What does רָעַע (rāʿaʿ) mean in the Bible?
רָעַע (rāʿaʿ): To damage or spoil through breaking; harm escalates from physical destruction to moral/social corruption.
Hebrew · H7489
רָעַע
Properly, to spoil (literally, by breaking to pieces); figuratively, to make (or be ) good for nothing , i.e. bad (physically, socially or morally)
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רָעַע H7489
Pronunciation rāʿaʿ
What does רָעַע (rāʿaʿ) mean in the Bible?
רָעַע (rāʿaʿ): To damage or spoil through breaking; harm escalates from physical destruction to moral/social corruption.
Full entry for רָעַע (H7489) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H7489?
The BSB source-word alignment has 102 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include harm (6), . . . (5), of evildoers (5), of the wicked (3), and bring disaster (2).
Where does רָעַע (rāʿaʿ) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 19:7. Its strongest book concentrations include Psalms (16), Jeremiah (14), Isaiah (12), Genesis (9).
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 harm 6× 1 Samuel 26:21, 1 Chronicles 16:22, Isaiah 11:9, Isaiah 65:25
. . . 5× Numbers 11:10, 1 Samuel 12:25, 1 Chronicles 21:17, Proverbs 11:15
of evildoers 5× Job 8:20, Psalms 26:5, Isaiah 1:4, Jeremiah 20:13
of the wicked 3× Psalms 64:2, Isaiah 14:20, Isaiah 31:2
and bring disaster 2× Joshua 24:20, Jeremiah 31:28
displeased 2× Nehemiah 13:8, Jonah 4:1
evil 2× Leviticus 5:4, Proverbs 24:8
more evil 2× 1 Kings 14:9, Jeremiah 16:12
to bring disaster 2× Jeremiah 25:29, Zechariah 8:14
will begrudge 2× Deuteronomy 28:54, Deuteronomy 28:56
[and] did more evil 1× Jeremiah 7:26
a costly 1× Psalms 15:4
A wicked man 1× Proverbs 17:4
acting more wickedly 1× 2 Kings 21:11
and acted more wickedly 1× 1 Kings 16:25
and acted wickedly 1× 1 Chronicles 21:17
and disapprove 1× Proverbs 24:18
and resented 1× 1 Samuel 18:8
and trouble came 1× Psalms 106:32
and was displeased 1× Isaiah 59:15
and wicked 1× Isaiah 9:17
be distressed 1× Genesis 21:12
be grieved 1× Deuteronomy 15:10
be sad 1× Nehemiah 2:3
begrudgingly 1× Deuteronomy 15:9
bring harm 1× Psalms 37:8
brought tragedy 1× 1 Kings 17:20
Can anyone smash 1× Jeremiah 15:12
did you bring this trouble 1× Genesis 43:6
distressed 1× Genesis 21:11
disturbed 1× Nehemiah 2:10
Do no harm 1× Psalms 105:15
do such a wicked thing 1× Genesis 19:7
do this wicked thing 1× Judges 19:23
doing evil 1× Isaiah 1:16
from harming 1× 1 Samuel 25:34
has afflicted 1× Ruth 1:21
has destroyed 1× Psalms 74:3
have acted wickedly 1× Jeremiah 38:9
have You brought this trouble 1× Numbers 11:11
have You brought trouble 1× Exodus 5:22
he has brought trouble 1× Exodus 5:23
He shatters 1× Job 34:24
he was displeased 1× Genesis 48:17
Huddle together 1× Isaiah 8:9
I have afflicted 1× Micah 4:6
in doing evil 1× Jeremiah 4:22
is utterly broken apart 1× Isaiah 24:19
is wicked 1× Genesis 44:5
it seems wrong 1× Jeremiah 40:4
may come to ruin 1× Proverbs 18:24
mistreated 1× Numbers 20:15
mistreated us 1× Deuteronomy 26:6
of evil men 1× Psalms 22:16
of my wicked 1× Psalms 92:11
or bad 1× Zephaniah 1:12
or evil 1× Isaiah 41:23
or mistreated 1× Numbers 16:15
over evildoers 1× Proverbs 24:19
the evil 1× Micah 3:4
the evildoers 1× Psalms 37:9
the wicked 1× Psalms 94:16
they do evil 1× Proverbs 4:16
this is displeasing 1× Numbers 22:34
those who do evil 1× Psalms 37:1
to doing evil 1× Jeremiah 13:23
to harm me 1× Genesis 31:7
upset 1× 2 Samuel 11:25
was also evil 1× 1 Chronicles 21:7
was displeasing 1× 1 Samuel 8:6
was evil 1× 2 Samuel 11:27
was wicked 1× Genesis 38:10
we will treat you worse 1× Genesis 19:9
When the wicked 1× Psalms 27:2
will be consumed 1× Jeremiah 11:16
will be destroyed 1× Proverbs 13:20
will be worse 1× 2 Samuel 19:7
You crushed 1× Psalms 44:2
you evildoers 1× Psalms 119:115
you persist in doing evil 1× 1 Samuel 12:25
You will break them 1× Psalms 2:9
Show sample aligned rows
Genesis 19:7 תָּרֵֽעוּ׃ to do such a wicked thing Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - second person masculine plural Genesis 19:9 נָרַ֥ע to we will treat you worse Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - first person common plural Genesis 21:11 וַיֵּ֧רַע to distressed Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular Genesis 21:12 יֵרַ֤ע to be distressed Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular Genesis 31:7 לְהָרַ֖ע to to harm me Preposition-l | Verb - Hifil - Infinitive construct Genesis 38:10 וַיֵּ֛רַע to was wicked Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular Genesis 43:6 הֲרֵעֹתֶ֖ם to did you bring this trouble Verb - Hifil - Perfect - second person masculine plural Genesis 44:5 הֲרֵעֹתֶ֖ם to is wicked Verb - Hifil - Perfect - second person masculine plural Genesis 48:17 וַיֵּ֣רַע to he was displeased Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular Exodus 5:22 הֲרֵעֹ֙תָה֙ to have You brought trouble Verb - Hifil - Perfect - second person masculine singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Genesis 19:7
Aligned rows 102
Books represented 23
Genesis 9 Exodus 2 Leviticus 1 Numbers 5 Deuteronomy 5 Joshua 1 Judges 1 Ruth 1 1 Samuel 6 2 Samuel 3 1 Kings 3 2 Kings 1 1 Chronicles 4 Nehemiah 3 Job 2 Psalms 16 Proverbs 8 Isaiah 12 Jeremiah 14 Jonah 1 Micah 2 Zephaniah 1 Zechariah 1
Source forms
וַיֵּ֥רַע 4x way·yê·ra‘ Nehemiah 2:10, Psalms 106:32, Isaiah 59:15, Jonah 4:1
מְרֵעִ֑ים 4x mə·rê·‘îm Psalms 26:5, Psalms 64:2, Psalms 94:16, Psalms 119:115
מְרֵעִ֔ים 3x mə·rê·‘îm Isaiah 1:4, Isaiah 31:2, Jeremiah 23:14
בַּמְּרֵעִ֑ים 2x bam·mə·rê·‘îm Psalms 37:1, Proverbs 24:19
הֵרַ֖ע 2x hê·ra‘ Exodus 5:23, Psalms 74:3
הָרֵֽעַ׃ 2x hā·rê·a‘ Isaiah 1:16, Jeremiah 13:23
הֵרֵ֖עוּ 2x hê·rê·‘ū Jeremiah 7:26, Micah 3:4
הֲרֵעֹתֶ֖ם 2x hă·rê·‘ō·ṯem Genesis 43:6, Genesis 44:5
Parsing patterns
Verb - Hifil - Participle - masculine plural 14x Job 8:20, Psalms 22:16, Psalms 26:5, Psalms 27:2
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular 12x Genesis 21:11, Genesis 38:10, Genesis 48:17, 1 Samuel 8:6
Preposition-l | Verb - Hifil - Infinitive construct 8x Genesis 31:7, Leviticus 5:4, Psalms 15:4, Psalms 37:8
Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - second person masculine plural 5x Genesis 19:7, Judges 19:23, 1 Samuel 12:25, 1 Chronicles 16:22
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular 5x Genesis 21:12, Deuteronomy 15:10, 2 Samuel 11:25, Job 34:24
Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - third person masculine plural 4x Proverbs 4:16, Isaiah 11:9, Isaiah 65:25, Jeremiah 10:5
Verb - Hifil - Perfect - third person masculine singular 4x Exodus 5:23, Ruth 1:21, 2 Kings 21:11, Psalms 74:3
Verb - Hifil - Perfect - first person common singular 3x Numbers 16:15, 1 Chronicles 21:17, Micah 4:6
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. To damage or spoil through breaking; harm escalates from physical destruction to moral/social corruption.
Strong's H7489
Lexical occurrences 102 verses Word forms 4 forms 63 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Exodus 5:22-23 Source Gloss
properly, to spoil (literally, by breaking to pieces); figuratively, to make (or be ) good for nothing , i.e. bad (physically, socially or morally)
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 4 Aligned forms 63
Hiphil causative active — the subject causes someone else to perform the action 48×
Perfect 2Kgs 21:11 · Exod 5:23 · Ps 74:3 · Ruth 1:21 · 1Chr 21:17 · Mic 4:6 · Num 16:15 · 1Kgs 17:20 · Exod 5:22 · Num 11:11 · Gen 43:6 · Gen 44:5 · Jer 16:12 · Jer 7:26 · Jer 38:9 · Mic 3:4 16×
Participle active Isa 1:4 · Isa 14:20 · Isa 31:2 · Jer 20:13 · Jer 23:14 · Job 8:20 · Prov 17:4 · Ps 22:17 · Ps 26:5 · Ps 27:2 · Ps 37:9 · Ps 64:3 · Ps 92:12 · Ps 94:16 · Ps 119:115 15×
Imperfect Isa 11:9 · Isa 65:25 · Jer 10:5 · Prov 4:16 · 1Sam 12:25 · Gen 19:7 · 1Sam 26:21 · Jer 25:6 · Gen 19:9 · Ps 44:3 · Zeph 1:12 11×
Jussive 1Chr 16:22 · Judg 19:23 · Ps 105:15 3×
Infinitive absolute 1Sam 12:25 · Isa 1:16 2×
Infinitive construct Jer 13:23 1×
Qal basic active stem — the word in its most common, direct sense 11×
Imperfect Deut 15:10 · Job 34:24 · Deut 28:54 · Deut 28:56 · Neh 2:3 5×
Jussive 2Sam 11:25 · Gen 21:12 2×
Perfect Jer 40:4 · Num 22:34 2×
Sequential imperfect Isa 8:9 1×
Infinitive absolute Isa 24:19 1×
Niphal passive or reflexive — the subject receives or experiences the action 2×
Imperfect Prov 11:15 · Prov 13:20 2×
Hithpolel 1×
Perfect Isa 24:19 1×
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
God's treatment or action perceived as harmful, injurious to Moses' people
moral corruption or wickedness acquired through association with foolish companions
morally corrupt speech or falsehood that listening ears are inclined toward
wickedness of evildoers whose ultimate fate is destruction or ruin
Showing 4 selected witnesses from 102 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
רָעַע is a primitive root - no further derivation.
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
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