עָרַם
ʻâram · H6191 · Hebrew · 5 occurrences
Meanings
-
to be/become astute, to be/become clever, to be/become crafty, to be/become cunning, prudence
State in which someone is be able to manipulate difficult circumstances in such a way that the outcome is favorable to the planner; sometimes used in a positive sense, but also used in a negative sense
Examples1 Samuel 23:22 “Go now, be more persistent, and investigate and see his place where he is hiding, and who has seen him there; for I am told that he is very cunning.
Proverbs 15:5 A fool rejects his father’s discipline, But he who complies with rebuke is sensible.
Proverbs 19:25 Strike a scoffer and the naive may become clever, But rebuke one who has understanding, and he will gain knowledge.
-
to devise a cunning plan
To make a plan with the astute or crafty quality described in the previous sense
ExamplesPsalm 83:3 They make shrewd plans against Your people, And conspire together against Your treasured ones.
How it’s used In 3 roles
Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.
the word studied the word it goes with
Who or what does itSubject
4 occurrences in 4 groups
- הוּאhe, she, it 1
- פְּתִיsimpleton 1
- שָׁמַרto keep, to guard, to observe 1
- Not stated: they 1
What it acts on, or what is saidObject
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- סוֹדcouncil 1
With prepositionsPrepositional phrases
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- עַלon, upon, over, against+ עַםpeople 1
When two words share a role, as in “Paul and Barnabas said”, the verse appears under each, so a section’s counts can add up to more than the number of occurrences.
MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
Near synonyms 2 words
- שָׂכַל sâkal · H7919 · to be successful, to have success, to succeed
- עָרַם (ʻâram, H6191) emphasizes craftiness or subtlety in prudent dealing, while שָׂכַל emphasizes understanding or skillful success; both denote prudence or wisdom-related concepts.
- בִּין bîyn · H995 · to be intelligent, to be discerning, to have insight
- The target lexeme and בִּין both genuinely denote mental or cognitive discernment and practical wisdom — shrewdness, prudence, cunning, perception — and occupy overlapping semantic space as near-synonyms for intelligent, careful thinking.
Semantic domains 2 entries
- Shape002001001052
- עָרַם (ʻâram, H6191) (עָרוּם) is an adjective meaning "crafty, shrewd, prudent," as in occurrences glossed "he is prudent"/"they make crafty." This sense does not independently attest the "Shape" domain; that classification is bundle-shared with עָרַם (ʻâram, H6192) and עֹרֶם (ʻôrem, H6193) in the source data and is not confirmed by this lexeme's own occurrences.
- Wise002001002029
- עָרַם denotes being crafty, cunning, or prudent, illustrated at 1 Samuel 23:22 ("I am told that he is very cunning") and Proverbs 15:5 ("he who regards reproof is prudent"), spanning both a negative, calculating cunning and a positive, discerning prudence.
Word family 7 words
Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H6191. arom [עָרֹם LagBN 31] verb be shrewd, crafty (Late Hebrew id., Hiph`il; Arabic , ,…
[עָרֹם LagBN 31] verb be shrewd, crafty (Late Hebrew id., Hiph`il; Arabic , , be ill-natured, cross; ᵑ7 adjective עָרִים shrewd, Syriac id., and verb in derived species (Pe`al in Lexicons)); —
Qal Infinitive absolute in יַעְרִם עָרֹם 1Sa 23:22 he is exceedingly crafty.
Hiph`il Imperfect be crafty, 3 masculine singular יַעְרִם 1Sa 23:22; be or become shrewd יַעְרִם Pro 15:5; Pro 19:25; all these
Qal Imperfect in ִ֯ according to BaZMG xliii (1889), 180 so Ges§ 63n BuhlLex, but perhaps read יֶעְרַם as
Qal; True.
Hiph`il in 3 masculine plural סוֺד יַעֲרִימוּ Psa 83:4 they make crafty (their) counsel against thy people.
Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain
Topical studies with this word 2 entries
Meanings adapted from the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament, © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0 and the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew (from the Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew), © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0; MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
Sources
eRhema lexical overview, based on the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew and the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (© United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Macula Hebrew and Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0); released under CC BY-SA 4.0
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