prov-ṓ-kā´shun, prṓ-vōk´: “Provoke,” literally, “to call forth,” hence, to excite or stir up, whether in a good or bad sense, appears frequently in the Old Testament as the translation of Piel, or Hiphil of כּעס, kā‛aṣ (noun, כּעס, ka‛aṣ), in the sense of “to make angry” ([Deu 4:25]; [Deu 9:18]; [1Ki 14:9], [1Ki 14:15], etc.); sometimes of מרה, mārāh ([Isa 3:8]), and of other words. In the New Testament we have παραζηλόω, parazēlóō, “to make jealous” ([Rom 10:19]; [Rom 11:11], [Rom 11:14]); παροργίζω, parorgı́zō, “to make angry” ([Eph 6:4]; compare [Col 3:21]); with παραπικραίνω, parapikraı́no, “to embitter” ([Heb 3:16]; compare in 1 Esdras 6:15), and other Greek words. “Provocation” in [Heb 3:8], [Heb 3:15] (quoting [Psa 95:8]) is parapikrasmós, the Septuagint for the Hebrew merı̄bhāh. An example of the good sense of the word is in [Heb 10:24], “Consider one another to provoke (literally, “to the provoking,” here paroxusmós) unto love and good works.”
For “provoke” the Revised Version (British and American) has “despise” ([Num 14:11]; [Num 31:20]), “rebel against” ([Psa 78:40]); for “provoked,” “despised” ([Num 14:23]; [Num 16:30]; [Isa 1:4]), “moved” ([Deu 32:16]; [1Ch 21:1]), “rebelled against” ([Psa 78:56]), “were rebellious” (106:33, 43); for “provoking” ([Psa 78:17]), “to rebel against”; for “provoked” ([2Co 9:2]), “stirred up”; “provoked within” for “stirred in” ([Act 17:16]); “provoked” for “limited” ([Psa 78:41] margin, “limited”); “provoketh” for “emboldeneth” ([Job 16:3]); instead of “Provoke not your children to anger” ([Col 3:21]), “Provoke not your children.”
