H5791 H5791
To bend, make crooked, pervert; used of twisting justice and the physical bowing of age
At its core, this verb means to bend or twist something from its proper shape. The Piel stem dominates usage, depicting the moral distortion of justice: 'Does God pervert justice?' (Job 8:3). Amos 8:5 applies it to falsifying trade scales — Spanish 'pervertir' and Arabic equivalents consistently treat it as deliberate corruption. The Pual passive in Ecclesiastes 1:15 describes what is already bent beyond straightening. Most evocatively, the Hitpael in Ecclesiastes 12:3 pictures the 'strong men' of the body bowing and curving under the weight of old age — a reflexive becoming-crooked that moves from moral metaphor to bodily reality.
3. become bent, bow down (reflexive) — Hitpael reflexive: to become bent or bowed, describing physical deterioration. In Ecclesiastes 12:3, the 'men of strength' (the body's limbs) become crooked with age. Spanish 'se encorven' (they bow themselves) and English 'are bent' reflect the reflexive subject undergoing the bending — a poignant shift from moral perversion to the body's inevitable decline. 1×
AR["وِ-هِتْعَوّْتُو"]·ben["এবং-বাঁকা-হয়"]·DE["[והתעותו]"]·EN["and-are-bent"]·FR["et-tordre"]·heb["ו-התעוותו"]·HI["और-झुकें"]·ID["dan-membungkuk"]·IT["e-e-sono-bent"]·jav["lan-bengkong"]·KO["그리고-굽어진다"]·PT["e-se-encurvam"]·RU["и-скривятся"]·ES["y-se-encorven"]·SW["na-wanapoinama"]·TR["ve-bukulur"]·urd["اور-جھُکیں"]
▼ 2 more senses below
Senses
1. make crooked, pervert, subvert — Piel active: to make crooked, pervert, or subvert, especially justice and right dealing. Job's anguished question — does God twist mishpat? (Job 8:3) — and Amos's indictment of merchants who pervert scales (Amos 8:5) define this sense. Spanish 'pervertir' and French 'pervertir' uniformly signal deliberate moral distortion. Also covers personal subversion as in Psalm 119:78 and Job 19:6. 9×
AR["أَعْوَجَنِي","أَعْوَجُونِي","لِيُظْلِمَ","وَ-لِ-نُعَوِّجَ","يُحَرِّفُ","يُعَوِّجُ"]·ben["ও-বিকৃত-করতে","তারা-বিকৃত-করেছে","বক্র-করতে","বাঁকা-করেছেন-তিনি","বাঁকা-করেন","বিকৃত-করেন","বিকৃত-করেন-","বিপরীত-করেছেন-আমাকে"]·DE["[ולעות]","[יעות]","[לעות]","[עותו]","[עותני]","er-thwarts","sie-subverted-mich"]·EN["He-made-crooked","To-pervert","and-to-pervert","has-wronged-me","he-thwarts","pervert","pervert-","perverts","they-subverted-me"]·FR["[לעות]","et-pervertir","pervertir","tordre","tordre-lui","tordre-moi"]·heb["וּ-ל-עות","יעוות","ל-עוות","עיוותו","עיוותוני","עיוותני"]·HI["उसने-टेढ़ा-किया-है","और-टेढ़ी-करने-को","टेड़ा-करता-है","टेढ़ा-करता-है","टेढ़ा-करने-के-लिए","मुझे-टेढ़ा-किया","वह-टेढ़ा-करता-है"]·ID["Dia-bengkokkan","Ia-bengkokkan","Untuk-membelokkan","membengkokkan","memutarbalikkan","menyelewengkanku","mereka-memutarbalikkan-ku"]·IT["Egli-made-crooked-suo","[ולעות]","[לעות]","has-wronged-me-mio","pervert","perverti'","perverts"]·jav["Panjenenganipun-mbengkokaken","Supados-ngapusi","dipun-bengkokaken","lan-kangge-mbelokaken","nganiaya-kawula","nglipetaken","nylewengaken","sami-ngapusi-kula"]·KO["굴히지","굽히셨나니","굽히셨다-그것을","굽히시는가","그가-굽게-하신다","그리고-속이려고","뒤집었나이다-나-를","전복하려고"]·PT["Perverter","e-para-falsificar","entortou","me-perverteram","me-perverteu","perverte","perverterá","perverterá-"]·RU["Кривить","и-искривить","извращает","искривил-Он?","искривил-меня","искривляет","угнетали-меня"]·ES["Al-pervertir","me-ha-pervertido","me-pervirtieron","pervierte","tuerce","y-para-falsear","él-torció"]·SW["Kudanganya","amekipinda","amenipotosha","anaipindua","anapotosha","atapotosha","na-kupotosha","wamenipotosha"]·TR["Eğmek","egrilttigi","eğdiler-beni","eğer-mi","eğer-mi-","eğri-davrandı-bana","sapdırır","sapıtır","ve-eğmek-için"]·urd["اور-ٹیڑھا-کرنے-کو","بگاڑا-مجھے","بے-انصافی-کرنا","توڑتا-ہے","مجھے ٹیڑھ کیا","وہ-ٹیڑھا-کرتا-ہے","ٹیڑھا-کیا-اُس-نے","ٹیڑھتا"]
2. crooked, perverted (passive) — Pual passive participle: that which has been made crooked and cannot be straightened. Ecclesiastes 1:15 uses this single occurrence to voice the impossibility of correcting what is fundamentally bent — Spanish 'lo torcido' (the twisted thing) captures the resultative, stative quality. 1×
AR["المُعْوَجُّ"]·ben["বাঁকা"]·DE["[מעות]"]·EN["crooked"]·FR["tordre"]·heb["מעוות"]·HI["टेढ़ा"]·ID["Yang-bengkok"]·IT["crooked"]·jav["ingkang-bengkong"]·KO["굽은-것"]·PT["O-torto"]·RU["Искривлённое"]·ES["Lo-torcido"]·SW["Kilichopotoka"]·TR["egri"]·urd["ٹیڑھا"]
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† [עָוַת] vb. be bent, crooked (NH id., Pi. Nithp.; Aramaic עַוֵּית Pa.; cf. ܥܰܬ, ܥܬܳܐ deceive PS 3008);— Pi. Pf. 3 ms. sf. עִוְּתָ֑נִי Jb 19:6, עִוְּתוֹ Ec 7:13; 3 pl. sf. עִוְּתוּנִי ψ 119:78; Impf. 3 ms. יְעַוֵּת ψ 146:9 Jb 8:3, יְעַוֶּת־ v 3; Inf. לְעַוֵּת Am 8:5 La 3:36;— 1. a. make crooked = falsify, scales Am 8:5; pervert justice (מִשְׁפָּט, צֶדֶק) Jb 8:3(×2); 34:12 (all God subj.); c.…