---
title: מָרָה — be contentious · The Tanakh dictionary
description: מָרָה (4784), a word of Biblical Hebrew, used 44 times: be contentious. BDB 1906: vb. be contentious, refractory, rebellious. With 2 verses in Hebrew, word for word and JPS 1917.
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/w/4784.html)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [dictionaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/) / [Tanakh](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/) / [מ](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/1502-8.md)‎ / מָרָה‎

<!-- .hw dir=rtl lang=hbo -->
# מָרָה

<!-- .meta -->
«מָרָה» in the Tanakh dictionary: **be contentious** — how often it is used, MACULA's glosses, its meanings in the printed dictionaries and why they were chosen, and 2 verses in layers.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Used:** 44 times · **Key:** 4784 · **BDB:** מָרָה

### Glosses

rebellious (8); they.rebelled (6); you.rebelled.against (5)

### Meaning (OSHB)

be contentious [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1502/4784/#m1)

### Meaning (BDB 1906)

vb. be contentious, refractory, rebellious [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1502/4784/#m2)

<!-- fold -->
**The whole BDB entry:** vb. be contentious, refractory, rebellious (NH id., Hiph.; Arabic مَرَىَ iii. dispute with; Syriac ܡܰܪܺܝ Pa. contend with);— Pf. 3 ms. מָרָה 1 K 13:26; f. מָֽרְתָה Ho 14:1; מָרָ֑תָה Je 4:17; 2 ms. מָרִיתָ 1 K 13:21 + 11 times pf.; Inf. abs. מָרוֹ La 1:20; Pt. מֹרֶה 2 K 14:26 (but read מר, √ מרר, Kmp Kau כִּי מַר הוּא); מוֹרֶה Dt 21:18 + 3 times; f. מֹרְאָה Zp 3:1 (read מֹרָה; metapl. form according to Ges§ 75 R. 22); pl. מֹרִים Nu 20:10;—be disobedient, rebellious: בֵּן סוֹרֵר וּמֹרֶה Dt 21:18, 20 stubborn and rebellious son (towards father). elsewhere towards God: דֹּר סוֹרֵר וּמֹרֶה ψ 78:8; לֵב סורר ומ׳ Je 5:23; מוֹרְאָה ונגאלה הָעִיר Zp 3:1; הַמֹּרִים Nu 20:10 ye rebels (P); abs. Is 50:5; 63:10 La 1:20(×2); ‖ מאן Is 1:20; פשׁע La 3:42; c. בְּ pers. Ho 14:1 ψ 5:11, elsewhere acc. pers. Je 4:17; י׳’s words ψ 105:28; פי (את) מרה Nu 20:24; 27:14 (P), 1 S 12:15 1 K 13:21, 26 (D2) La 1:18.—In Ho 4:4 read perhaps מָרוּ בִי have rebelled against me (for MT כִּמְרִיבֵי), so RSProph. iv. n. 8 Che (for other views v. ריב). Pf. 3 mpl. הִמְרוּ ψ 106:33; 107:11; Impf. יַמְרֶה Jos 1:18; f. וַתֶּ֫מֶר Ez 5:6; 2 ms. תַּמֵּר (as if √ מרר) Ex 23:21, read תֶּ֫מֶר Di al.; 3 mpl. יַמְרוּ ψ 106:43 + 6 times; sf. יַמְרוּהוּ ψ 78:40; 2 mpl. תַּמְרוּ 1 S 12:14 + 3 times; Inf. cstr. לַמְרוֹת Is 3:8 ψ 78:17; sf. הַמְּרוֹתָם (Ges§ 20. 2 b) Jb 17:2; Pt. pl. מַמְרִים Dt 9:7 + 2 times;—shew disobedience, rebelliousness, always toward God: abs. Ne 9:26 (‖ מרד), ψ 106:7, 43 Jb 17:2; c. בְּ pers. Ex 23:21 Ez 20:8, 13, 21; עִם Dt 9:7, 24; 31:27; elsewhere acc. of God or his commands: Is 3:8 Ez 5:6 ψ 78:17, 40, 56; 107:11; המרה את פי Dt 1:26, 43; 9:23 Jos 1:18 1 S 12:14 (D2), את־רוחוֹ ψ 106:33 (cf. Eph 4:30); perhaps 139:20 (v. אָמַר 1).

<!-- .note -->
Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech agrees, 43 of its verses cited, 1 words shared with the glosses, lists its Strong's number (17 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 1 words shared with the BDB entry, 0 with the glosses (11 candidates)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every English meaning of «מָרָה» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1502/4784/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.

### In the verses

<!-- div verse -->

<!-- .ref -->
[Lamentations 3:42](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/LAM.3.42/)

<!-- .vt dir=rtl lang=hbo -->
נַ֤חְנוּ פָשַׁ֙עְנוּ֙ וּמָרִ֔ינוּ אַתָּ֖ה לֹ֥א סָלָֽחְתָּ׃ס

*Word for word:* we we.have.transgressed and we.have.rebelled you not you.have.forgiven

*JPS 1917:* We have transgressed and have rebelled; Thou hast not pardoned.

<!-- /div -->

<!-- div verse -->

<!-- .ref -->
[Psalms 107:11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PSA.107.11/)

<!-- .vt dir=rtl lang=hbo -->
כִּֽי־הִמְר֥וּ אִמְרֵי־אֵ֑ל וַעֲצַ֖ת עֶלְי֣וֹן נָאָֽצוּ׃

*Word for word:* (dm) they.had.rebelled.against the.words of.God and the.counsel of.the.Most.High they.had.spurned

*JPS 1917:* Because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the Most High.

<!-- /div -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [מֻרְדָּף](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/w/4783.md)
- next →: [מָרָה](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/w/4785.md)
- ↑ back to [מ](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/1502-8.md)