רָשַׁע

Exodus 22:9 יַרְשִׁיעֻן֙ they will condemn as guilty !

In all cases of illegal possession of an ox, a donkey, a sheep, a garment, or any lost item that someone claims, ‘This is mine,’ both parties shall bring their cases before the judges. The one whom the judges find guilty must pay back double to his neighbor.

Here: A courtroom verb: 'declare to be in the wrong.' The verb form is plural, which is unusual when 'elohim' refers to Israel's God.

Deuteronomy 25:1 וְהִרְשִׁ֖יעוּ and they will condemn as guilty

If there is a dispute between men, they are to go to court to be judged, so that the innocent may be acquitted and the guilty condemned.

Here: "And they declare in the wrong": they convict. It is the exact counterpart of the previous verb: the court's ruling puts one party in the right and the other in the wrong.

1 Samuel 14:47 יַרְשִֽׁיעַ׃ he acted wickedly

After Saul had assumed the kingship over Israel, he fought against all his enemies on every side—the Moabites, the Ammonites, the Edomites, the kings of Zobah, and the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he routed them.

2 Samuel 22:22 רָשַׁ֖עְתִּי I have acted wickedly

For I have kept the ways of the LORD and have not wickedly departed from my God.

1 Kings 8:32 לְהַרְשִׁ֣יעַ to condemn as guilty

then may You hear from heaven and act. May You judge Your servants, condemning the wicked man by bringing down on his own head what he has done, and justifying the righteous man by rewarding him according to his righteousness.

Here: A causative form of the root 'be in the wrong'. In a courtroom it means to give a verdict against someone. It describes the judge's ruling, not a change in the person's character.

1 Kings 8:47 רָשָֽׁעְנוּ׃ we have acted wickedly

and when they come to their senses in the land to which they were taken, and they repent and plead with You in the land of their captors, saying, ‘We have sinned and done wrong; we have acted wickedly,’

Here: 'We are in the wrong', 'we have acted wickedly'. Rasha is the courtroom word for the guilty party, so the confession ends with the people pronouncing the verdict against themselves.

2 Chronicles 6:37 וְרָשָֽׁעְנוּ׃ and we have acted wickedly

and when they come to their senses in the land to which they were taken, and they repent and plead with You in the land of their captors, saying, ‘We have sinned and done wrong; we have acted wickedly,’

Here: 'We are in the wrong / we are guilty.' Rashaʿ is the courtroom word for the guilty party. The confession ends by accepting the verdict against themselves.

2 Chronicles 20:35 הִרְשִׁ֥יעַ he acted wickedly

Later, Jehoshaphat king of Judah made an alliance with Ahaziah king of Israel, who acted wickedly.

2 Chronicles 22:3 לְהַרְשִֽׁיעַ׃ to act wickedly

Ahaziah also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother was his counselor in wickedness.

Here: An infinitive of the active-causative verb form: 'to act wickedly' or 'toward wrongdoing'. It states what her counsel aimed at and produced: conduct that made him guilty before God.

Nehemiah 9:33 הִרְשָֽׁעְנוּ׃ we have acted wickedly

You are just in all that has befallen us, because You have acted faithfully, while we have acted wickedly.

Here: "We have acted wickedly," meaning "we are the guilty party." This is the standard first-person plural confession (compare 1 Kings 8:47; Psalm 106:6; Daniel 9:5). It is the courtroom opposite of tsaddiq: God is in the right, we are in the wrong.

Job 9:20 יַרְשִׁיעֵ֑נִי it will condemn as guilty me

Even if I were righteous, my mouth would condemn me; if I were blameless, it would declare me guilty.

Here: Causative form of 'be guilty/wicked': 'it would pronounce me guilty.' This is a judge's verdict word, the opposite of 'declare in the right' (Deut 25:1). It is the formal guilty verdict, not a feeling of guilt.

Job 9:29 אֶרְשָׁ֑ע I will be guilty

Since I am already found guilty, why should I labor in vain?

Job 10:2 תַּרְשִׁיעֵ֑נִי you condemn as guilty me

I will say to God: Do not condemn me! Let me know why You prosecute me.

Here: Courtroom language: "pronounce me in the wrong" or "give the verdict against me." In this causative form the verb means to declare someone guilty. Job is asking God not to hand down a guilty verdict without a trial.

Job 10:7 אֶרְשָׁ֑ע I am guilty

though You know that I am not guilty, and there is no deliverance from Your hand?

Here: "I am in the wrong" or "I am the guilty party." In this courtroom setting it is a verdict word, not a description of evil character: Job denies that he is the party at fault in this dispute. The form can also look ahead ("I will not be found guilty").

Job 10:15 רָשַׁ֡עְתִּי I am guilty

If I am guilty, woe to me! And even if I am righteous, I cannot lift my head. I am full of shame and aware of my affliction.

Here: In this courtroom setting, 'I am in the wrong / I am the guilty party'. It is a verdict about status before a judge, not a description of a villainous character. The same root gives 'he would condemn me' in 9:20 and 'I shall be found guilty' in 9:29.

Job 15:6 יַרְשִֽׁיעֲךָ֣ it condemns as guilty you

Your own mouth, not mine, condemns you; your own lips testify against you.

Job 32:3 וַ֝יַּרְשִׁ֗יעוּ and they had condemned as guilty

and he burned with anger against Job’s three friends because they had failed to refute Job, and yet had condemned him.

Job 34:12 יַרְשִׁ֑יעַ he acts wickedly

Indeed, it is true that God does not act wickedly, and the Almighty does not pervert justice.

Job 34:17 תַּרְשִֽׁיעַ׃ will you condemn as guilty

Could one who hates justice govern? Will you condemn the just and mighty One,

Job 34:29 יַרְשִׁ֗עַ will he condemn [him] as guilty

But when He remains silent, who can condemn Him? When He hides His face, who can see Him? Yet He watches over both man and nation,

Here: A courtroom word: to pronounce someone guilty in a legal case. No object is stated. Most likely it means 'who can declare *him* (God) in the wrong?' (compare 34:17). It could also mean 'who can declare anyone guilty' once God has acquitted or calmed them.

Job 40:8 תַּ֝רְשִׁיעֵ֗נִי will you condemn as guilty? me

Would you really annul My justice? Would you condemn Me to justify yourself?

Here: 'You would declare me guilty.' This form of the verb is a courtroom ruling: to pronounce someone in the wrong. It has nothing to do with sending anyone to hell. Job had begged God, 'Do not condemn me' (10:2), using this same word. God says Job has turned it around on him.

Psalm 18:21 רָ֝שַׁ֗עְתִּי I have acted wickedly

For I have kept the ways of the LORD and have not wickedly departed from my God.

Here: 'I have acted wickedly / become guilty.' The verb has a strong legal edge: to be the party in the wrong, the one a judge would condemn. Joined with 'from', it means to commit the guilty act of breaking away from God.

Psalm 37:33 יַ֝רְשִׁיעֶ֗נּוּ he will condemn as guilty him

the LORD will not leave them in their power or let them be condemned under judgment.

Here: Literally "he will not make him *rasha'*" (guilty, wicked), in the sense of declaring him guilty in a verdict. It is a pointed play on v. 32, where the *rasha'* (the wicked man) hunts the righteous: God will not let the righteous be labelled what his hunter actually is.

Psalm 94:21 יַרְשִֽׁיעוּ׃ they condemn as guilty

They band together against the righteous and condemn the innocent to death.

Here: The causative form of the verb 'be wicked/guilty', used as a legal term: to pronounce someone guilty in judgment. It is the formal word for a verdict, and here the verdict is a death sentence on an innocent man.

Psalm 106:6 הִרְשָֽׁעְנוּ׃ we have acted wickedly

We have sinned like our fathers; we have done wrong and acted wickedly.

Here: "We have acted guiltily": we have behaved as the party in the wrong. The word has a courtroom ring. In the case between God and Israel, the speakers admit they are the guilty side.

Proverbs 12:2 יַרְשִֽׁיעַ׃ he condemns as guilty

The good man obtains favor from the LORD, but the LORD condemns a man who devises evil.

Here: "He declares guilty." This is a courtroom verb: a judge pronounces someone in the wrong, the opposite of declaring them in the right (Deut 25:1; Prov 17:15). The unnamed "he" is most naturally YHWH, carried over from line one. Some ancient readers instead took it as "he acts wickedly," with the schemer as the subject (see debates).

Proverbs 17:15 וּמַרְשִׁ֣יעַ and [one who] condemns as guilty

Acquitting the guilty and condemning the righteous—both are detestable to the LORD.

Here: 'And' plus the matching participle from the opposite root: the one who pronounces someone 'in the wrong'. It mirrors the first word exactly.

Ecclesiastes 7:17 תִּרְשַׁ֥ע you be wicked

Do not be excessively wicked, and do not be a fool. Why should you die before your time?

Here: 'Be in the wrong', 'act wickedly': to be on the guilty side, the opposite of the 'righteous' (tsaddiq) of verse 16. It points back to the 'wicked man who prolongs his life in his wickedness' of verse 15.

Isaiah 50:9 יַרְשִׁיעֵ֑נִי will he condemn as guilty me

Surely the Lord GOD helps Me. Who is there to condemn Me? See, they will all wear out like a garment; the moths will devour them.

Isaiah 54:17 תַּרְשִׁ֑יעִי you will condemn as guilty

No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their vindication is from Me,” declares the LORD.

Here: "You will get them declared guilty." It is a legal verdict: Zion's accusers lose the case and are shown to be in the wrong. The verb is feminine singular, so Zion is the one who wins.

Daniel 9:5 הִרְשַׁ֣עְנוּ we have acted wickedly

we have sinned and done wrong. We have acted wickedly and rebelled. We have turned away from Your commandments and ordinances.

Here: "And we have acted wickedly," or more exactly "we have behaved as the guilty party." The rāšāʿ is the one a court finds in the wrong, the opposite of the tsaddiq, the one found in the right.

Daniel 9:15 רָשָֽׁעְנוּ׃ we have acted wickedly

Now, O Lord our God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and who made for Yourself a name renowned to this day, we have sinned; we have acted wickedly.

Here: The word for the party in the wrong, the opposite of the 'righteous' one who is in the right. Since verse 14 has just called God righteous, this concedes the case: he is in the right and we are in the wrong.

Daniel 11:32 וּמַרְשִׁיעֵ֣י and [those who] act wickedly of

With flattery he will corrupt those who violate the covenant, but the people who know their God will firmly resist him.

Here: A participle (a verb used as a noun) of the causative stem: 'those who do wrong' toward the covenant. In context these are Jews who abandoned the ancestral law and sided with the king's Greek-style reforms. It is placed first for emphasis, setting up the contrast with 'a people' later in the verse.

Daniel 12:10 וְהִרְשִׁ֣יעוּ and they will act wickedly

Many will be purified, made spotless, and refined, but the wicked will continue to act wickedly. None of the wicked will understand, but the wise will understand.

Here: 'And they will act wickedly.' The verb here is intransitive: they behave as guilty people. In this future setting the form points forward ('will act'). Daniel 11:32 uses the same verb for 'those who act wickedly against the covenant', the Jews who sided with the persecuting king.