Hebrew word · H4827
מֵרַע
lemera'
mischief
Evil-doing, malicious action, harm. It is a rare noun formed with a prefix on the common root r-'-' ("be bad, do harm"). BDB lists it as occurring only here.
Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
1) (Hiphil) mischief
2) (TWOT) confidential friend
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 Daniel 11:27
- Range of meaning
Evil-doing, malicious action, harm. It is a rare noun formed with a prefix on the common root r-'-' ("be bad, do harm"). BDB lists it as occurring only here.
- Against the English
KJV "to do mischief" now sounds playful. BSB "bent on evil" and WEB "to do evil" carry the original's seriousness better.
- How it drifted
"Mischief" in older English meant harm, injury or misfortune. Since then it has softened into pranks and childish naughtiness.
- Used elsewhere in the period
The same root runs through Daniel's descriptions of the Seleucid kings' hostile purposes. The verb is common for doing harm to someone (e.g., Gen 19:9; Ps 15:4).
Where it appears
Daniel · 1
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Daniel 11:27 לְמֵרָ֔ע [will be] to evil
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: "[Is set] toward evil-doing." A rare noun built from the root for harm or badness. With the preposition "to/for," it means each king's purpose is to injure the other.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.