Hebrew word · H6127

עָקַל

me'ukal

to twist

To bend, twist, make crooked. The verb occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible. Related words: ʿăqalqal, "winding, crooked" (Judges 5:6; Psalm 125:5).

Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. · Updated October 24, 2026

What it means

1) to bend, twist

1a) (Pual) to be bent out of shape, be distorted, be crooked

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

Range of meaning: To bend, twist, make crooked. The verb occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible. Related words: ʿăqalqal, "winding, crooked" (Judges 5:6; Psalm 125:5).
Against the English: "Perverted" (BSB, WEB, ESV, NIV, NASB) is accurate in its older sense of "turned aside, distorted," but today the word often suggests sexual deviance. KJV/YLT "wrong judgment" is clear but loses the image. "Twisted" or "bent" is closest.
How it drifted: English "perverted" originally meant "turned the wrong way" (Latin pervertere). Its modern sexual sense can distract readers.
Used elsewhere in the period: Judges 5:6: travellers went by "crooked (ʿăqalqallôt) paths." Psalm 125:5: those who turn aside to "their crooked ways." The same idea of twisted justice appears with other verbs (nāṭâ, "bend") in Exodus 23:6 and Deuteronomy 16:19. LXX here: diestrammenon, "distorted."

Habakkuk · 1

Habakkuk 1:4 מְעֻקָּֽל׃ perverted

Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted.

Here: A passive participle: "made crooked," bent out of shape. The verb occurs only here in the Bible, but its relatives describe winding, crooked paths. A ruling that should run straight comes out warped.

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