H7952 H7952
To be negligent, careless; to mislead or deceive through laxness
A verb meaning to be quiet, at ease, or—by extension—careless and negligent. In 2 Kings 4:28, the Shunammite woman pleads with Elisha, 'Do not mislead/deceive me,' likely meaning 'Don't raise false hopes.' In 2 Chronicles 29:11, Hezekiah warns the Levites, 'Do not be negligent,' urging them to faithful service. The multilingual evidence shows tension between the core meaning (be at ease, quiet) and the derived sense (be careless, negligent), with some translations favoring 'mislead' and others 'be negligent.' The semantic development moves from tranquility to laxity to deception.
Senses
1. sense 1 — The two contexts pull the word in different directions: the Shunammite fears being deceived (false peace), while Hezekiah warns against negligence (dangerous ease). Both share the idea that inappropriate quietness or ease leads to failure—whether of truth or of duty. The Spanish 'me engañes' (deceive me) and 'seáis negligentes' (be negligent) capture the dual application, and the multilingual spread confirms that translators recognized both nuances. 2×
AR["تَتَهَاوَنُوا", "تُخَدِّعْ"]·ben["অবহেলা-কর", "প্রতারণা-কর"]·DE["[תשלו]", "mislead"]·EN["be-negligent", "mislead"]·FR["[תשלו]", "mislead"]·heb["תשלה", "תשלו"]·HI["धोखा-देना", "लापरवाही-हो"]·ID["lalai", "memberi-harapan-palsu"]·IT["[תשלו]", "mislead"]·jav["ngapusi", "sembrana"]·KO["속이지-마소서", "태만하라"]·PT["iluda", "sejais-negligentes"]·RU["медлите", "обманывай"]·ES["me-engañes", "seáis-negligentes"]·SW["nidanganye", "puuze"]·TR["aldatma", "ihmalkar"]·urd["دھوکا-دینا", "غفلت-کرو"]
Related Senses
G4102 1. faith, trust, belief (239×)G4100 1. believe / have faith in (233×)H0982 1. trust in, rely on (105×)H3988a 1. reject, refuse (56×)G4103 1. faithful, trustworthy, reliable (54×)H0530 1. faithfulness, fidelity, reliability (47×)H0539 1. believe, accept as true (42×)H3985 1. refuse, be unwilling (41×)H0539 2. faithful, trustworthy, sure (39×)H8582 1. lead astray, cause to err (22×)H2623 1. faithful ones / saints (community) (21×)G0571 1. unbelieving, unbeliever (20×)G3982 1. be persuaded or convinced (19×)H8582 2. go astray, err morally (19×)G4105 1. to deceive, lead astray (18×)G3982 2. trust or have confidence in (17×)H2186a 1. reject, spurn (Qal) (16×)H3988a 2. despise, scorn (14×)G3982 3. persuade or convince someone (13×)G4103 2. believing, a believer (13×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† I. [שָׁלָה, שָׁלֵו] vb. be quiet, at ease (Ecclus 47:13 שלוה prosperity, 41:lc שליו prosperous, at ease; ܫܠܴܐ be tranquil, quiet, cease; 𝔗 שְׁלָא, שְׁלִי be at ease, then be careless, thoughtless, go astray [for Heb. שָׁגָה, שָׁגַג