עָרִיץ

Job 6:23 עָרִיצִ֣ים ruthless [people]

deliver me from the hand of the enemy; redeem me from the grasp of the ruthless’?

Job 15:20 לֶעָרִֽיץ׃ for <the> ruthless [person]

A wicked man writhes in pain all his days; only a few years are reserved for the ruthless.

Here: "For" (or "from") "the ruthless one". The word describes a violent, terror-inspiring strongman who crushes others. Here he stands in parallel to the "guilty man" of line one.

Job 27:13 עָ֝רִיצִ֗ים ruthless [people]

This is the wicked man’s portion from God—the heritage the ruthless receive from the Almighty.

Here: Violent, powerful people who make others afraid: tyrants and strongmen. It is plural and stands in parallel with 'wicked person,' so the second line moves from a type of person to a whole class of oppressors.

Psalm 37:35 עָרִ֑יץ ruthless

I have seen a wicked, ruthless man flourishing like a well-rooted native tree,

Here: It means someone who makes others tremble: a strongman, an oppressor whose power runs on fear. The point is less 'he is powerful' and more 'people are afraid of him.'

Psalm 54:3 וְֽ֭עָרִיצִים and ruthless [people]

For strangers rise up against me, and ruthless men seek my life—men with no regard for God. Selah

Here: From a root meaning 'to make tremble.' These are violent, powerful people who rule by terror: tyrants and strongmen. This second line raises the threat from 'outsiders' to 'terrorizers.'

Psalm 86:14 עָ֭רִיצִים ruthless [people]

The arrogant rise against me, O God; a band of ruthless men seeks my life; they have no regard for You.

Here: People who strike terror: violent and powerful, the kind who tyrannise others. The word comes from a root meaning 'to terrify, make tremble'.

Proverbs 11:16 וְ֝עָרִיצִ֗ים and ruthless [people]

A gracious woman attains honor, but ruthless men gain only wealth.

Here: 'And the ruthless.' This is a plural word with masculine endings: men who cause terror, oppressors, the strong who crush others. The prefix 'and' can join or contrast; here the lines are set against each other.

Isaiah 13:11 עָרִיצִ֖ים ruthless [people]

I will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their iniquity. I will end the haughtiness of the arrogant and lay low the pride of the ruthless.

Here: From a root meaning 'to terrify'. These are the violent powerful who rule by fear. Ezekiel uses the same word for the Babylonian armies, 'the most ruthless of nations'.

Isaiah 25:3 עָרִיצִ֖ים ruthless

Therefore, a strong people will honor You. The cities of ruthless nations will revere You.

Here: It describes the nations as violent and terrifying, the tyrants who frighten others. The same word comes back in verse 4 ('the breath of the ruthless') and verse 5 ('the song of the ruthless is silenced'). So the people who used to terrify others are now the ones who fear.

Isaiah 25:4 עָרִיצִ֖ים ruthless [people]

For You have been a refuge for the poor, a stronghold for the needy in distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat. For the breath of the ruthless is like rain against a wall,

Here: "Ruthless ones": violent oppressors who rule by terror. The word is picked up from v. 3, "ruthless nations", and again in v. 5.

Isaiah 25:5 עָֽרִיצִ֖ים ruthless [people]

like heat in a dry land. You subdue the uproar of foreigners. As the shade of a cloud cools the heat, so the song of the ruthless is silenced.

Isaiah 29:5 עָֽרִיצִ֔ים ruthless [people]

But your many foes will be like fine dust, the multitude of the ruthless like blowing chaff. Then suddenly, in an instant,

Here: People who inspire terror through violent power: tyrants, brutal oppressors. Ezekiel uses it for the conquering empires ("the most ruthless of nations"). Here it pairs with "foreigners", so the invaders are both alien and terrifying.

Isaiah 29:20 עָרִ֖יץ [the] ruthless person

For the ruthless will vanish, the mockers will disappear, and all who look for evil will be cut down—

Here: Someone whose power makes others tremble: the violent, overbearing strongman. It is singular, but it stands for a whole type of person. Only nine verses earlier (29:5) the same word described the 'horde of ruthless ones' besieging Jerusalem.

Isaiah 49:25 עָרִ֖יץ a ruthless [person]

Indeed, this is what the LORD says: “Even the captives of the mighty will be taken away, and the plunder of the tyrant will be retrieved; I will contend with those who contend with you, and I will save your children.

Here: Someone who inspires terror: a violent oppressor. It pairs with 'warrior' to describe the captor.

Jeremiah 15:21 עָרִצִֽים׃ פ ruthless [people]

I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.”

Here: Violent, overbearing people who cause terror, tyrants. It tops "evil ones" in the first line: these are not just bad people but frightening, oppressive ones. The פ after the word marks the end of a section in the Hebrew text.

Jeremiah 20:11 עָרִ֔יץ ruthless

But the LORD is with me like a fearsome warrior. Therefore, my persecutors will stumble and will not prevail. Since they have not succeeded, they will be utterly put to shame, with an everlasting disgrace that will never be forgotten.

Here: Almost everywhere else this is a word for violent oppressors and tyrants who frighten people. Applying it to God is deliberately jarring: the terror Jeremiah feels on every side (v. 10) is outmatched by a more terrifying one who fights for him.

Ezekiel 28:7 עָרִיצֵ֖י ruthless [ones] of

behold, I will bring foreigners against you, the most ruthless of nations. They will draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom and will defile your splendor.

Ezekiel 30:11 עָרִיצֵ֣י ruthless [ones] of

He and his people with him, the most ruthless of the nations, will be brought in to destroy the land. They will draw their swords against Egypt and fill the land with the slain.

Ezekiel 31:12 עָרִיצֵ֥י ruthless [ones] of

Foreigners, the most ruthless of the nations, cut it down and left it. Its branches have fallen on the mountains and in every valley; its boughs lay broken in all the earth’s ravines. And all the peoples of the earth left its shade and abandoned it.

Ezekiel 32:12 עָרִיצֵ֥י ruthless [ones] of

I will make your hordes fall by the swords of the mighty, the most ruthless of all nations. They will ravage the pride of Egypt and all her multitudes will be destroyed.