Definition

a plan, usually evil (machination), sometimes good (sagacity)

Etymology

from H2161 (זָמַם);

Where the KJV renders it

• (wicked) device
• discretion
• intent
• witty invention
• lewdness
• mischievous (device)
• thought
• wickedly

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.