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Bible Dictionaries
Wickedness
Vine's Expository Dictionary of OT Words
or Belı̂ya‛al (בְּלִיַּעַל, Strong's #1100), “wickedness; wicked; destruction.” The 27 occurrences of this noun are scattered throughout the periods of biblical Hebrew.
The basic meaning of this word appears in a passage such as Judg. 20:13, where the sons of belı̂ya‛al are perpetrators of wickedness (they raped and murdered a man’s concubine): “Now therefore deliver us the men, the children of Belial [NASB, “worthless fellows”] which are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death, and put away evil from Israel.” In its first appearance the word represents men who lead others into idolatry: “Certain men, the children of Belial, are gone out from among you, and have [seduced] the inhabitants of their city …” (Deut. 13:13). In Deut. 15:9 the word modifies Hebrew dabar, “word” or “matter.” Israel is warned to avoid “wicked” words (thoughts) in their hearts. Belı̂ya‛alis a synonym for rasha’ (“wicked rebellious one”) in Job 34:18. In Nah. 1:11 the wicked counselor plots evil against God. The psalmist uses belı̂ya‛al as a synonym of death: “The cords of death encompassed me, and the torrents of ungodliness [KJV, “floods of ungodly men”] terrified me” (Ps. 18:4, NASB).
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Vines, W. E., M. A. Entry for 'Wickedness'. Vine's Expository Dictionary of OT Words. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/vot/w/wickedness.html. 1940.
