H1198 H1198
Brutishness, stupidity; used substantively for a brutish or senseless person who lacks moral and spiritual understanding.
This poetic noun denotes raw, animal-like stupidity, the inability to perceive God's works or moral realities. The psalmist pairs the brutish person with the fool (kesil) in Psalms 49:10 and 92:6, while in Psalm 73:22 the speaker confesses he was 'brutish' before God when envying the wicked. Proverbs 12:1 declares that whoever hates correction is brutish, and Agur's humility in Proverbs 30:2 uses it as self-deprecation. Spanish captures the gradation well: 'bruto' for raw stupidity and 'necio' for foolishness, while German 'brutish' is borrowed directly from English in some glosses.
Senses
1. sense 1 — Brutishness or stupid senselessness, used as both an abstract quality and a concrete designation for the person who lacks spiritual perception. Paired with 'fool' (kesil) in wisdom poetry (Ps 49:10; 92:6), it conveys not mere ignorance but a willful obtuseness toward God's ways. The psalmist's self-accusation in Psalm 73:22 and Agur's confession in Proverbs 30:2 show it can also express pious humility. Spanish 'bruto/necio' and English 'brutish/stupid' together capture the word's range from animal dullness to moral obduracy. 5×
AR["بَليدٌ", "بَلِيدٌ", "بَهيمٌ", "غَبيٌّ", "وَ-بَليد"]·ben["ও-বিহীন", "পশুর-মতো", "বোকা"]·DE["brannte", "brutish", "und-der-brutish"]·EN["and-the-brutish", "brutish", "is-stupid"]·FR["dans-stupide", "et-dans-stupide", "בער"]·heb["בער", "ו-בער"]·HI["और-पशुवत", "पशु-जैसा", "पशु-सा", "पशु-है", "मूर्ख"]·ID["bodoh", "terlalu-bodoh"]·IT["brutale", "brutish", "e-brutale", "è-stupid"]·jav["bodho", "ingkang-bodho", "kubur"]·KO["그리고-미련한-자-가", "무지하였나이다", "어리석은", "짐승같다"]·PT["bruto", "e-bruto", "embrutecido", "estulto", "ignorante"]·RU["бессмысленный", "грубый", "и-невежда", "невежда", "невежественнее"]·ES["bruto", "más-bruto", "necio", "torpe", "y-bruto"]·SW["mjinga", "mjinga-zaidi", "na-mjinga", "ni-mjinga"]·TR["hayvan-gibi", "hayvancı", "hayvandır", "ve-akılsız"]·urd["بے-عقل", "بے-وقوف", "جاہل", "جاہل-ہے", "وَ-بے-عقل"]
Related Senses
H3045 1. Qal: to know, perceive, understand (829×)H5315 1. soul, inner being (647×)H3820a 1. heart, inner self (mind/will/emotion) (572×)H4672 1. Qal: find, discover (289×)G1492 1. know facts or truths (285×)H3824 1. heart, inner self (mind/will/emotion) (250×)H1245 1. seek, search for (200×)G1097 1. know, be acquainted with (196×)H2142 1. Qal: remember, recall (173×)G2588 1. heart (inner self, mind, will) (158×)H0977 1. choose, select (Qal active) (145×)G2147 1. find, discover (144×)G5590 1. soul, inner self (100×)H4672 2. Niphal: be found, be discovered (99×)H1875 1. seek, search for (96×)H5315 2. life, vitality (94×)H1847 1. knowledge, discernment (90×)H2450 1. wise, prudent (84×)H7911 1. Qal: to forget (83×)H3684 1. fool, dullard (70×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† בַּ֫עַר n.m. brutishness (only poet.)—abs. ב׳ ψ 49:11 + 3 times, בָּ֑עַר Pr 12:1;—in combination, אִישׁ־ב׳ brutish man ψ 92:7 (‖ כסיל); elsewhere ב׳ alone in same sense (concrete) ψ 49:11 (‖ id.), & as pred. = adj., ψ 73:22 Pr 12:1; 30:2.