H4805 — מְרִי (mᵉrîy)¶
Core Data¶
- Strong's: H4805
- Original: מְרִי
- Transliteration: mᵉrîy
- Pronunciation: mer-ee
- Part of Speech: Masculine noun
- Word Family: Lexically tied to H4784 מָרָה (mârâh), the verb "to be bitter / to rebel / to provoke"
- Occurrences: 23 tokens in 21 unique verses across 8 books
- First Occurrence: Num 17:10 — "to be kept for a token against the rebels"
- Hapax Legomenon: No
Lexicon Definition¶
The lexicon glosses H4805 as "bitterness, i.e. (figuratively) rebellion; concretely, bitter, or rebellious." In actual usage, the rebellion/rebellious sense dominates; Job 23:2 is the lone KJV rendering with "bitter."
Translation Distribution (KJV)¶
| Translation | Verses | % |
|---|---|---|
| rebellious | 6 | 28.6% |
| the rebellious | 4 | 19.0% |
| a rebellious | 3 | 14.3% |
| rebellion | 2 | 9.5% |
| O rebellious | 1 | 4.8% |
| bitter | 1 | 4.8% |
| in their rebellion | 1 | 4.8% |
| most rebellious | 1 | 4.8% |
| of a rebellious | 1 | 4.8% |
| that rebellious | 1 | 4.8% |
| the rebels | 1 | 4.8% |
| thy rebellion | 1 | 4.8% |
Nearly every rendering clusters around rebellion as either a trait, a class label, or an abstract noun. The single "bitter" use shows the older bitterness-defiance overlap still present in the lexicon.
Distribution by Book¶
| Book | Count | Per 100 Verses |
|---|---|---|
| Ezekiel | 14 | 1.1 |
| Nehemiah | 1 | 0.2 |
| Numbers | 1 | 0.1 |
| Deuteronomy | 1 | 0.1 |
| 1 Samuel | 1 | 0.1 |
| Proverbs | 1 | 0.1 |
| Job | 1 | 0.1 |
| Isaiah | 1 | 0.1 |
Ezekiel supplies two-thirds of the word's unique-verse footprint and turns H4805 into a repeated prophetic label for Israel as "the rebellious house." Outside Ezekiel, the noun appears in covenant warning, historical confession, wisdom admonition, and one bitter-complaint outlier in Job.
Semantic Categories¶
1. Rebellion against YHWH and his command¶
- Deu 31:27 — Moses says, "I know thy rebellion," tying the word to Israel's resistance to YHWH.
- 1Sa 15:23 — rebellion is aligned with witchcraft and set against hearing the word of the LORD.
- Neh 9:17 — the people appoint a captain "in their rebellion" while refusing obedience and forgetting God's wonders.
2. Rebellious people, sons, or children as a class¶
- Num 17:10 — Aaron's rod is preserved "for a token against the rebels."
- Isa 30:9 — Judah is "a rebellious people," defined further as children who will not hear the law of the LORD.
- Eze 44:6 — the word can stand almost as a title: "say to the rebellious, even to the house of Israel."
3. Ezekiel's stock formula: "the rebellious house"¶
- Eze 2:5 — whether they hear or forbear, they are still "a rebellious house."
- Eze 3:27 — the hear/forbear formula is framed by the same rebel-house designation.
- Eze 12:2 — the house has eyes and ears but refuses perception, making rebellion a pattern of spiritual non-response.
- Eze 17:12 — the formula introduces Ezekiel's interpretation of Jerusalem's political revolt.
4. Defiant or embittered disposition¶
- Job 23:2 — the unique bitter use shows the term can still express embittered complaint.
- Pro 17:11 — "An evil man seeketh only rebellion," using the noun for active defiance.
- Eze 2:8 — Ezekiel is warned not to become rebellious like the house he is sent to address.
Common Collocations¶
| Word | Strong's | Co-occurrences | Typical Pattern |
|---|---|---|---|
| שָׁמַע (shâmaʻ) | H8085 | 7x | rebels refuse to hear God or the prophet |
| בֵּן (bên) | H1121 | 7x | rebellious sons/children or son-of-man contrasts |
| יְהֹוָה (Yᵉhôvâh) | H3068 | 5x | rebellion is measured directly against YHWH |
| דָּבָר (dâbâr) | H1697 | 4x | the prophetic word is spoken into rebellion |
| חָדַל (châdal) | H2308 | 3x | "hear or forbear" language marks the rebellious house scenes |
Related Words¶
Word Family / Cognates¶
- H4784 מָרָה (mârâh) — verbal source: to be bitter, to rebel, to provoke.
- H5627 סָרָה (çârâh) — apostasy/revolt noun in the same wider rebellion field.
- H6588 פֶּשַׁע (peshaʻ) — revolt/transgression noun that overlaps with H4805's "rebellion" translation.
Easily Confused Words¶
| Word | Strong's | Shared Translation | Key Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| מָרָה (mârâh) | H4784 | rebellious | verbal form for rebelling/provoking; H4805 is the noun/state or rebel-label form |
| סָרַר (çârar) | H5637 | rebellious, the rebellious | emphasizes turning away or stubborn refractoriness more than the nominal rebel label |
| סָרָה (çârâh) | H5627 | rebellion | stresses apostasy/revolt; H4805 is more often a trait-label in prophetic speech |
| פֶּשַׁע (peshaʻ) | H6588 | rebellion | broader revolt/transgression noun, not as concentrated on the "rebellious house" formula |
Semantic Domain¶
- Domain: [002001002031] Unwilling
- Profile: The relationship tool places H4805 in an unwilling/refusal field, which matches the repeated "will not hear" and "hear or forbear" settings around many of its uses.
LXX Mapping¶
| Greek Equivalent | Strong's | Co-occ | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| παραπικραίνω (parapikraínō) | G3893 | 15 | strongest bridge; preserves the embitter/provoke/rebel overlap |
| οἶκος (oîkos) | G3624 | 14 | context-driven from the recurring "rebellious house" formula, not a direct lexical equivalent |
| ἀκούω (akoúō) | G191 | 6 | reflects the hear/forbear setting around the word rather than the core noun itself |
The mapping shows one meaningful Greek bridge at G3893, while the other high-scoring alignments are driven by recurring prophetic context in Ezekiel.
See Also¶
- H5627-carah.md — apostasy/revolt noun overlapping H4805's rebellion field
- H6586-pasha.md — broader rebel/transgress verb in the same semantic area
- G646-apostasia.md — Greek apostasy noun surfaced by the relationship tool
Generated from: gather_word_data.py, search_relationships.py, search_strongs.py Last updated: 2026-04-29