Word Study for H3415 (יָרַע) | Strong's Concordance

yâraʻ /yaw-rah'/ Ask about this word

Roota primitive root

Meaningproperly, to be broken up (with any violent action) i.e. (figuratively) to fear

KJV usagebe grevious (only Isaiah 15:4; the rest belong to רָעַע).

Word Study

In depth

A plain-language study of yâraʻ — the range of meaning it carries, how Scripture actually uses it, and where it points. Written for readers who don’t know the original language.

Core Meaning & Semantic Range

The Hebrew word yâraʻ, represented by H3415, properly means to be broken up with violent action, but is used figuratively to convey being grievous or experiencing fear. It appears 22 times in 22 unique verses. In scripture, it most often describes a state of being emotionally broken or disturbed, which is translated as being grieved, displeased, sad, or experiencing something that "goes ill."

Biblical Occurrences & Contextual Analysis

In biblical narratives, H3415 expresses a range of negative emotional responses. It is used to describe God's own displeasure with sin, as when David's actions concerning Uriah and Bathsheba "displeased the LORD" 2 Samuel 11:27. It also captures deep personal sorrow, such as when the prospect of sending away his son was "very grievous in Abraham's sight" Genesis 21:11. The term can also signify the hostile vexation of enemies; for example, when Sanballat H5571 and Tobiah H2900 heard Nehemiah had come to help Israel, "it grieved them exceedingly" Nehemiah 2:10.

Related Words & Concepts

Several related words help define the context of H3415:

H2734 chârâh (to be angry, burn): This term for anger is often paired with H3415. When Jonah was displeased with God's mercy on Nineveh, "it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry" Jonah 4:1. Likewise, Saul "was very wroth, and the saying displeased him" when David was praised above him 1 Samuel 18:8.
H7451 raʻ (bad or evil): This word for badness or evil is frequently used to describe the nature or intensity of the displeasure. It is used to state that the thing David had done displeased the LORD 2 Samuel 11:27 and to show that the news of Nehemiah's arrival grieved his enemies "exceedingly" Nehemiah 2:10.
H5869 ʻayin (eye): The feeling of displeasure is often expressed through the idiom of being evil "in the eyes of" someone. God told Abraham, "Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad" Genesis 21:12, and Israel's demand for a king "displeased Samuel" 1 Samuel 8:6.

Theological Significance

The theological weight of H3415 is significant, revealing key aspects of God's character and his relationship with humanity.

Divine Displeasure with Sin: The term powerfully articulates God's holy displeasure toward human sin. Actions such as David's census 1 Chronicles 21:7 and the lack of justice in the land Isaiah 59:15 directly displease God and provoke a response.
The Experience of Righteous Grief: The word describes the appropriate sorrow felt by God's servants in response to sin or tragedy. Samuel was displeased by Israel's unfaithful demand for a king 1 Samuel 8:6, and Nehemiah's countenance was sad because Jerusalem lay in waste Nehemiah 2:3.
A Consequence of Rebellion: In a covenantal context, H3415 can represent a state of curse or harm resulting from sin. It "went ill with Moses" because of the people's rebellion at the waters of strife Psalms 106:32. It is also listed among the curses for disobedience, where a person's eye "shall be evil" toward their own family Deuteronomy 28:54.

Summary

In summary, H3415 yâraʻ signifies far more than a simple negative feeling. It conveys a deep emotional or moral brokenness, expressed as grief, displeasure, or harm. This word is applied to God, his prophets, and even his enemies, demonstrating the profound impact of actions and circumstances. It serves to illustrate the gravity of sin, which displeases the LORD, and the nature of righteousness, which often involves being grieved by a broken world.

How the KJV Renders It

Translation

Strong’s lists the renderings but not their weight. These are counted from the King James text of the tagged verses — the bar under each is how often the translators actually reached for it. Select one to filter the occurrences below.

Grammatical Forms

Morphology

In the Hebrew Old Testament, this word appears as a verb across 22 occurrences, inflected in 5 grammatical forms — each row is one form, and the bar is how often it is that form. Select any form to read what each part of its name means, and to filter the occurrence list to it.

יֵּרַע
יֵרַע
תֵּרַע
יֵרְעוּ
יָרְעָה

Theographic Context

Context

The people, places, and span of history the verses containing this word touch on — drawn from the theographic tagging of Scripture. Select any name to isolate its verses in the occurrence list.

Biblical Distribution

Distribution

Appears in 22 verses across 10 of the 39 books. Most frequent in Genesis (4 verses); never once in the other 29.

Genesis

Deuteronomy

1 Samuel

2 Samuel

1 Chronicles

Nehemiah

Job

Psalms

Isaiah

Jonah

Every Occurrence

Concordance

Every verse where the word is tagged in the King James text. Filter by book, by the English word the translators chose, by grammatical form, or search within the verses.

Sources. Definition and numbering: James Strong, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890). Morphology: STEPBible / Tyndale House (CC BY). Verse tagging: the King James text keyed to Strong’s numbers. Every count on this page is computed from the tagged corpus, not estimated.