H3931 H3931
jest, mock, make sport of (continuous scornful mockery)
This Hiphil verb means to jest at or mock someone, appearing in 2 Chronicles 36:16 to describe Israel's response to God's prophetic messengers. The people "were continually making jest at the messengers of God," treating serious divine warnings as objects of ridicule. The Syriac cognate means to mock or make sport of someone. This persistent mockery of God's prophets represents the depth of Israel's rebellion before the Babylonian exile, showing contempt not just for the messengers but for the God who sent them.
Senses
1. sense 1 — Second Chronicles 36:16 describes the progressive hardening that led to exile: the people "were mocking" God's messengers, despising His words, and scoffing at His prophets. Spanish "burladores" (mockers) captures the participial sense of continuous action. This persistent ridicule of divine warning demonstrates the spiritual bankruptcy that made judgment inevitable, as grace met only contempt. 1×
AR["يَسْخَرُونَ"]·ben["উপহাসকারী"]·DE["[מלעבים]"]·EN["mocking"]·FR["[מלעבים]"]·heb["מלעבים"]·HI["ठट्ठा-करने-वाले"]·ID["mengejek"]·IT["[מלעבים]"]·jav["ingkang-moyoki"]·KO["조롱하는-자들이"]·PT["zombando"]·RU["насмехающимися"]·ES["burladores"]·SW["malibiym"]·TR["alay-edenler"]·urd["مخول-کرنے-والے"]
Related Senses
H0559 1. say, speak, tell (5297×)G3004 1. say, tell, speak (2226×)H1696 1. speak, say, tell (Piel) (1105×)H7121 1. call, summon, name (575×)H6680 1. command, order, charge (483×)H6030b 1. answer, respond, reply (289×)G2980 1. speak, talk (277×)H5046 1. Hifil: to tell, report (237×)G0611 1. answer or respond verbally (232×)H1288 1. Piel: bless, invoke blessing (227×)H7650 1. swear, take an oath (Niphal) (154×)H3789 1. Qal passive participle: written, recorded (112×)H1984b 1. praise, laud (Piel) (111×)H7592 1. ask, inquire, question (96×)H3034 1. give thanks, praise (Hifil) (94×)G1321 1. teach, instruct actively (92×)H3789 2. Qal active: write, compose (89×)G1125 1. to write, compose (a letter or document) (84×)H5046 2. Hifil: to declare, proclaim (79×)H7892a 1. song, musical composition (78×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† [לָעַב] vb. jest (NH Hiph. id.; 𝔗 לְעַב Ethpa. id.; Syriac ܠܥܰܒ Ethpa. mock, delight oneself, be greedy; Arabic لَعِبَ play, sport, jest);—only Hiph. Pt. וַיִּהְיוּ מַלְעִבִים בְּ׳ 2 Ch 36:16 and they were (continually) making jest at the messengers of God.