Bible Lexicons

Girdlestone's Synonyms of the Old TestamentGirdlestone's OT Synonyms

Wrong

The perversion or distortion of nature which is caused by evil-doing is represented by the word avah (עוה ), to be bent or crooked. The original meaning of the word is found in Isaiah 21:3, 'I was bowed down at the hearing of it;' Lamentations 3:9, 'He hath made my ways crooked;' and perhaps Psalms 38:6, where we read in the A. V., 'I am troubled, I am bowed down greatly.' The English word wrong, i.e. that which is wrung out of course, gives the same idea of evil, and is taken as a translation of avah in Esther 1:16. We also find the analogous word perverseness as a rendering in 1 Samuel 20:30; 2 Samuel 19:19; 1 Kings 8:47; Job 33:27; Proverbs 12:8; Isaiah 19:14; and Jeremiah 3:21. Amiss is found in 2 Chronicles 6:37; and iniquity in 2 Samuel 7:14; Psalms 65:3; Psalms 106:6; Jeremiah 9:5; Ezekiel 28:18; Daniel 4:2; Daniel 9:5; and Malachi 2:6.

The chief renderings for avah in the LXX are ἁμαρτία, ἀνομία and ἀδικία, none of which quite coincide with the original in their primary meaning.