Definition

properly, perhaps to bow (the neck only in courtesy to an equal), i.e. to be kind; also (by euphemistically, but rarely) to reprove

Etymology

a primitive root; (compare H2603 (חָנַן)); (compare H1288 (בָרַךְ))

Where the KJV renders it

• shew self merciful
• put to shame

Every distinct English word the King James Version uses to translate this Hebrew term. The variety shows what readers in English receive across many different surface words — the same underlying word, scattered across the English Bible under different names.

What the first audience heard

A deep-dive treatment of this word is in the works. The featured chapter above carries the long form of what this word meant to its first audience.