פֶּשַׂע
𐤐𐤔𐤏
pesaʻ
H6587 noun
SILEX Entry
Definition
A rebellion, transgression, or deliberate act of disloyalty, most often referring to a willful violation of covenant or community order. The term typically implies intentional breaking away, especially from expected standards of behavior, whether in relation to divine command (as in transgressing divine law) or in human contexts (as in rebellion against an authority).
Semantic Range
rebellion, transgression, willful disobedience, defection, crime of revolt, deliberate offense against divine or social authority
Root / Etymology
From the root פשע (to rebel, transgress, break away), indicating the idea of breaking off or revolting. The core root meaning is an act of turning away or stepping over boundaries, but the noun פֶּשַׂע primarily develops the abstract meaning of deliberate transgression.
Historical & Contextual Notes
פֶּשַׂע appears throughout the Hebrew Bible with a focus on conscious or defiant wrongdoing—particularly social, legal, or covenantal violations, rather than inadvertent or ritual failures. Frequently occurs in legal and prophetic contexts to denote acts that disrupt communal or divine order, often paired in lists with other terms for wrongdoing (such as עָווֹן 'iniquity' and חַטָּאת 'sin'), but carries a stronger sense of defiance or revolt. In late biblical and post-biblical usage, the noun continues to denote willful wrongdoing or criminal rebellion. English translation as 'transgression' sometimes fails to capture the sense of purposeful insubordination. Whereas related terms like חַטָּאת can refer to unintentional offense, פֶּשַׂע almost always refers to deliberate wrongdoing. The Strong's gloss 'a stride; step' reflects the verb's basic meaning ('to stride away, revolt'), but the noun is virtually never used in the physical sense of 'step' or 'stride' in biblical Hebrew.
Original Strong's Gloss (1890)
from פָּשַׂע; a stride; step.
Bantu Hebrew
No Bantu Hebrew comparisons have been submitted for this word yet.
+ Add Bantu Hebrew WordRoot Family
פשע (p-š-ʿ) — to rebel, to transgress, to break away
| Strong's | Lemma | SIBI-P1 |
|---|---|---|
| H6585 | פָּשַׂע | let me rebel |
| H6586 | פָּשַׁע | we have rebelled |
| H6588 | פֶּשַׁע | in rebellion |
Word Forms
1 distinct form
| SIDANCE | Surface | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | Occurrences |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H6587-01 |
כְ/פֶ֔שַׂע | khefesa | HR/Ncmsa |
as a step | as rebellion | 1 |
Occurrences in Scripture
1 total occurrence
| SIDANCE | Reference | Word | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H6587-01 |
1 Samuel 20:3 | כְ/פֶ֔שַׂע | khefesa | HR/Ncmsa |
as a step | as rebellion |