WG: Deceit / Falsehood
Overview
The Hebrew Bible uses seven principal nouns for deceit and falsehood, each with a distinct semantic emphasis — from calculated fraud (mirmah) to outright fabrication (sheqer) to slackness masking treachery (remiyyah). Together they map the full moral taxonomy of dishonesty in the OT.
Word Group Members
| Strong's |
Word |
Transliteration |
POS |
Occurrences |
Role in Concept |
Library Entry |
| H4820 |
מִרְמָה |
mirmah |
f. noun |
38 |
Calculated fraud, deliberate deception for gain |
H4820 |
| H8267 |
שֶׁקֶר |
sheqer |
m. noun |
109 |
Broadest lie/falsehood word — untruth, sham, deception |
TODO(need H8267 study) |
| H3577 |
כָּזָב |
kazab |
m. noun |
29 |
Fabricated lie, conscious falsehood |
TODO(need H3577 study) |
| H7423 |
רְמִיָּה |
remiyyah |
f. noun |
15 |
Treachery with slackness/negligence; lax dealing |
TODO(need H7423 study) |
| H8649 |
תׇּרְמָה |
tormah |
f. noun |
6 |
Deceit, fraud (rare synonym of mirmah from same root family) |
TODO(need H8649 study) |
| H3585 |
כַּחַשׁ |
kachash |
m. noun |
6 |
Denial, disowning; lying by withholding/feigning |
TODO(need H3585 study) |
| H8496 |
תֹּךְ |
tok |
m. noun |
3 |
Oppression through fraud; injury by deceit |
TODO(need H8496 study) |
Relationships
Shared Roots
- mirmah (H4820), remiyyah (H7423), tormah (H8649) — all from the root רמה (ramah, "to deceive/deal treacherously"). Three cognate nouns spanning active fraud, negligent treachery, and rare poetic synonym.
- sheqer (H8267) — from שׁקר (shaqar, "to deal falsely")
- kazab (H3577) — from כָּזַב (kazab, "to lie, be a liar")
- kachash (H3585) — from כָּחַשׁ (kachash, "to be untrue, deny, disown")
- tok (H8496) — from same base as תָּוֶךְ (tavek, "midst"), in the sense of injury/oppression
Co-occurrence (appear in same verses)
| Word A |
Word B |
Shared Verses |
Typical Context |
| sheqer (H8267) |
kazab (H3577) |
5 |
"false witness speaks lies" (Pro 6:19); paired in vice descriptions |
| sheqer (H8267) |
remiyyah (H7423) |
3 |
"shall not prosper who works deceit / lies" contexts |
| sheqer (H8267) |
tormah (H8649) |
3 |
Psa 119:118 — treading down those whose deceit is falsehood |
| mirmah (H4820) |
sheqer (H8267) |
2 |
Psa 109:2 — "deceitful" + "lying" tongue |
| mirmah (H4820) |
kazab (H3577) |
2 |
Psa 5:6 — destruction of speakers of lies and deceit |
| mirmah (H4820) |
tok (H8496) |
2 |
Psa 10:7 — "mouth full of cursing and deceit and fraud" |
| mirmah (H4820) |
kachash (H3585) |
1 |
Hos 11:12 — Israel's lies and deceit |
| kazab (H3577) |
tormah (H8649) |
1 |
Zep 3:13 — remnant will not speak lies or have deceitful tongue |
LXX Overlaps
| Hebrew Words |
Shared Greek |
Notes |
| mirmah, remiyyah, kazab |
γλῶσσα (G1100) — tongue |
LXX often renders the phrase ("tongue of deceit") rather than the noun itself |
| sheqer, kazab |
ψευδής (G5571) — false |
Greek ψευδ- word family covers both sheqer (43x) and kazab (18x) |
| mirmah |
δόλος (G1388) — guile |
Primary bridge; 21 co-occurrences |
| sheqer |
ψευδής (G5571) |
43 co-occurrences — the dominant bridge for sheqer |
Roles in the Concept
- Broadest term: sheqer (שֶׁקֶר) — the most frequent and generic word for falsehood/lying (109v)
- Calculated fraud: mirmah (מִרְמָה) — deliberate deception for advantage; dominant in commercial and political contexts (38v)
- Fabricated lie: kazab (כָּזָב) — a conscious, factual lie; invented falsehood (29v)
- Negligent treachery: remiyyah (רְמִיָּה) — deception through slackness, laxness disguising infidelity (15v)
- Denial/disowning: kachash (כַּחַשׁ) — lying by withholding truth or feigning ignorance (6v)
- Rare cognates: tormah (תׇּרְמָה, 6v) near-synonym of mirmah; tok (תֹּךְ, 3v) adds the nuance of oppressive injury through fraud
Key Passages Where Multiple Group Words Appear Together
- Psa 10:7 — mirmah + tok: "His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud"
- Psa 5:6 — mirmah context + kazab context: the bloody and deceitful man, speakers of lies
- Hos 11:12 — mirmah + kachash: "Ephraim compasseth me about with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit"
- Psa 109:2 — mirmah + sheqer context: "the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful... spoken against me with a lying tongue"
- Zep 3:13 — kazab + tormah: the remnant shall not "speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth"
Generated from: gather_word_group_data.py, search_strongs.py, search_relationships.py
Last updated: 2026-05-12