H6127 H6127
bent out of shape, twisted, perverted (passive participle describing distortion)
Habakkuk 1:4 laments that 'justice comes out perverted'—literally, bent out of shape, twisted like metal or wood forced into a crooked form. This passive participle paints a picture of something originally straight that has been deformed. The verb root means to bend or twist, found in Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac, and Arabic with similar senses. The prophet is decrying a legal system so corrupt that what should be straight (justice) emerges crooked. Spanish uses 'pervertido,' French 'se tordre' (to twist), both evoking the image of warping or distortion.
Senses
1. sense 1 — Habakkuk 1:4 uses this passive participle to describe justice that is 'perverted'—literally bent or twisted out of its proper shape. The root appears across Semitic languages meaning to bend, twist, or make crooked. The prophet's complaint is that the wicked surround the righteous, so justice cannot emerge straight—it comes out warped, like a piece of metal hammered into a wrong form. Spanish 'pervertido' and French 'se tordre' both capture the sense of something good (justice) being deformed into something crooked by corrupt handling. 1×
AR["مُعوَجٌ"]·ben["বিকৃত"]·DE["[מעקל]"]·EN["perverted"]·FR["se-tordre"]·heb["מעוקל"]·HI["टेढ़ा"]·ID["yang-bengkok."]·IT["tortuosità"]·jav["bengkong"]·KO["굽게"]·PT["pervertido"]·RU["извращённым"]·ES["pervertido"]·SW["iliyopotoka"]·TR["sapıtmış"]·urd["ٹیڑھا"]
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
† [עָקַל] vb. bend, twist (NH especially in deriv.; 𝔗 in deriv.; Syriac ܥܩܠ twist, in der. spec.; Arabic عَقَلَ bind camel’s folded fore-shank and arm together);— Pu. be bent out of shape, crooked, Pt. fig. מִשְׁפָּט מְעֻקָּל Hb 1:4 crooked justice.