Hebrew word · H7406
רֶ֫כֶס
veharekhasim
roughness
It occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible, so its meaning is uncertain. The main proposals: (1) ridges or rugged heights; (2) 'bound, tangled' ground, from the verb rakas, 'to bind' (Exod 28:28; 39:21, binding the high priest's breastpiece), meaning terrain knotted with rocks and obstacles.
Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
1) roughness or bound up, impeded, the impassable or mountain chain, rough place
1a) meaning uncertain
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
- Range of meaning
It occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible, so its meaning is uncertain. The main proposals: (1) ridges or rugged heights; (2) 'bound, tangled' ground, from the verb rakas, 'to bind' (Exod 28:28; 39:21, binding the high priest's breastpiece), meaning terrain knotted with rocks and obstacles. Lexicons give 'rough place' or 'rugged terrain' with a question mark.
- Against the English
BSB "rugged land", KJV/WEB "rough places", YLT "entangled places". YLT follows the 'bound/tangled' etymology. All are reasonable guesses at a rare word.
- Used elsewhere in the period
The LXX has hē tracheia, 'the rough (ground)'. Luke 3:5 adapts this to 'the rough (ways) into smooth roads'.
Where it appears
Isaiah · 1
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Isaiah 40:4 וְהָרְכָסִ֖ים and the rough places
Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill made low; the uneven ground will become smooth, and the rugged land a plain.
Here: "And the rough ridges / tangled terrain". This word occurs only here in the Bible, so its exact sense is uncertain. It means some kind of rugged, impassable ground, possibly ridges or ground 'tied up' in knots.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.