H3933 H3933
laag -- mocking, derision, scorn; contemptuous ridicule directed at persons or peoples
The masculine noun laag denotes mockery, derision, or scornful ridicule -- the kind of contempt that stings communally rather than privately. It appears prominently in Israel's communal laments: 'You have made us a scorn to our neighbors' (Ps 44:13; 79:4), and the ascending pilgrims cry, 'Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorn of those who are at ease' (Ps 123:4). In Job 34:7, Elihu accuses Job of 'drinking up scorn like water' -- treating blasphemy as casual refreshment. Ezekiel deploys it in his allegory of Jerusalem's cup of judgment (Ezek 23:32). The word's connection to stammering speech (Isa 28:11, 'stammering lips') reveals an interesting semantic thread: foreign, incomprehensible language was itself a form of mockery. Spanish burla and escarnio capture the dual notes of ridicule and shame.
Senses
1. mocking, derision, scorn — Mockery, derision, or scorn -- contemptuous ridicule suffered by individuals or the nation, often paired with reproach (herpah) and taunting (qeles) in communal laments (Ps 44:13; 79:4; 123:4). Elihu accuses Job of treating blasphemous speech with casual indifference, 'drinking scorn like water' (Job 34:7), while Ezekiel includes it in the cup of judgment poured out on Jerusalem (Ezek 23:32; 36:4). In Isaiah 28:11, the related construct laagei ('stammerings of') describes foreign speech as inherently mocking, linking incomprehensible language to derision. Spanish burla and escarnio, French moquerie, and the cross-lingual evidence uniformly point to a single sense of contemptuous ridicule. 7×
AR["استِهزاءَ", "الاستِهزاءَ", "سُخريَّتُهُم", "سُخْريَةً", "سُخْرِيَةً", "وَلِلسُّخْرِيَةِ", "وَلِلْسُّخْرِيَةِ"]·ben["উপহাস", "এবং-উপহাসের-জন্যে", "ও-উপহাসের-জন্য", "তাদের-উপহাস", "বিদ্রূপ", "বিদ্রূপে"]·DE["[וללעג]", "[לעג]", "[לעגם]", "ein-verachten", "mit-der-mocking-von"]·EN["a-scorn", "and-as-mockery", "and-for-scorn", "scoffing", "their-derision", "with-the-mocking-of"]·FR["[וללעג]", "[לעגם]", "le-moquerie", "à-moquerie", "לעג"]·heb["ה-לעג", "ו-ל-לעג", "לעג", "לעגם"]·HI["उपहास-उनका", "उपहास-से", "और-ठिठोली", "और-मज़ाक", "ठट्ठा", "ठठ्ठा", "हँसी"]·ID["dan-bahan-olok-olok", "dan-untuk-olok-olok", "ejekan", "olah-olok", "olok-olok-mereka"]·IT["[וללעג]", "[לעגם]", "beffa", "scoffing"]·jav["gułu", "lan-kanggé-moyoki", "lan-rongréngan", "moyokan", "pangece", "pengina"]·KO["그들의-조롱이니라", "그리고-조롱으로", "그리고-조롱이", "비웃음을", "조롱-으로", "조롱-을", "조롱-이"]·PT["do-escarnio", "e-escarnecimento", "e-para-zomb", "zombaria", "zombária-deles"]·RU["для-смеха", "и-для-насмешки", "насмешкой", "насмешку", "посмешищем", "посмеяние-их", "посмеянием"]·ES["burla", "de-la-burla-de", "escarnio", "por-escarnio", "su-burla", "y-para-burla"]·SW["dharau", "dhihaka", "dhihaka-yao", "na-dhihaka", "na-kwa-dhihaka"]·TR["alay", "alaydan", "alayları", "alayı", "ve-alay", "ve-alaya"]·urd["اور-مذاق-کے-لیے", "اور-ٹھٹھ", "مذاق", "ٹھٹھہ-اُن-کا", "ٹھٹھے-سے"]
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
† לַ֫עַג n.[m.] mocking, derision, (barbarous) stammering;—abs. ל׳ Jb 34:7 + 2 times + ψ 123:4 (הַלּ׳ MT cstr. c. art.—so KöSynt.§ 303 e—but prob. insert לְ foll. Hup Now Bae, cf. also Ges§ 127 g), + Ez 23:32 (but del. 𝔊B Hi Co Berthol), + 36:4 (where Co reads בלע, but less prob., cf. Berthol); sf. לַעְגָּם Ho 7:16 (v. infr.); pl. cstr. לַעֲגֵי Is 28:11 (v. infr.);— 1. a. mocking, derision, ψ…