Mārad names rebellion or resistance against an identified authority, but the object and speaker determine the passage's judgment. Genesis 14:4 describes kings rebelling after twelve years of subjection to Chedorlaomer.
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Full entry for מָרַד (H4775) · Open the biblical lexicon
Mārad names rebellion or resistance against an identified authority, but the object and speaker determine the passage's judgment. Genesis 14:4 describes kings rebelling after twelve years of subjection to Chedorlaomer.
The BSB source-word alignment has 25 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include and rebelled (4), rebel (3), rebelled (3), those who rebel (2), you have rebelled (2).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 14:4. Its strongest book concentrations include Joshua (5), 2 Kings (4), Ezekiel (4), Nehemiah (3).
Mārad names rebellion or resistance against an identified authority, but the object and speaker determine the passage's judgment. Genesis 14:4 describes kings rebelling after twelve years of subjection to Chedorlaomer. Second Kings 18:7 says Hezekiah rebelled against Assyria within an account that commends his trust in the Lord. The verb therefore cannot mean that resistance to every human power is necessarily rebellion against God.
Daniel 9:5 confesses rebellion with departure from God's commandments, and verse 9 still names divine compassion and forgiveness. Nehemiah 6:6 records an accusation of planned revolt in a hostile letter; Nehemiah denies the rumors as invention in verse 8. Teaching must not convert that attributed allegation into an established fact merely because it appears in Scripture. Readers should ask against whom the action is directed, what evidence establishes it and whether the statement is confession, narrative description or accusation before applying the morally charged label to someone today.
Political resistance, Hezekiah's refusal of Assyrian service, confession against God and a denied hostile allegation show different objects and evidence. Rebellion cannot be evaluated by the verb alone or by accepting every speaker's accusation as narrator truth.
For twelve years they had been subject to Chedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled.
The kings' rebellion follows a stated twelve years of subjection to Chedorlaomer. This political description requires its own narrative setting rather than an automatic divine-rebellion gloss.
And the Lord was with Hezekiah, and he prospered wherever he went. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and refused to serve him.
Hezekiah refuses service to Assyria while the surrounding account commends his trust and faithfulness to the Lord. Resistance to that king is not equated with rejection of God.
We have sinned and done wrong. We have acted wickedly and rebelled. We have turned away from Your commandments and ordinances.
Daniel confesses rebellion alongside turning from God's commandments and ordinances. The prayer's later appeal to compassion and forgiveness remains with that admitted wrongdoing.
That read: “It is reported among the nations—and Geshem agrees—that you and the Jews are plotting to revolt, and this is why you are building the wall. According to these reports, you are to become their king,
A hostile letter alleges a revolt plot, but Nehemiah explicitly denies the report as invented. The accusation must remain attributed rather than becoming established narrative fact.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Hebrew word. Rebellion against legitimate authority, especially covenant-breaking defiance of God's rule and commands.
Rebellion against legitimate authority, especially covenant-breaking defiance of God's rule and commands.
to rebel BDB: rebel Usage: rebel(-lious).
How the stem changes the meaning of this verb across the biblical text.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
מָרַד is a primitive root - no further derivation.
Second Kings surrounds Hezekiah's refusal to serve Assyria with praise of his trust in the Lord. That context prevents treating the verb as a dictionary verdict that all political resistance is sinful. Daniel's confession supplies a different object: God's commandments have been abandoned, and the prayer acknowledges guilt while appealing to divine compassion. The same action label receives its evaluation through the authority and conduct involved.
Nehemiah's letter scene requires an additional safeguard because the statement is an accusation that the recipient denies. The narrative explains the attempt to frighten the workers, so repeating the allegation as a fact would erase its attribution and response. Acts 5:27-32 similarly distinguishes a human prohibition from the apostles' obligation to obey God. These comparisons do not make every modern refusal righteous, but they prevent an authority figure's displeasure from being enough to establish rebellion against God. Evidence, object and the text's stated evaluation must guide the explanation.
Dan.9.5
Rebel requires attention to the authority or command resisted. Political description, confession toward God and attributed accusation are different uses; the verb itself neither certifies an allegation nor assigns the same moral verdict to every form of resistance.
Acts 5:27-32 records the apostles saying they must obey God rather than the council's prohibition. This supplies a Christian comparison for distinguishing divine obligation from human demands. It does not equate mārad with a Greek obedience term or automatically vindicate every modern refusal of authority.