מוּק

From the study of Psalm 73:8

Range of meaning

It occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible. Lexicons (BDB, HALOT) give 'to mock, scoff, deride'. They base this on a matching root in later Aramaic and on the context, since vv. 8–11 are all about arrogant speech.

Against the English

Most modern versions say 'mock' or 'scoff', and so do BSB and WEB. The KJV ('They are corrupt') and YLT ('They do corruptly') took the word from a different root, מקק (maqaq), 'to rot, decay, fester'. That gives a moral picture of rottenness instead of a verbal act of mockery.

How it drifted

This is not drift over time but an old disagreement about where a word that appears only once comes from. Medieval Jewish interpreters were divided, and the KJV followed the 'rot' line. Modern lexicons prefer 'mock', partly because the verse goes straight on to two verbs of speaking.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Greek Septuagint renders it διενοήθησαν, 'they devised, thought out'. That looks like an educated guess at a rare word. Jerome's Latin translation made from the Hebrew uses a verb of derision. The 'mock' sense fits the theme of the wicked's contemptuous speech found across the Psalms (Ps 10:4–11; 12:3–4; 94:4).