תַּהְפֻּכָה (tah.pu.khah)
tah.pu.khah
perversity
H:N-FQuick Reference
- Language
- Biblical Hebrew
- Testament
- Old Testament
- Occurrences
- 10 verses
- Root
- —
- Part of speech
- H:N-F
Definition
Definition
Brown-Driver-Briggs
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
What This Word Means for Your Faith
The word for perversity in Hebrew carries the sense of something twisted or turned upside down. It describes a heart that has lost its straight path, choosing to twist truth into deception and peace into conflict. When we encounter this term in Scripture, it is not merely describing bad behavior, but a fundamental misalignment with God’s design for order and honesty.
Understanding this helps us recognize the subtle ways our own thoughts can become distorted. Proverbs warns that such perversity often begins internally, in the heart’s secret plans, before it ever manifests as spoken words or outward actions. It is a reminder to guard our inner lives with care, seeking wisdom rather than allowing confusion to take root.
For your daily walk, this offers a clear invitation to examine your motives. Are you approaching situations with a straight heart, or are you complicating simple truths for your own gain? Choosing the path of integrity brings peace, while twisting reality only leads to isolation and strife. May you find strength in God’s truth to keep your way pure.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 10 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- perversities4×
- perverse things4×
- perversiti<es>1×
- in/ perverse things of1×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- תַּהְפֻּכֽוֹת\׃3×
- תַּהְפֻּכֹת֙1×
- תַּהְפֻּכ֑וֹת1×
- תַּֽהְפֻּכ֨וֹת\׀1×
- תַּ֭הְפֻּכוֹת1×
- תַּ֝הְפֻּכ֗וֹת1×
- תַהְפֻּכ֬וֹת1×
- בְּֽ/תַהְפֻּכ֥וֹת1×
Key Verses
-
Proverbs 6:14
in whose heart is perverseness, who devises evil continually, who always sows discord.
This verse highlights how perversity originates in the heart as a continuous cycle of devising evil, showing that outward discord stems from internal corruption.
-
Deuteronomy 32:20
He said, “I will hide my face from them. I will see what their end will be; for they are a very perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness.
Here the term describes an entire generation’s spiritual state, linking perversity directly to a lack of faithfulness and God’s subsequent withdrawal of His presence.
-
Proverbs 16:28
A perverse man stirs up strife. A whisperer separates close friends.
This occurrence connects the trait directly to social consequences, illustrating how a perverse person actively stirs up strife and breaks relationships.
-
Proverbs 8:13
The fear of Yahweh is to hate evil. I hate pride, arrogance, the evil way, and the perverse mouth.
Wisdom personified identifies hating this specific type of evil as part of fearing Yahweh, establishing it as a core moral opposite to divine reverence.