H3973 H3973
refuse, offscouring, that which is rejected or despised
A rare term meaning refuse or offscouring, appearing only in Lamentations 3:45. BDB defines it as something rejected or cast away. The word appears in a context where Jerusalem describes itself as scum and refuse among the nations—a powerful image of degradation and rejection. The multilingual evidence shows variations in how languages handle this rare term, with some simply transliterating it.
Senses
1. sense 1 — Refuse, offscouring, rejected waste. BDB translates the phrase as 'offscouring and refuse thou makest us,' depicting Israel's humiliation. The English gloss 'refuse' and Spanish 'rechazo' (rejection) capture the sense of something utterly cast away. Lamentations 3:45 uses this alongside another word for scum to intensify the image of national degradation. 1×
AR["وَمَرْفُوضِينَ"]·ben["এবং-প্রত্যাখ্যাত"]·DE["[ומאוס]"]·EN["and-refuse"]·FR["[ומאוס]"]·heb["ו-מאוס"]·HI["और-तिरस्कार"]·ID["dan-buangan"]·IT["[ומאוס]"]·jav["lan-ditampik"]·KO["그리고-버림받은-것-으로"]·PT["e-refugo"]·RU["и-отброс"]·ES["y-rechazo"]·SW["na-kitu-cha-kukataliwa"]·TR["ve-çöp"]·urd["اور-کوڑا"]
Related Senses
G4102 1. faith, trust, belief (239×)G4100 1. believe / have faith in (233×)H0982 1. trust in, rely on (105×)H3988a 1. reject, refuse (56×)G4103 1. faithful, trustworthy, reliable (54×)H0530 1. faithfulness, fidelity, reliability (47×)H0539 1. believe, accept as true (42×)H3985 1. refuse, be unwilling (41×)H0539 2. faithful, trustworthy, sure (39×)H8582 1. lead astray, cause to err (22×)H2623 1. faithful ones / saints (community) (21×)G0571 1. unbelieving, unbeliever (20×)G3982 1. be persuaded or convinced (19×)H8582 2. go astray, err morally (19×)G4105 1. to deceive, lead astray (18×)G3982 2. trust or have confidence in (17×)H2186a 1. reject, spurn (Qal) (16×)H3988a 2. despise, scorn (14×)G3982 3. persuade or convince someone (13×)G4103 2. believing, a believer (13×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† מָאוֹס n.[m.] refuse סְחִי וּמָאוֹס תְּשִׂימֵנוּ La 3:45 offscouring and refuse thou makest us.