Hebrew word · H7046

קָלַס

lekales

to mock

To mock, deride, scoff, treat with contempt, usually in public. The related noun qeles means 'an object of derision'.

Appears 4 times in 4 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to mock, scoff

1a) (Piel) to scoff at

1b) (Hithpael) to mock, deride, make fun of

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 2 Kings 2:23

Range of meaning

To mock, deride, scoff, treat with contempt, usually in public. The related noun qeles means 'an object of derision'.

Against the English

'Mocked' (KJV, WEB, NASB), 'jeered at' (BSB, NIV, ESV), 'mocking and making fun of' (NLT). 'Jeered' comes closest to the public, noisy scorn of the Hebrew.

Used elsewhere in the period

Ezekiel 22:5, where the nations mock disgraced Jerusalem; Habakkuk 1:10, where the Babylonians scoff at kings; Ezekiel 16:31, where the prostitute scorns payment; the noun in Jeremiah 20:8 and Psalms 44:13 [Heb. 14] and 79:4, of Israel made 'a scorn and derision'. In later Aramaic the same root can mean to acclaim or sing out (per HALOT), which may suggest a root idea of loud, rhythmic shouting. That would suit a chant, but this point is uncertain.

Where it appears

2 Kings · 1

  1. 2 Kings 2:23 וַיִּתְקַלְּסוּ־ and they derided

    From there, Elisha went up to Bethel, and as he was walking up the road, a group of boys came out of the city and jeered at him, chanting, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!”

    Here: A rare verb for open, contemptuous scorn. Elsewhere it describes nations deriding a disgraced Jerusalem and invaders laughing at kings. This is public shaming, not playful teasing.

Ezekiel · 2

  1. Ezekiel 16:31 לְקַלֵּ֥ס to scorn

    But when you built your mounds at the head of every street and made your lofty shrines in every public square, you were not even like a prostitute, because you scorned payment.

  2. Ezekiel 22:5 יִתְקַלְּסוּ־ they will deride

    Those near and far will mock you, O infamous city, full of turmoil.

Habakkuk · 1

  1. Habakkuk 1:10 יִתְקַלָּ֔ס it derides

    They scoff at kings and make rulers an object of scorn. They laugh at every fortress and build up siege ramps to seize it.

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