H8653 H8653
reeling, staggering, the disorientation caused by divine judgment or intoxication
This noun captures the physical and spiritual disorientation of reeling or staggering—the loss of equilibrium under divine judgment. Isaiah speaks of 'the cup of reeling' (51:17, 22), a potent image of God's wrath that causes people to stagger like drunkards, stripped of stability and clarity. The Psalmist describes God giving His people 'wine of reeling' to drink (60:3)—judgment that disorients and overwhelms. The word conveys more than physical stumbling; it suggests the profound disorientation that comes when God's hand presses down in discipline, leaving people unable to find their footing.
Senses
1. sense 1 — Multilingual glosses emphasize staggering and reeling—Spanish 'aturdimiento' (bewilderment) and 'tambaleo' (staggering), French 'étonnement' (astonishment), German 'staggering.' The consistent image across languages is loss of equilibrium. Both Isaiah and Psalms pair this word with drinking, using wine/cup imagery to depict divine judgment that disorients. The cross-linguistic evidence confirms this denotes not mere physical stumbling but the deeper reeling that comes when encountering God's overwhelming judgment—a spiritual vertigo that strips away all sense of stability. 3×
AR["التَّرَنُّحِ"]·ben["চঞ্চলতার", "টলমলের"]·DE["[התרעלה]", "von-staggering"]·EN["of-staggering", "the-staggering"]·FR["[התרעלה]", "étonnement"]·heb["ה-תרעלה", "תרעלה"]·HI["लड़खड़ाने-का", "विभ्रम-की"]·ID["yang-memabukkan"]·IT["[התרעלה]", "[תרעלה]"]·jav["Panjenengan-duka", "terhuyung-huyung"]·KO["비틀거리게-하는", "비틀거림의"]·PT["de-atordoamento", "o-entorpecimento"]·RU["одурманивания", "одурманивающим"]·ES["aturdimiento", "tambaleo"]·SW["kizunguzungu", "wa-kuyumbisha"]·TR["sersemletici", "sersemligin"]·urd["تَروراہٹ", "لڑکھڑاہٹ-کا"]
Related Senses
H2896a 1. good (quality or moral) (305×)H7563 1. wicked person (259×)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×)H6666 1. righteousness, moral uprightness (145×)G5485 1. grace, divine favor (141×)H7451a 1. morally evil, wicked (129×)H2403b 2. sin-offering, sacrifice for sin (120×)G2570 1. good, right, excellent (98×)H6588 1. transgression, offense against God (88×)G0018 1. good (moral quality) (85×)H2896b 1. good, what is good (85×)H7451b 1. evil, wickedness (moral) (83×)H7451a 2. evil, harm, calamity (80×)G1342 1. righteous, upright (of persons) (70×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† תַּרְעֵלָה n.f. reeling (cf. רַ֫עַל);—כּוֹס הַתּ׳ Is 51:17, 22; יַיִן תּ׳ ψ 60:5 drink reeling as wine.