H0393 H0393
Cruel, fierce; describing savage venom, merciless people, or God's seeming harshness
An adjective conveying raw, relentless cruelty or fierceness. It appears in strikingly varied contexts: the deadly venom of serpents in Moses's song (Deut 32:33), the terrifying majesty of Leviathan that none dare rouse (Job 41:10), Job's anguished accusation that God has turned cruel toward him (Job 30:21), and the startling comparison of Jerusalem's people to ostriches who abandon their young (Lam 4:3). The word carries an emotional punch — it names not mere severity but a visceral, almost predatory harshness.
Senses
1. sense 1 — Cruel or fierce in a raw, unrelenting sense. Applied to the venom of cobras as 'fierce poison' (Deut 32:33), to Leviathan's terrifying nature that makes any challenger cower (Job 41:10), and substantively to describe God himself when Job protests that the Almighty has become 'a cruel one' toward him (Job 30:21). In Lam 4:3 the prophet likens the daughters of his people to ostriches — cruel by neglecting their young. Spanish 'cruel,' German 'grausam,' and French 'cruel' all converge on the same stark register, confirming the word's unambiguous semantic force. 4×
AR["الْقَاتِلُ", "صَارَتْ-قَاسِيَةً", "قَاسٍ", "لِ-قاسٍ"]·ben["নির্দয়", "নিষ্ঠুর-প্রতি"]·DE["[אכזר]", "[לאכזר]", "grausam"]·EN["cruel", "fierce", "to-cruel"]·FR["[לאכזר]", "cruel", "à-לאכזר", "אכזר"]·heb["אכזר", "אכזרי", "ל-אכזר"]·HI["क्रूर-के-लिए", "क्रूर।", "निर्दयी", "निर्दयी-में"]·ID["kejam", "menjadi-kejam", "yang-kejam"]·IT["[לאכזר]", "cruel", "fierce", "per-a-cruel"]·jav["dados-kejem", "galak", "tiyang-wengis", "wengis"]·KO["잔인하게", "잔인하게-되었네", "잔인한", "잔인한-자는"]·PT["cruel", "em-cruel", "para-cruel", "é-feroz"]·RU["в-жестокого", "жестокой", "смертоносный", "столь-дерзкого"]·ES["cruel", "se-ha-vuelto-cruel"]·SW["kali", "kuwa-mkatili", "mkali", "ni-katili"]·TR["acı", "acımasız-olarak", "zalim", "zalime"]·urd["بے رحم", "بے-رحم", "سفاک"]
Related Senses
H4421 1. war, battle, armed conflict (319×)H0341 1. enemy, adversary, foe (284×)H3898a 1. Nifal: to fight, wage war (167×)H2026 1. kill, slay (active) (146×)H2451 1. wisdom, discernment (146×)H5483b 1. horse (the animal) (138×)H0006 1. to perish, be destroyed (105×)H7843 1. Hifil: destroy, annihilate (83×)H2491a 1. slain, fatally pierced (74×)H6862c 1. adversary, enemy, foe (69×)H8045 1. destroy, exterminate (69×)G0615 1. kill, put to death (60×)H6571b 1. horseman, cavalryman (52×)H8077a 1. desolation, waste (abstract state) (52×)G4678 1. of wisdom (51×)G4717 1. crucify, fasten to a cross (46×)H2763a 1. utterly destroy (Hifil active) (44×)G0622 1. perish, be destroyed (intransitive) (41×)H0006 2. to destroy, annihilate (Piel) (38×)H8074 1. be desolate, lie waste (36×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† אַכְזָר adj. cruel, fierce, of poison (רֹאשׁ) Dt 32:33; elsewhere of men, fierce Jb 41:2; as subst. = a cruel one Jb 30:21 (of God), La 4:3.