Evil
רֹעַStrong’s H7455roa (ro-a)
Appears in 19 verses of the Old Testament
In short
Roa is the Hebrew word usually translated “wickedness of”, “from badness” and “from wickedness of”. It appears in 19 verses of the Old Testament.
“And, behold, seven other kine came up after them, poor and very ill favoured and leanfleshed, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for badness:”
Meaning
- Badness, evilbadness, bad quality · wilfulness · evil, badness (ethical) · sadness
How it's translated
- wickedness of 9
- from badness 4
- and from wickedness of 2
- to badness 1
- sadness of 1
- and according to wickedness of 1
- by sadness of 1
Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.
Where it's used most
- Jeremiah 11
- Genesis 1
- Deuteronomy 1
- 1 Samuel 1
- Nehemiah 1
- Psalms 1
9 books in all.
Explore in Scripture
- Deuteronomy 28:20The LORD shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me.
- 1 Samuel 17:28And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men; and Eliab’s anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle.
- Nehemiah 2:2Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid,
- Psalms 28:4Give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endeavours: give them after the work of their hands; render to them their desert.
- Ecclesiastes 7:3Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better.
- Isaiah 1:16Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
Hebrew dictionary
רֹעַ roa · evil
1) badness, evil 1a) badness, bad quality 1b) wilfulness 1c) evil, badness (ethical) 1d) sadness
From STEPBible’s Hebrew lexicon (based on Brown-Driver-Briggs).
Webster's 1828 Dictionary
How the English word “evil” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.
E'VIL, adjective
e'vl. [Heb. to be unjust or injurious, to defraud.]
- Having bad qualities of a natural kind; mischievous; having qualities which tend to injury, or to produce mischief.“Some evil beast hath devoured him” Genesis 37:20
- Having bad qualities of a moral kind; wicked; corrupt; perverse; wrong; as evil thoughts; evil deeds; evil speaking; an evil generation.
- Unfortunate; unhappy; producing sorrow, distress, injury or calamity; as evil tidings; evil arrows; evil days.
All definitions and other forms of “evil”
E'VIL, noun
evil is natural or moral. Natural evil is any thing which produces pain, distress, loss or calamity, or which in any way disturbs the peace, impairs the happiness, or destroys the perfection of natural beings.
- Misfortune; mischief; injury.“There shall no evil befall thee” Psalms 91:10“A prudent man foreseeth the evil and hideth himself” Proverbs 22:3
- Depravity; corruption of heart, or disposition to commit wickedness; malignity.“The heart of the sons of men is full of evil” Ecclesiastes 9:3
- Malady; as the king's evil or scrophula.
E'VIL, adverb
[generally contracted to ill.]
- Not well; not with justice or propriety; unsuitable.
- Not virtuously; not innocently.
- Not happily; unfortunately.
- Injuriously; not kindly.
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.