Hebrew word · H7047

קֶ֫לֶס

vakeles

derision

Derision, scoffing, mockery. The related verb means to mock or jeer: the boys mocking Elisha (2 Kgs 2:23), and invaders scoffing at kings (Hab 1:10).

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. · Updated October 31, 2026

What it means

derision, ridicule

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: Derision, scoffing, mockery. The related verb means to mock or jeer: the boys mocking Elisha (2 Kgs 2:23), and invaders scoffing at kings (Hab 1:10).
Against the English: 'Derision' (BSB, KJV, WEB, YLT) is accurate. Some versions use 'mockery' or 'scorn'.
Used elsewhere in the period: The noun appears only three times: here, Ps 44:13 and Ps 79:4. Both psalms are laments of the whole people, in which Israel complains that God has made them 'a reproach (ḥerpâ) to our neighbours, a scorn (laʿag) and derision (qeles) to those around us'. Jeremiah 20:7–8 has all three of those terms (śĕḥôq/laʿag in verse 7, ḥerpâ and qeles here).

Range of meaning: Derision, scoffing, ridicule. The noun occurs only three times (Ps 44:13; 79:4; Jer 20:8), and a related form (qallasah) once (Ezek 22:4). The verb in the reflexive form means to mock or jeer at (2 Kgs 2:23; Hab 1:10). In Ezek 16:31 it means to scorn payment.
Against the English: "Derision" (BSB, KJV, WEB) is accurate. YLT's "reproach" blurs it with cherpah.
Used elsewhere in the period: 2 Kgs 2:23: the youths "jeered at" Elisha ("Go up, baldhead!"). Hab 1:10: the Babylonians "scoff at kings". Jer 20:8: Jeremiah says God's word has become for him "a reproach and a derision (qeles) all day". Ps 79:4 repeats the exact pairing la'ag va-qeles. In later Aramaic and Syriac the same root means "to praise or acclaim", and lexicons such as HALOT note this. A shared origin in "shouting at someone" has been suggested but is uncertain.

Range of meaning: Derision, scoffing, jeering. A rare noun (Psalm 44:14; 79:4; Jeremiah 20:8) with a related verb qālas, 'to mock, scoff' (2 Kings 2:23; Ezekiel 16:31; Habakkuk 1:10), and a noun qallāsâ, 'object of mockery' (Ezekiel 22:4).
Against the English: 'Derision' in KJV, BSB, WEB, NASB and NIV, 'derided' in the ESV. These are accurate.
Used elsewhere in the period: Jeremiah 20:8: 'the word of the LORD has become for me a ḥerpâ and qeles all day long'. That pairs the same two ideas as this verse, used for a prophet who is ridiculed. Ezekiel 22:4 makes Jerusalem 'a ḥerpâ to the nations and a qallāsâ to all the lands'. These are the same pair of ideas again, aimed at the same city.

Psalms · 2

Psalm 44:13 וָ֝קֶ֗לֶס and derision

You have made us a reproach to our neighbors, a mockery and derision to those around us.

Here: "And scoffing". A rare word for open, noisy ridicule. Its verb describes the youths jeering at Elisha in 2 Kings 2:23. Paired with la'ag, it piles up the sense of being laughed at.
Psalm 79:4 וָ֝קֶ֗לֶס and derision

We have become a reproach to our neighbors, a scorn and derision to those around us.

Here: 'And scoffing'. This is a rare word, paired with 'mockery' to pile up the picture of open ridicule. Its verb is used of the youths jeering at Elisha (2 Kings 2:23).

Jeremiah · 1

Jeremiah 20:8 וּלְקֶ֖לֶס and <into> derision

For whenever I speak, I cry out; I proclaim violence and destruction. For the word of the LORD has become to me a reproach and derision all day long.

Here: 'And into derision'. It is a rare word for open mockery. Elsewhere it appears only in the communal laments of Psalms 44 and 79, where the whole nation is mocked by its neighbours.

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