H4123 H4123
illusions, mockeries; deceptive flattering words
A hapax in Isaiah 30:10, where rebellious Judah tells the seers, 'Prophesy to us illusions; see deceptions.' The people demand comforting lies instead of hard truth. The term comes from a root meaning 'to mock' or 'deceive,' suggesting flattering falsehoods. This is the prophetic critique of court religion: listeners prefer smooth illusions to the rough edges of genuine prophecy.
Senses
1. sense 1 — Isaiah 30:10 captures the demand for prophetic malpractice: 'speak illusions' parallel to 'see deceptions.' The people want entertainment, not truth. Spanish 'engaños' (deceptions) fits the context of deliberately false speech. The domain (True, False) identifies this as epistemological vocabulary—what is said vs. what is real—but with a moral edge: choosing pleasant lies over painful truth. 1×
AR["أَوْهَامًا"]·ben["ছলনা"]·DE["[מהתלות]"]·EN["illusions"]·FR["[מהתלות]"]·heb["מהתלות"]·HI["छलावे"]·ID["tipu-daya"]·IT["[מהתלות]"]·jav["apus-apusan"]·KO["속임을"]·PT["ilusões"]·RU["обманы"]·ES["engaños"]·SW["udanganyifu"]·TR["aldatmalar"]·urd["فریب"]
Related Senses
H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)H4480a 1. source or separation (1198×)H5892b 1. city, town (1093×)G1519 1. direction: into, to, toward (1061×)H3427 1. Qal: to dwell, inhabit (937×)G1537 1. from, out of (source/origin) (886×)H8034 1. Name (designation / identifier) (856×)G3361 1. subjective negation (not) (834×)G1909 1. on, upon (spatial surface) (757×)H0369 1. existential negation: there is not (738×)H5869a 1. in the eyes/sight of (evaluative) (734×)H5650 1. Servant, attendant, subject (723×)H0408 1. prohibitive negation do-not (712×)G2443 1. so that, in order that (purpose/result) (665×)G0575 1. from (649×)G1223 1. through, by means of (582×)H3541 1. thus, so, in this manner (569×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
## H4123 —
*Hebrew N-fp* | 1 occurrences | 1 sense
### 1. Sense 110012 (1 occ.)
**Domain:** PROPERTIES RELATIONS > True, False > Deceit and Treachery
**Glosses:** arb: أَوْهَامًا | deu: [מהתלות] | eng: illusions | fra: [מהתלות] | hin: छलावे | kor: 속임을 | spa: engaños | swa: udanganyifu
**Refs:** Isa 30:10