H6121a H6121a
Deceitful, insidious, or crooked; also used of footprint-tracked ground
This adjective carries two distinct meanings. In Jeremiah 17:9, it describes the human heart as 'deceitful above all things'—morally crooked and untrustworthy. In Hosea 6:8, it may mean 'tracked with footprints' (denominative from 'heel'), describing Gilead as a city marked or stained with blood. The moral sense predominates, capturing the idea of something twisted or not straightforward, whether in character or literally in tracked paths.
Senses
1. sense 1 — An adjective meaning either morally deceitful or physically marked by tracks. The Spanish 'engañoso' (deceitful) and 'marcada' (marked/tracked) capture both senses. Jeremiah's theological use—the desperately wicked heart—became proverbial. Hosea's geographical use likely plays on the word's literal connection to 'heel,' suggesting a place tracked or trampled by evildoers. Both share the underlying concept of something not clean or straight. 2×
AR["مَاكِرٌ", "مُخَضَّبَةٌ"]·ben["চিহ্নিত", "বাঁকা"]·DE["[עקב]", "[עקבה]"]·EN["Deceitful", "tracked"]·FR["[עקב]", "rusé"]·heb["עקוב", "עקובה"]·HI["छली", "दागी"]·ID["berbekas", "licik"]·IT["[עקב]", "[עקבה]"]·jav["Licik", "kebak-tapak"]·KO["간사하다", "얼룩졌느니라"]·PT["Enganoso", "manchada"]·RU["запятнанный", "коварно"]·ES["Engañoso", "marcada"]·SW["Ni-mdanganyifu", "umefunikwa-na"]·TR["aldatcı", "izli"]·urd["دھوکے-باز-ہے", "گندا"]
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
† I. עָקֹב adj. 1. insidious, deceitful, Je 17:9 עָקֹב הַלֵּב מִכֹּל. 2. foot-tracked (denom. from i. עָקֵב) Ho 6:8 גִּלְעָד קִרְיַת פֹּעֲלֵי אָוֶן עֲקֻבָּה מִדָּם.