Quick Definition
be shrewd
Strong's Definition
properly, to be (or make) bare; but used only in the derivative sense (through the idea perhaps of smoothness) to be cunning (usually in a bad sense)
Derivation: a primitive root;
KJV Usage: [idiom] very, beware, take crafty (counsel), be prudent, deal subtilly.
TWOT Reference: 1698
Outline of Biblical Usage
Septuagint (LXX) Greek Equivalents
This Hebrew word is translated by the following Greek words in the Septuagint:
STEPBible — Tyndale Abridged Hebrew Lexicon
עָרֹם (a.ram) — be shrewd. 1) to be subtle, be shrewd, be crafty, beware, take crafty counsel, be prudent 1a) (Qal) to be crafty, be subtle 1b) (Hiphil) to be crafty, be or become shrewd
UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew
verb · עֲרֵמָה
Shape | verb nif | ≈ נצב · קפא
to be heaped up, to be piled up = to take on the shape of a heap or pile
verb · עָרוּם · עָרְמָה
Wise | verb qal
to be, become astute, to be, become clever, to be, become crafty, to be, become cunning, prudence = state in which someone is be able to manipulate difficult circumstances in such a way that the outcome is favorable to the planner; ≈ sometimes used in a positive sense, but also used in a negative sense
Wise | verb hif | ≈ יעץ
Collocation: ערם סֹוד
to devise a cunning plan = to devise a plan with the quality mentioned under [a]
1 1SA 23:22 · PRO 15:5 · PRO 19:25 These forms are described by Gesenius-Kautzsch-Cowley, |iGesenius' Hebrew Grammar|i*, as i-imperfects rather than hiphils (63n).
UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew © United Bible Societies, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon
[עָרֹם] vb. be shrewd, crafty Qal he is exceedingly crafty
Hiph. be crafty; be or become shrewd
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