What does רֹעַ (rōʿa) mean in the Bible?
רֹעַ (rōʿa): Badness as active corruption or damage—moral evil that mars and degrades rather than mere absence of good
Hebrew · H7455
רֹעַ
Badness (as marring ), physically or morally
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רֹעַ H7455
Pronunciation rōʿa
What does רֹעַ (rōʿa) mean in the Bible?
רֹעַ (rōʿa): Badness as active corruption or damage—moral evil that mars and degrades rather than mere absence of good
Full entry for רֹעַ (H7455) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H7455?
The BSB source-word alignment has 19 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include so bad (4), and (2), the evil (2), the wickedness (2), your evil (2).
Where does רֹעַ (rōʿa) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 41:19. Its strongest book concentrations include Jeremiah (11), 1 Samuel (1), Deuteronomy (1), Ecclesiastes (1).
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It so bad 4× Jeremiah 24:2, Jeremiah 24:3, Jeremiah 24:8, Jeremiah 29:17
and 2× Jeremiah 23:22, Jeremiah 25:5
the evil 2× Jeremiah 26:3, Jeremiah 44:22
the wickedness 2× Deuteronomy 28:20, Hosea 9:15
your evil 2× Isaiah 1:16, Jeremiah 4:4
a sad 1× Ecclesiastes 7:3
and wickedness 1× 1 Samuel 17:28
for the evil 1× Jeremiah 23:2
of evil 1× Psalms 28:4
sadness 1× Nehemiah 2:2
such ugly 1× Genesis 41:19
their evil 1× Jeremiah 21:12
Show sample aligned rows
Genesis 41:19 לָרֹֽעַ׃ to such ugly Preposition-l, Article | Noun - masculine singular Deuteronomy 28:20 רֹ֥עַ to the wickedness Noun - masculine singular construct 1 Samuel 17:28 רֹ֣עַ to and wickedness Noun - masculine singular construct Nehemiah 2:2 רֹ֣עַֽ to sadness Noun - masculine singular construct Psalms 28:4 וּכְרֹ֪עַ to of evil Conjunctive waw, Preposition-k | Noun - masculine singular construct Ecclesiastes 7:3 בְרֹ֥עַ to a sad Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct Isaiah 1:16 רֹ֥עַ to your evil Noun - masculine singular construct Jeremiah 4:4 רֹ֥עַ to your evil Noun - masculine singular construct Jeremiah 21:12 רֹ֥עַ to their evil Noun - masculine singular construct Jeremiah 23:2 רֹ֥עַ to for the evil Noun - masculine singular construct
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Genesis 41:19
Aligned rows 19
Books represented 9
Genesis 1 Deuteronomy 1 1 Samuel 1 Nehemiah 1 Psalms 1 Ecclesiastes 1 Isaiah 1 Jeremiah 11 Hosea 1
Source forms
רֹ֥עַ 6x rō·a‘ Deuteronomy 28:20, Isaiah 1:16, Jeremiah 4:4, Jeremiah 21:12
רֹ֣עַ 3x rō·a‘ 1 Samuel 17:28, Jeremiah 44:22, Hosea 9:15
בְרֹ֥עַ 1x ḇə·rō·a‘ Ecclesiastes 7:3
וּכְרֹ֪עַ 1x ū·ḵə·rō·a‘ Psalms 28:4
וּמֵרֹ֖עַ 1x ū·mê·rō·a‘ Jeremiah 23:22
וּמֵרֹ֣עַ 1x ū·mê·rō·a‘ Jeremiah 25:5
לָרֹֽעַ׃ 1x lā·rō·a‘ Genesis 41:19
מֵרֹ֑עַ 1x mê·rō·a‘ Jeremiah 24:8
Parsing patterns
Noun - masculine singular construct 10x Deuteronomy 28:20, 1 Samuel 17:28, Nehemiah 2:2, Isaiah 1:16
Preposition-m | Noun - masculine singular 4x Jeremiah 24:2, Jeremiah 24:3, Jeremiah 24:8, Jeremiah 29:17
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-m | Noun - masculine singular construct 2x Jeremiah 23:22, Jeremiah 25:5
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-k | Noun - masculine singular construct 1x Psalms 28:4
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct 1x Ecclesiastes 7:3
Preposition-l, Article | Noun - masculine singular 1x Genesis 41:19
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Badness as active corruption or damage—moral evil that mars and degrades rather than mere absence of good
Source Gloss
badness (as marring ), physically or morally
Extended definition Source: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Badness as active corruption or damage—moral evil that mars and degrades rather than mere absence of good
badness (as marring), physically or morally BDB: badness Usage: × be so bad, badness, (× be so) evil, naughtiness, sadness, sorrow, wickedness.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Word Origins
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