← H7562 H7564 →

רָשָׁע

𐤓𐤔𐤏

râshâʻ

H7563 adjective

SILEX Entry

Root רשׁע to act wickedly, to violate the law, to be guilty

Definition

A person who is guilty of wrongdoing; one who acts unjustly, wickedly, or in opposition to prescribed social or ethical norms. The term can also describe conduct or behavior that is malicious, criminal, or evil, especially in ways that disrupt community order or violate covenantal law. In legal contexts, refers to someone declared guilty or adjudged a wrongdoer. The semantic range includes an actively wicked individual, one deserving of condemnation, a perpetrator of injustice, or someone whose actions are criminal or socially destructive.

Semantic Range

wicked person, lawbreaker, criminal, person actively engaged in injustice, one declared guilty, perpetrator of social or religious wrong, condemned person

Root / Etymology

From the root רָשַׁע (rš‘), meaning 'to act wickedly,' 'to be guilty,' or 'to do wrong.' The noun רָשָׁע is formed from this root and designates one who engages in such actions.

Historical & Contextual Notes

Throughout the Hebrew Bible, רָשָׁע is an ethically charged term, applied to individuals engaged in antisocial or unlawful conduct according to Israelite covenantal standards rather than to sinners in general. Its primary use is forensic or legal, especially in contrast with צַדִּיק (ṣaddîq, 'righteous one') in judicial or poetic texts. In earlier biblical periods, distinctions between civil, cultic, and moral wickedness are often blurred; later developments in wisdom literature make the dichotomy of 'righteous' and 'wicked' almost archetypical. English 'wicked' or 'ungodly' sometimes fail to convey the full sense of legal guilt or social disruption implied. Later Jewish usage adopted רָשָׁע as a term for those who reject communal or covenantal norms (e.g., in rabbinic literature), but in biblical contexts the word is more closely aligned with criminality, lawlessness, or pronounced social injustice. The English term 'ungodly' in traditional translations can be misleading or too narrowly focused on religious aspects rather than broader social and judicial wrongs.

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

from רָשַׁע; morally wrong; concretely, an (actively) bad person; [phrase] condemned, guilty, ungodly, wicked (man), that did wrong.

Bantu Hebrew

No Bantu Hebrew comparisons have been submitted for this word yet.

+ Add Bantu Hebrew Word

Root Family

רשׁע (r-sh-ʿ) — to act wickedly, to violate the law, to be guilty

Strong's Lemma SIBI-P1
H7562 רֶשַׁע in unjust-wrongdoing

Word Forms

25 distinct forms

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 Occurrences
H7563-16 רְשָׁעִ֗ים reshaim HAampa of the wicked wicked men 104
H7563-14 רָשָֽׁע rasha HAamsa the wicked wicked man 92
H7563-03 הָ/רָשָֽׁע harasha HTd/Aamsa the wicked the guilty man 9
H7563-08 לָֽ/רָשָׁ֔ע larasha HRd/Aamsa to the wicked to a guilty wrongdoer 8
H7563-05 הָ/רְשָׁעִֽים hareshaim HTd/Aampa the wicked the lawbreaking ones 8
H7563-20 וּ/רְשָׁעִ֖ים ureshaim HC/Aampa but the wicked and lawbreakers 7
H7563-25 וְ/רָשָֽׁע verasha HC/Aamsa and wicked and wicked man 5
H7563-10 לְ/רָשָׁ֣ע lerasha HR/Aamsa and the wicked to a guilty man 5
H7563-13 מֵ֭/רְשָׁעִים mereshaim HR/Aampa from the wicked from lawbreaking men 4
H7563-17 רִשְׁעֵי risheey HAampc the wicked wicked ones of 3

Occurrences in Scripture

263 total occurrences

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1
H7563-14 Genesis 18:23 רָשָֽׁע rasha HAamsa the wicked wicked man
H7563-14 Genesis 18:25 רָשָׁ֔ע rasha HAamsa wicked wicked man
H7563-06 Genesis 18:25 כָּ/רָשָׁ֑ע karasha HRd/Aamsa like the wicked wicked man
H7563-08 Exodus 2:13 לָֽ/רָשָׁ֔ע larasha HRd/Aamsa to the guilty one to a guilty wrongdoer
H7563-05 Exodus 9:27 הָ/רְשָׁעִֽים hareshaim HTd/Aampa are the wicked ones the lawbreaking ones
H7563-14 Exodus 23:1 רָשָׁ֔ע rasha HAamsa the wicked wicked man
H7563-14 Exodus 23:7 רָשָֽׁע rasha HAamsa the wicked wicked man
H7563-05 Numbers 16:26 הָֽ/רְשָׁעִים֙ hareshaim HTd/Aampa the wicked the lawbreaking ones
H7563-14 Numbers 35:31 רָשָׁ֖ע rasha HAamsa guilty wicked man
H7563-03 Deuteronomy 25:1 הָ/רָשָֽׁע harasha HTd/Aamsa the wicked the guilty man
← H7562 Hebrew Lexicon H7564 →