Hebrew word · H5620

סַר

sar

stubborn

An adjective found only three times, all in the Ahab story (1 Kgs 20:43; 21:4, 5). Lexicons generally connect it with the root sārar, 'to be stubborn, refractory, rebellious' (used of the 'stubborn and rebellious son' of Deut 21:18 and the 'stubborn heifer' of Hos 4:16).

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

stubborn, implacable, rebellious, resentful, sullen

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 1 Kings 21:4

Range of meaning

An adjective found only three times, all in the Ahab story (1 Kgs 20:43; 21:4, 5). Lexicons generally connect it with the root sārar, 'to be stubborn, refractory, rebellious' (used of the 'stubborn and rebellious son' of Deut 21:18 and the 'stubborn heifer' of Hos 4:16). Hence: resentful, sullen, sulky — a mood of inward resistance rather than open action.

Against the English

BSB/WEB 'sullen', YLT 'sulky' and ESV-type 'sullen' get it right. KJV 'heavy' (in 1611 English, 'sorrowful, depressed') stresses sadness and loses the note of resentful stubbornness.

How it drifted

KJV 'heavy' was the normal Early Modern English word for gloom ('heavy-hearted'); to a modern ear it sounds vague or physical and misses the resentment.

Used elsewhere in the period

Within the Bible it is limited to this cluster. In v. 5 Jezebel picks the word up: 'Why is your spirit sarah (sullen)?' The root's other uses (Deut 21:18; Ps 78:8; Jer 5:23; Hos 4:16) all involve refusing to submit.

Where it appears

1 Kings · 3

  1. 1 Kings 20:43 סַ֣ר sullen

    Sullen and angry, the king of Israel went home to Samaria.

  2. 1 Kings 21:4 סַ֣ר sullen

    So Ahab went to his palace, sullen and angry because Naboth the Jezreelite had told him, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” He lay down on his bed, turned his face away, and refused to eat.

    Here: A rare adjective, probably from the root for 'stubborn, refractory'. It describes a man in a resentful, inward-turned mood, with his will set against what he has been told.

  3. 1 Kings 21:5 סָרָ֔ה sullen

    Soon his wife Jezebel came in and asked, “Why are you so sullen that you refuse to eat?”

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