רָשָׁע263 H7563
Wicked, ungodly — a morally corrupt person opposed to God's ways; also forensically guilty in legal contexts
One of the Hebrew Bible's key moral vocabulary words, rasha' stands as the great antonym of tsaddiq ('righteous'). Across 263 occurrences, it overwhelmingly designates the morally wicked — those whose conduct defies God's order, from Pharaoh to the scheming enemies of the Psalms. The word carries theological weight: the wicked are not merely lawbreakers but those who resist the divine moral order itself. In a small cluster of forensic passages (Num 35:31, Deut 25:1–2), the sense narrows to legal guilt — one who is culpable and deserving condemnation. German 'Gottlose' ('godless') reveals the theological interpretation, while Spanish 'impío' ('impious') and French 'méchant' ('wicked') each capture a different facet of the word's moral force.
1. wicked person — A morally wicked or ungodly person, used substantively as the archetypal opposite of the righteous (tsaddiq). Appearing 259 times, this is the dominant sense across Wisdom literature (Prov 10:3, 'The LORD does not let the righteous go hungry, but he thwarts the craving of the wicked'), Psalms (Ps 1:1, 6), prophetic judgment (Isa 13:11), and narrative (Gen 18:23, Abraham's intercession: 'Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked?'). Cross-lingual renderings are illuminating: German 'Gottlose' ('godless') and 'Frevler' ('evildoer') emphasize the theological rebellion, Spanish 'impío' stresses irreverence, while French 'méchant' highlights active malice. 259×
AR["الشِّرِّيرَ","الشِّرِّيرُ","الشِّرِّيرِ","الشِّرّيرَ","الـ-شِّرِيرَ","شِرِّيرٍ","شِرّيراً","شِرّيرٍ","شِرّيرَ","يا-شِرّيرُ"]·ben["দুষ্ট","দুষ্টকে","দুষ্টের"]·DE["Frevler","Gottlose","dem-Gottlosen","der-Gottlose","wicked"]·EN["the-wicked","wicked","wicked-one"]·FR["méchant"]·heb["רשע"]·HI["दुशत","दुष्ट","दुष्ट-का","दुष्ट-की","दुष्ट-के","दुष्ट-को"]·ID["Orang-fasik","jahat","orang jahat","orang-fasik","orang-jahat"]·IT["empio","malvagio"]·jav["Tiyang-duraka","duraka","tiyang-duraka"]·KO["악인","악인-을","악인-의","악인-이","악인과","악인은","악인을","악인의","악하다","악한","악한-자-의","악한-자를"]·PT["O-ímpio","ao-ímpio","do-ímpio","o-ímpio","perverso","ímpio"]·RU["виновного","нечестивец","нечестивого","нечестивому","нечестивый","нечестивым"]·ES["Impío","a-malvado","al-impío","culpable","el-impío","impío","impío;","malo","malvado"]·SW["Mwovu","kuweka","la-mwovu","mwovu","waovu"]·TR["kötü","kötünün","kötüyle","kötüyü"]·urd["شریر","شریر کا","شریر کو","شریر-کا","شریر-کو","شریر-کے","مجرم-کو"]
Gen 18:23, Gen 18:25, 1 Kgs 8:32, Job 9:24, Job 15:20, Job 20:29, Job 24:6, Job 27:13, Job 34:18, Job 36:6, Job 36:17, Ps 9:5 (+38 more)
▼ 1 more sense below
Senses
2. guilty, culpable — One who is legally or forensically guilty — culpable and deserving judicial punishment. Four occurrences in distinctly legal contexts: Num 35:31 ('a murderer who is guilty of death'), Deut 25:1–2 (the judge shall 'condemn the guilty'), and Ps 109:7 ('let him come forth guilty'). Here rasha' functions not as a moral character description but as a judicial verdict. The multilingual evidence confirms the shift: English and French move to 'guilty/culpable,' though German and Spanish sometimes retain the broader moral terms, reflecting the permeable boundary between legal guilt and moral wickedness in Hebrew thought. 4×
AR["المُذْنِبَ","المُذْنِبُ","مُذنِبًا","مُذْنِبٌ"]·ben["দুষ্ট","দুষ্টটিকে","দোষী","দোষী-রূপে"]·DE["Gottlose","der-guilty","guilty"]·EN["guilty","the-guilty"]·FR["guilty","le-guilty","méchant"]·heb["ה-רשע","רשע"]·HI["दुष्ट","दोषी"]·ID["bersalah","yang-jahat"]·IT["empio","guilty","il-guilty"]·jav["ingkang-luput","lepat","luput"]·KO["그-악한-자가","그-악한-자를","악인-으로","악한"]·PT["condenado","culpado","o-perverso"]·RU["-виновного","-виновный","виновен","виновным"]·ES["culpable","el-malvado"]·SW["mkosa","mwenye-hatia","mwovu"]·TR["kötü","kötüyü","suçlu"]·urd["مجرم"]
Related Senses
H3548 1. priest, cultic officiant (750×)G5547 1. Christ, Messiah, Anointed One (540×)H5030 1. Prophet, divine spokesperson (317×)H2896a 1. good (quality or moral) (305×)H5930a 1. burnt offering (sacrifice) (286×)H3881 1. Levites (priestly class) (283×)H7451c 1. moral evil or wickedness (234×)H5771 1. iniquity, sin, wrongdoing (222×)H6662 1. righteous person (substantive) (195×)G0266 1. sin, failure, transgression (173×)H2403b 1. sin, transgression (170×)H2617a 1. Covenant faithfulness, steadfast love (167×)H2398 1. Qal: to sin, commit sin (165×)G4396 1. prophet, spokesperson of God (146×)H6666 1. righteousness, moral uprightness (145×)G5485 1. grace, divine favor (141×)H6944 1. sanctuary, holy place (129×)H7451a 1. morally evil, wicked (129×)G0749 1. high priest, chief priest (123×)H6944 2. holiness, sacredness (abstract quality) (123×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
רָשָׁע263 adj. wicked, criminal;—abs. ר׳ Gn 18:23 +; pl. רְשָׁעִים Is 13:11 +; cstr. רִשְׁעֵי ψ 75:9 + 3 times; fs. רְשָׁעָה Ez 3:18 (del. Co), v 19 (רָשָׁע Co);— †1. usually as subst., one guilty of crime, deserving punishment; sometimes also wicked; opp. צַדִּיק; רָשָׁע Ex 2:13; 23:1 (E), Dt 25:2; Pr 17:23; 18:5; 25:5; Jb 9:22, 24; coll. Gn 18:23, 25(×2) (J) Mi 6:10; Pr 3:33; 28:4, רשׁעים 1 S…