Definition

violence; by implication, wrong; by meton. unjust gain

Etymology

from H2554 (חָמַס);

Where the KJV renders it

• cruel(-ty)
• damage
• false
• injustice
• oppressor
• unrighteous
• violence (against
• done)
• violent (dealing)
• wrong

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.