stray after a lie', the opposite of a mivṭaḥ that holds.

Psalm 58:3 כָזָֽב׃ <of> falsehood

The wicked are estranged from the womb; the liars go astray from birth.

Here: A lie, or anything that deceives and lets people down. In a psalm about corrupt judges it especially suggests false testimony and deceitful verdicts.

Psalm 62:4 כָ֫זָ֥ב falsehood

They fully intend to cast him down from his lofty perch; they delight in lies; with their mouths they bless, but inwardly they curse. Selah

Here: 'A lie.' The word covers both deliberate falsehood and something that turns out false and lets you down. It comes back in v. 9, where people of high rank are called 'a lie,' meaning they cannot hold any weight.

Psalm 62:9 כָּזָ֪ב [are] falsehood

Lowborn men are but a vapor; the exalted are but a lie. Weighed on the scale, they go up; together they are but a vapor.

Here: Said of people rather than of their words: they are a deception, something that lets you down when you rely on it. The psalm has already used the word in v.4, where the plotters 'delight in falsehood'.

Proverbs 6:19 כְּ֭זָבִים lies

a false witness who gives false testimony, and one who stirs up discord among brothers.

Here: The plural 'lies' suggests a stream of them, not one slip. Kazav is a statement that lets down whoever relies on it, like a dry stream bed that promised water.

Proverbs 14:5 כְּ֝זָבִ֗ים lies

An honest witness does not deceive, but a dishonest witness pours forth lies.

Proverbs 14:25 כְּזָבִ֣ים lies

A truthful witness saves lives, but one who utters lies is deceitful.

Proverbs 19:5 כְּ֝זָבִ֗ים lies

A false witness will not go unpunished, and one who utters lies will not escape.

Here: Plural, "lies". The root carries the idea of something that fails or lets you down, like a stream that dries up. It is a near-synonym of šeqer, used for variety in the parallel line.

Proverbs 19:9 כְּזָבִ֣ים lies

A false witness will not go unpunished, and one who pours out lies will perish.

Here: Plural, 'lies'. The root is used of things that disappoint or fail, so these are statements that cannot hold up when someone relies on them. It parallels 'falsehoods' in line one.

Proverbs 19:22 כָּזָֽב׃ falsehood

The desire of a man is loving devotion; better to be poor than a liar.

Here: 'A man of falsehood' is a liar. But kazav is a lie that lets down whoever relies on it, like a stream that runs dry. The picture is someone whose word or promise fails you.

Proverbs 21:28 כְּזָבִ֥ים lies

A lying witness will perish, but the man who listens to truth will speak forever.

Here: Plural, "lies": falsehood that deceives and lets down whoever trusts it. "A witness of lies" is someone whose testimony is made of deception, not someone who slips once. The same phrase appears in Proverbs 14:5 and is close to 19:5 and 19:9.

Proverbs 23:3 כְּזָבִֽים׃ lies

Do not crave his delicacies, for that food is deceptive.

Here: 'Of lies': plural, meaning deception in general. The root is used of something that promises and then fails to deliver, like a stream that dries up. The meal promises friendship, favour or pleasure, but it is not what it seems.

Proverbs 30:8 כָּזָ֡ב falsehood

Keep falsehood and deceitful words far from me. Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the bread that is my portion.

Here: A lie: something that promises and then fails you. "A word of lying" is the second half of a pair with shav' (empty, worthless).

Isaiah 28:15 כָזָ֛ב falsehood

For you said, “We have made a covenant with death; we have fashioned an agreement with Sheol. When the overwhelming scourge passes through it will not touch us, because we have made lies our refuge and falsehood our hiding place.”

Here: A lie, something that fails the one who leans on it. Elsewhere it can mean false gods (Amos 2:4). Here it is the prophet's name for whatever they were actually relying on.

Isaiah 28:17 כָזָ֔ב falsehood

I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the level. Hail will sweep away your refuge of lies, and water will flood your hiding place.

Here: Something that looks reliable and then lets you down. It quotes the leaders' boast in v.15, "we have made a lie our refuge," which is Isaiah's mocking version of what they actually trusted.

Ezekiel 13:6 כָּזָ֔ב falsehood

They see false visions and speak lying divinations. They claim, ‘Thus declares the LORD,’ when the LORD did not send them; yet they wait for the fulfillment of their message.

Here: A lie, especially something that promises and then fails. The root describes a stream that dries up just when you need it. Their divination is 'divination of a lie': its content is deception.

Ezekiel 13:7 כָּזָ֖ב falsehood

Haven’t you seen a false vision and spoken a lying divination when you proclaim, ‘Thus declares the LORD,’ even though I have not spoken?

Ezekiel 13:8 כָּזָ֑ב falsehood

Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Because you have uttered vain words and seen false visions, I am against you, declares the Lord GOD.

Here: "A lie": something that deceives because it promises and does not deliver, like a stream that dries up. Grammatically it is what they "saw", so their visions themselves were the deception.

Ezekiel 13:9 כָּזָב֒ falsehood

My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and speak lying divinations. They will not belong to the council of My people or be recorded in the register of the house of Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord GOD.

Here: A falsehood that deceives and lets down those who trust it. It pairs with shav': their visions are empty, and their omens are lies.

Ezekiel 13:19 כָזָֽב׃ ס <of> falsehood

You have profaned Me among My people for handfuls of barley and scraps of bread. By lying to My people who would listen, you have killed those who should not have died and spared those who should not have lived.

Here: 'A lie.' The verse ends on the same root as the verb 'lying', which frames the sentence. In Ezekiel 13 this is the standard word for false prophecy and lying divination (13:6–9).

Ezekiel 21:29 כָּזָ֑ב falsehood

while they offer false visions for you and lying divinations about you—to be placed on the necks of the wicked who are slain, whose day has come, the time of their final punishment.

Here: What the divination produces is kazav, a lie that deceives. It pairs with shaw' ('emptiness'). Together they mean a forecast that is both hollow and misleading.

Ezekiel 22:28 כָּזָ֑ב falsehood

Her prophets whitewash these deeds by false visions and lying divinations, saying, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says,’ when the LORD has not spoken.

Here: A lie in the sense of something that lets down whoever relies on it, like a stream that dries up. Their oracles promise safety and will fail.

Daniel 11:27 כָּזָ֣ב falsehood

And the two kings, with their hearts bent on evil, will speak lies at the same table, but to no avail, for still the end will come at the appointed time.

Here: "A lie" or "lies." It is placed before the verb for emphasis: what they actually speak at this friendly meal is falsehood.

Hosea 7:13 כְּזָבִֽים׃ lies

Woe to them, for they have strayed from Me! Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against Me! Though I would redeem them, they speak lies against Me.

Here: The plural points to many falsehoods. The word often means things that look trustworthy and then fail, like a stream that dries up. Here it means false statements about who God is and what he does.

Hosea 12:1 כָּזָ֥ב falsehood

Ephraim feeds on the wind and pursues the east wind all day long; he multiplies lies and violence; he makes a covenant with Assyria and sends olive oil to Egypt.

Here: Lies, and also anything that lets down whoever relies on it. Here it covers both Israel's double-dealing and its hopes in foreign powers that will fail.

Amos 2:4 כִּזְבֵיהֶ֔ם lies their

This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Judah, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they reject the Law of the LORD and fail to keep His statutes; they are led astray by the lies in which their fathers walked.

Here: 'Their lies': deceptive things that fail whoever trusts them. Probably false gods or false sources of guidance, since people 'walk after' them.

Zephaniah 3:13 כָזָ֔ב falsehood

The remnant of Israel will no longer do wrong or speak lies, nor will a deceitful tongue be found in their mouths. But they will feed and lie down, with no one to make them tremble.”

Here: A lie, something false that fails the one who relies on it. The word can also describe false hopes and false gods; here it is untrue speech.