What does רַע · תַּחַת · טוֹב mean in the Bible?
רַע · תַּחַת · טוֹב is a Hebrew phrase meaning "evil in place of good".
Hebrew · H7451, H8478, H2896
רָעָה תַּחַת טוֹבָה
Bad or (as noun) evil (natural or moral) · the bottom (as depressed); only adverbially, below (often with prepositional prefix underneath), in lieu of , etc. · good (as an adjective) in the widest sense; used likewise as a noun, both in the masculine and the feminine, the singular and the plural (good, a good or good thing, a good man or woman; the good, goods or good things, good men or women), also as an adverb (well)
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What this page is: Each lexicon entry shows the original Hebrew or Greek word behind the English translation: its meaning, its range of use, and where it appears in Scripture.
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Words in this compound — expand to study each participant
רַע H7451 bad or (as noun) evil (natural or moral)
Pronunciation ra
Encompasses both moral wickedness and physical affliction; God's judgment often conflates ethical and natural evil.
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תַּחַת H8478 the bottom (as depressed); only adverbially, below (often with prepositional prefix underneath), in lieu of , etc.
Pronunciation tachtav
Spatial foundation shifting to substitution: beneath becomes "in place of" or "instead of" through positional logic.
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טוֹב H2896 good (as an adjective) in the widest sense; used likewise as a noun, both in the masculine and the feminine, the singular and the plural (good, a good or good thing, a good man or woman; the good, goods or good things, good men or women), also as an adverb (well)
What does רָעָה תַּחַת טוֹבָה (raah tachat tovah) mean in the Bible?
רַע · תַּחַת · טוֹב is a Hebrew phrase meaning "evil in place of good".
Full entry for רָעָה תַּחַת טוֹבָה (H7451, H8478, H2896) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How many biblical occurrences are listed for H7451, H8478, H2896?
H7451, H8478, H2896 is connected to 1,742 lexical occurrence verses in the lexicon data.
Evidence Summary
Hebrew phrase. evil in place of good
Source Gloss
evil in place of good
Grammatical Forms
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.
Form groups 1 Aligned forms 301
Qal basic active stem — the word in its most common, direct sense 1×
Perfect Isa 3:11 1×
Word Origins
רָעָה תַּחַת טוֹבָה is built from this root:
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain