To twist
עָוָהStrong’s H5753avah (a-vah)
Appears in 17 verses of the Old Testament
In short
Avah is the Hebrew word usually translated “we have done wrong”, “perverse of” and “when does wrong he”. It appears in 17 verses of the Old Testament.
“We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments:”
Meaning
- To bend, twist, distort(Niphal) to be bent, be bowed down, be twisted, be perverted · (Piel) to twist, distort · (Hiphil) to do perversely
- To commit iniquity, do wrong, pervert(Qal) to do wrong, commit iniquity · (Hiphil) to commit iniquity
How it's translated
- we have done wrong 2
- perverse of 1
- when does wrong he 1
- he did perversely 1
- i have done wrong 1
- and we have done wrong 1
- she did wrong 1
- i have perverted 1
Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.
Where it's used most
- 2 Samuel 3
- Psalms 2
- Isaiah 2
- Jeremiah 2
- 1 Samuel 1
- 1 Kings 1
12 books in all.
Explore in Scripture
- 1 Samuel 20:30Then Saul’s anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said unto him, Thou son of the perverse rebellious woman, do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine own confusion, and unto the confusion of thy mother’s nakedness?
- 2 Samuel 7:14I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men:
- 2 Samuel 19:19And said unto the king, Let not my lord impute iniquity unto me, neither do thou remember that which thy servant did perversely the day that my lord the king went out of Jerusalem, that the king should take it to his heart.
- 2 Samuel 24:17And David spake unto the LORD when he saw the angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly: but these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father’s house.
- 1 Kings 8:47Yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they were carried captives, and repent, and make supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captives, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness;
- 2 Chronicles 6:37Yet if they bethink themselves in the land whither they are carried captive, and turn and pray unto thee in the land of their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have done amiss, and have dealt wickedly;
Hebrew dictionary
עָוָה avah · to twist
1) to bend, twist, distort 1a) (Niphal) to be bent, be bowed down, be twisted, be perverted 1b) (Piel) to twist, distort 1c) (Hiphil) to do perversely
עָוָה avah · to pervert
1) to commit iniquity, do wrong, pervert 1a) (Qal) to do wrong, commit iniquity 1b) (Hiphil) to commit iniquity
From STEPBible’s Hebrew lexicon (based on Brown-Driver-Briggs).
Webster's 1828 Dictionary
How the English word “twist” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.
TWIST, verb transitive
- To unite by winding one thread, strand or other flexible substance round another; to form by convolution, or winding separate things round each other; as to twist yarn or thread.
- To form into a thread from many fine filaments; as, to twist wool or cotton.
- To contort; to writhe; as, to twist a thing into a serpentine form.
- To wreathe; to wind; to encircle.
All definitions and other forms of “twist”
- To form; to weave; as, to twist a story.
- To unite by intertexture of parts; as, to twist bays with ivy.
- To unite; to enter by winding; to insinuate; as, avarice twists itself into all human concerns.
- To pervert; as, to twist a passage in an author.
- To turn from a straight line.
TWIST, verb intransitive
To be contorted or united by winding round each other. Some strands will twist more easily than others.
TWIST, noun
A cord, thread or any thing flexible, formed by winding strands or separate things round each other.
- A cord; a string; a single cord.
- A contortion; a writhe.
- A little roll of tobacco.
- Manner of twisting.
- A twig. [Not in use.]
Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). Verse references are checked against the KJV. Read the full entry.
Verses are from the King James Version. Word meanings come from the original Hebrew, not from any one translation.