The meaning of Provocation; Provoke in the Bible
(From International Standard Bible Encyclopedia)
prov-o-ka'-shun, pro-vok': "Provoke," literally, "to call forth," hence, to excite or stir up, whether in a good or bad sense, appears frequently in the Old Testament as the translation of Piel, or Hiphil of ka'ac (noun, ka'ac), in the sense of "to make angry" (Deuteronomy 4:25; Deuteronomy 9:18; I Kings 14:9, I Kings 14:15, etc.); sometimes of marah (Isaiah 3:8), and of other words. In the New Testament we have parazeloo, "to make jealous" (Romans 10:19; Romans 11:11, Romans 11:14); parorgizo, "to make angry" (Ephesians 6:4; compare Colossians 3:21); with parapikraino, "to embitter" (Hebrews 3:16; compare in 1 Esdras 6:15), and other Greek words. "Provocation" in Hebrews 3:8, Hebrews 3:15 (quoting Psalms 95:8) is parapikrasmos, the Septuagint for the Hebrew meribhah. An example of the good sense of the word is in Hebrews 10:24, "Consider one another to provoke (literally, "to the provoking," here paroxusmos) unto love and good works."
For "provoke" the Revised Version (British and American) has "despise" (Numbers 14:11; Numbers 31:20), "rebel against" (Psalms 78:40); for "provoked," "despised" (Numbers 14:23; Numbers 16:30; Isaiah 1:4), "moved" (Deuteronomy 32:16; I Chronicles 21:1), "rebelled against" (Psalms 78:56), "were rebellious" (Psalms 106:33, Psalms 106:43); for "provoking" (Psalms 78:17), "to rebel against"; for "provoked" (II Corinthians 9:2), "stirred up"; "provoked within" for "stirred in" (Acts 17:16); "provoked" for "limited" (Psalms 78:41 margin, "limited"); "provoketh" for "emboldeneth" (Job 16:3); instead of "Provoke not your children to anger" (Colossians 3:21), "Provoke not your children."
W. L. Walker
DISCLAIMER: Church of the Great God (CGG) provides these resources to aid the individual in studying the Bible. However, it is up to the individual to "prove all things, and hold fast to that which is good" (I Thessalonians 5:21). The content of these resources does not necessarily reflect the views of CGG. They are provided for information purposes only.
