סרר

Hebrew

Root
ס־ר־ר (s-r-r)
2 terms

Etymology

Related to the root ס־ו־ר (“turn aside, depart”), with both deriving from the biliteral root √s-r. In its present form the root is a result of the reduplication of the final radical and cognate with Akkadian 𒊓𒊏𒀀𒀸 (sarārum, “to be rebellious”) and Arabic شَرَّ (šarra, “to be evil”).

Pronunciation

(Biblical Hebrew) IPA^(key): /saːˈrar/
(Modern Israeli Hebrew) IPA^(key): /saˈʁaʁ/

Verb

סָרַר • (sarár) (pa'al construction)

(Biblical Hebrew, intransitive) to be stubborn, disobedient
- Tanach, Hosea 4:16, with translation of the Jewish Publication Society:
  כִּי כְּפָרָה סֹרֵרָה סָרַר יִשְׂרָאֵל עַתָּה יִרְעֵם יְהֹוָה כְּכֶבֶשׂ בַּמֶּרְחָב׃
  For Israel is stubborn like a stubborn heifer; Now shall the LORD feed them as a lamb in a large place?
- Tanach, Deuteronomy 21:20, with translation of the Jewish Publication Society:
  וְאָמְרוּ אֶל־זִקְנֵי עִירוֹ בְּנֵנוּ זֶה סוֹרֵר וּמֹרֶה אֵינֶנּוּ שֹׁמֵעַ בְּקֹלֵנוּ זוֹלֵל וְסֹבֵא׃
  And they shall say unto the elders of his city: ‘This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he doth not hearken to our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard.’
- a. 217 C.E., Mishnah. Sanhedrin, section 8.1:
  בֵּן סוֹרֵר וּמוֹרֶה, מֵאֵימָתַי נַעֲשֶׂה בֵן סוֹרֵר וּמוֹרֶה, מִשֶּׁיָּבִיא שְׁתֵּי שְׂעָרוֹת וְעַד שֶׁיַּקִּיף זָקָן, הַתַּחְתּוֹן וְלֹא הָעֶלְיוֹן, אֶלָּא שֶׁדִּבְּרוּ חֲכָמִים בְּלָשׁוֹן נְקִיָּה.
  From when does a stubborn and rebellious son become [liable to receive the death penalty imposed upon] a stubborn and rebellious son? From when he grows two [pubic] hairs until he has grown a beard around. The lower [beard] and not the upper [beard], but the Sages spoke in euphemistic terms.
to be evil (unused)

Notes

Properly used for disobedient beasts of burden; from that notion also extended for humans (Deuteronomy 21, Proverbs 7:11,...). Outside of Hosea 4:16 the verb can only be encountered as a participle.

Derived terms

בֵּן סוֹרֵר וּמוֹרֶה (ben sorér umoré, “wayward son”)
נָתַן כָּתֵף סֹרֶרֶת (natán katéf soréret)
סַר (sar, “evil, angry”)

References

H5637 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
Klein, Ernest (1987) “סרר”, in A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language for Readers of English‎^[1], Jerusalem: Carta, →ISBN, page 459c
Jastrow, Marcus (1903) A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature‎^[2], London, New York: Luzac & Co., G.P. Putnam's Sons, page 1030b