רֹעַ roa

Hebrew word for “evil” · Strong’s H7455 · used 19 times in 19 verses

Explore it in the Word Atlas

Meaning

1) badness, evil; 1a) badness, bad quality; 1b) wilfulness; 1c) evil, badness (ethical); 1d) sadness

How it is translated

Glosses given for roa in context, with how often each is used:

• wickedness 12
• badness 5
• sadness 2

Where it is used

Chapters where it is used most

Jeremiah 24 (3), Jeremiah 23 (2), Genesis 41 (1), Deuteronomy 28 (1), 1 Samuel 17 (1), Nehemiah 2 (1), Psalms 28 (1), Ecclesiastes 7 (1), Isaiah 1 (1), Jeremiah 4 (1)

Forms

• רע 10
• מרע 4
• ומרע 2
• לרע 1
• וכרע 1
• ברע 1

Words used with it

Words that share verses with roa more often than their overall frequency would suggest:

• מַעֲלָל maalal “deed” 11
• רַע ra “bad” 9
• תְּאֵנָה teenah “fig” 4
• מְאֹד meod “much” 4
• כֹּה koh “thus” 4
• אַיִן ayin “nothing” 4
• אָכַל akhal “to eat” 4
• כָּבָה kavah “to quench” 2
• שׁוּב shuv “to return” 4
• יָשַׁב yashav “to dwell” 4
• טוֹב tov “pleasant” 3
• בָּעַר baar “to burn” 2

Key verses

The verses using roa that are most connected by cross-references (King James Version):

• 1 Samuel 17:28 — And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men; and Eliab’s anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with…
• Psalms 28:4 — Give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endeavours: give them after the work of their hands; render to them their desert.
• Ecclesiastes 7:3 — Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better.
• Isaiah 1:16 — Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
• Jeremiah 4:4 — Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire,…
• Jeremiah 21:12 — O house of David, thus saith the LORD; Execute judgment in the morning, and deliver him that is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my fury go out…
• Jeremiah 23:2 — Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited…
• Jeremiah 23:22 — But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of…
• Jeremiah 24:8 — And as the evil figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so evil; surely thus saith the LORD, So will I give Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the…
• Jeremiah 25:5 — They said, Turn ye again now every one from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that the LORD hath given unto you and to your…
• Jeremiah 44:22 — So that the LORD could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which ye have committed; therefore is your land a…
• Hosea 9:15 — All their wickedness is in Gilgal: for there I hated them: for the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out of mine house, I will love them no more:…

See all 19 verses in the Word Atlas

Hebrew and Greek text, tagging, glosses and lexicon definitions: STEPBible.org, Tyndale House Cambridge (TAHOT, TAGNT, TBESH, TBESG; CC BY 4.0), adapted. Counts follow King James verse numbering; a word counts each time it is written.