Hebrew word · H5558

סֶ֫לֶף

veselef

crookedness

Crookedness, distortion, perverseness. The root slp means to twist, overturn or subvert. A bribe 'subverts the words of the righteous' (Exod 23:8; Deut 16:19). The wicked are 'overthrown' by their own wickedness (Prov 13:6; 21:12). God 'overturns' the words of the treacherous (Prov 22:12).

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

crookedness, perverseness, crooked dealing

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 Proverbs 15:4

Range of meaning

Crookedness, distortion, perverseness. The root slp means to twist, overturn or subvert. A bribe 'subverts the words of the righteous' (Exod 23:8; Deut 16:19). The wicked are 'overthrown' by their own wickedness (Prov 13:6; 21:12). God 'overturns' the words of the treacherous (Prov 22:12). Besides this verse, the noun appears only at Prov 11:3: 'the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them'.

Against the English

KJV/YLT/ESV/NASB 'perverseness/perversion' and BSB/NIV 'a perverse tongue' are accurate. Note, though, that 'perverse' in modern English often suggests sexual deviance. WEB/NLT 'deceit/deceitful' picks out one main form of it.

How it drifted

'Perverse' has narrowed in everyday English toward a sexual or merely contrary sense. The Hebrew word is about twisting: bending words or truth out of shape.

Used elsewhere in the period

The verb is used in legal settings, where twisted testimony or bribery corrupts justice. This suggests selep covers speech that distorts reality to harm someone: lies, spin, double-dealing and cutting words that bend the truth.

From the study of Proverbs 11:3

Range of meaning

Crookedness, twisting, distortion, subversion. The noun appears only here and in Prov 15:4 ('twistedness in it [the tongue] breaks the spirit'). The related verb means 'to twist, distort, overturn'.

Against the English

KJV/WEB 'perverseness' and BSB 'perversity' are fine in older English, but modern readers tend to hear sexual deviance. ESV and NASB have 'crookedness', which keeps the picture. NIV's 'duplicity' brings out the two-facedness. NLT's 'dishonesty' is adequate but loses the image of bending something straight.

How it drifted

In 20th-century English 'perversion/perversity' came to mean chiefly sexual or psychological abnormality. The Hebrew means bending what should be straight: dealings, words, justice.

Used elsewhere in the period

The verb: a bribe 'subverts (yesallef) the words of the righteous' (Exod 23:8; Deut 16:19); 'wickedness overthrows the sinner' (Prov 13:6); 'a man's folly twists his way' (Prov 19:3); the LORD 'overthrows the words of the treacherous' (Prov 22:12, where it is paired again with bogdim); God 'overthrows the mighty' (Job 12:19).

Where it appears

Proverbs · 2

  1. Proverbs 11:3 וְסֶ֖לֶף and [the] crookedness of

    The integrity of the upright guides them, but the perversity of the faithless destroys them.

    Here: 'And the twistedness of.' This is the bending or distorting of what should be straight: dishonest dealing, crooked speech, overturning what is right. It is the direct opposite of the 'straight' people in line one.

  2. Proverbs 15:4 וְסֶ֥לֶף and perverseness

    A soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.

    Here: 'But twistedness'. The root means to twist or subvert, as a bribe 'twists' the words of the righteous (Exod 23:8). It covers deceit, distortion and words bent to do damage. Besides this verse, the noun occurs only at Prov 11:3.

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