rasha · wicked

What it means

rasha (רָשָׁע) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “wicked”.

One who does evil and is guilty before God and before others.

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. One who does evil, the opposite of the righteous.
2. The one in the wrong in a trial.

From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)

Word study

Wicked: one who does evil and is guilty. BDB defines it as morally wrong, and concretely an actively bad person.

• The wicked over against the righteous Genesis 18:23Psalms 1:6
• The way or the counsel of the wicked Psalms 1:1
• The guilty party in a trial Deuteronomy 25:1Exodus 23:7
• To admit one's guilt Exodus 9:27
• God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked Ezekiel 18:23

Historical and cultural background

Deuteronomy 25:1 describes a trial: the judges “shall declare righteous the righteous and declare wicked the wicked”.

How we translate it

“Wicked” 260 times, “guilty” 2. This edition translates רָשָׁע “wicked” (and רֶשַׁע “wickedness”), and keeps “godless” for חָנֵף, another word; so the reader can tell the two apart.

How it is translated

The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.

• wicked ×260
• guilty ×2

Related words

Words of the same family, by Strong’s numbering.

Where it appears

• Genesis×3
• Exodus×4
• Numbers×2
• Deuteronomy×2
• 1 Samuel×1
• 2 Samuel×1
• 1 Kings×1
• 2 Chronicles×2
• Job×26
• Psalms×82
• Proverbs×78
• Ecclesiastes×7
• Isaiah×11
• Jeremiah×5
• Ezekiel×28
• Daniel×2
• Micah×1
• Habakkuk×3
• Zephaniah×1
• Malachi×2

• Genesis 18:23

  Abraham came near and said, “Will you really sweep away the righteous with the wicked?

• Genesis 18:25

  Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put to death the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous fare like the wicked! Far be it from you! Shall the Judge of all the earth not do justice?”

• Exodus 2:13

  He went out the next day, and look, two Hebrew men were fighting. And he said to the wicked one, “Why are you striking your companion?”

• Exodus 9:27

  Then Pharaoh sent and called for Moses and for Aaron and said to them, “I have sinned this time; YHWH is the righteous one, and I and my people are the wicked ones.

• Exodus 23:1

  You shall not spread a false report. Do not join hands with the wicked to be a malicious witness.

• Exodus 23:7

  Keep far from a false matter, and do not kill the innocent and the righteous, for I will not declare righteous the wicked.

• Numbers 16:26

  And he spoke to the community, saying, “Turn away, please, from the tents of these wicked men, and do not touch anything of theirs, lest you be swept away in all their sins.”

• Numbers 35:31

  And you shall not accept compensation for the life of a manslayer who is guilty of death, for he shall surely be put to death.

• Deuteronomy 25:1

  If there is a dispute between men, and they come near to judgment, and they judge them, they shall declare righteous the righteous and declare wicked the wicked.

• Deuteronomy 25:2

  Then it shall be, if the wicked one deserves to be struck, that the judge shall make him lie down and have him struck before him according to his wickedness, by number.

• 1 Samuel 2:9

  The feet of his faithful ones he guards, but the wicked are silenced in darkness; for not by strength does a man prevail.

• 2 Samuel 4:11

  How much more when wicked men have killed a righteous man in his own house on his bed! And now, shall I not require his blood from your hand and remove you from the earth?”

• 1 Kings 8:32

  then you listen in the heavens, and act, and judge your servants, declaring wicked the wicked, putting his way on his head, and declaring righteous the righteous, giving him according to his righteousness.

• 2 Chronicles 6:23

  then you listen from the heavens, and act, and judge your servants, repaying the wicked by putting his way on his head, and declaring righteous the righteous by giving him according to his righteousness.

• 2 Chronicles 19:2

  Jehu son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him and said to King Jehoshaphat, “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate YHWH? Because of this there is wrath on you from before YHWH.

• Job 3:17

  There the wicked cease from turmoil, and there the weary in strength rest.

• Job 8:22

  Those who hate you will be clothed with shame, and the tent of the wicked will be no more.”

• Job 9:22

  It is one thing; therefore I say, ‘The blameless and the wicked he consumes.’

• Job 9:24

  The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; the face of its judges he covers. If not he, then who is it?

• Job 10:3

  Does it seem good to you that you oppress, that you despise the labor of your palms, and shine forth on the counsel of the wicked?

• Job 11:20

  But the eyes of the wicked will be consumed, and refuge will perish from them, and their hope will be the breathing out of the soul.”

• Job 15:20

  All the days of the wicked, he writhes in pain, and through the number of years stored up for the tyrant.

• Job 16:11

  El hands me over to the perverse, and into the hands of the wicked he throws me.

• Job 18:5

  Also the light of the wicked is extinguished, and the spark of his fire does not shine.

• Job 20:5

  the shout of joy of the wicked is short, and the joy of the godless is for a moment?

• Job 20:29

  This is the portion of a wicked human being from Elohim, and the inheritance appointed for him by El.”

• Job 21:7

  Why do the wicked live, grow old, and even grow mighty in wealth?

• Job 21:16

  Look, their prosperity is not in their hand; the counsel of the wicked is far from me.

• Job 21:17

  How often is the lamp of the wicked extinguished, and does their calamity come upon them, and does he distribute pains in his anger?

• Job 21:28

  For you say, ‘Where is the house of the noble, and where the tent of the dwellings of the wicked?’

• Job 22:18

  Yet he had filled their houses with good things; but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.

• Job 24:6

  In the field they reap his fodder, and the vineyard of the wicked they glean.

• Job 27:7

  Let my enemy be like the wicked, and the one who rises against me like the unjust.

• Job 27:13

  This is the portion of a wicked human being with El, and the inheritance that tyrants receive from Shaddai:

• Job 34:18

  Is it said to a king, ‘Perverse!’ and ‘Wicked!’ to nobles?

• Job 34:26

  As wicked men he strikes them in a place where people see,

• Job 36:6

  He does not keep alive the wicked, and the right of the poor he grants.

• Job 36:17

  But with the judgment of the wicked you are filled; judgment and justice take hold of you.

• Job 38:13

  so that it may seize the edges of the earth, and the wicked be shaken out of it?

• Job 38:15

  And from the wicked their light is withheld, and the raised arm is broken.

And 222 more times.