What the Bible says about Cruelly

The words "cruel," "cruelty" and "cruelly" do appear in the Bible, yet surprisingly, they appear only twenty-five times in Scripture, including only once in the New Testament—and not really even that. The word "cruel" that appears in some of the more common English translations of Hebrews 11:36 is an implied addition, meaning that its Greek equivalent does not appear in the original text.

We are left, then, with just twenty-four occurrences, all in the Old Testament. They are translated from nine different Hebrew words. In taking a quick look at them, we should ask ourselves if we could be guilty of any of these:

» Qashah can mean cruel, hard, stiff-necked, grievous, severe, fierce, harsh, difficult, ill-treat, hard press, severe labor (especially of women), make burdensome, stubborn, and obstinacy.

» Qasheh is a similar word to qashah, and can mean cruel, stiff-necked, hard, rough, grievous, sore, churlish, hardhearted, heavy, severe, obstinate, difficult, fierce, intense, vehement, stubborn, and rigorous.

» 'Akzar, 'akzariy and 'akzeriyuwth are three related words which simply mean cruel, cruelty, fierce, or fierceness.

» Chamets is an interesting word that some may be familiar with because of its relationship to leavening. It means cruel, leavened, sour, embittered, grieved, oppress, or ruthless.

» Chamac is a word which may be related to chamets and means cruel, cruelty, violence, wrong, false, damage, injustice, oppressor, and unrighteous.

» Perek means cruelty, rigor, harshness, or severity.

» 'Osheq can mean cruelly, oppression, extortion, and injury.

Serious consideration of these words will give us a good overview of God's opinion of cruelty in all of its various stripes. It is obvious that He frowns upon it.

Staff
Don't Be Cruel!