This harsh noun denotes the scrapings or refuse that accumulates and must be discarded—essentially garbage or filth. Lamentations uses it in a devastating self-description: 'You have made us offscouring and refuse in the midst of the peoples.' The term captures Israel's sense of being treated as worthless waste by the surrounding nations during the exile. Paul later adopts similar language in 1 Corinthians, calling apostles 'the offscouring of all things.' The word embodies the ultimate reversal—from chosen people to discarded trash.