Gossip in the Old Testament

The first stop in our tour of the Bible is to see what the Old Testament says about gossip.

Hebrew Words Translated “Gossip” and Exposition of Their Occurrences

There are two major Hebrew words that are translated “gossip” in modern English Bibles and two other Hebrew expressions that are sometimes paraphrased as “gossip.” Interestingly, in the Old Testament, the words for “gossip” actually refer to the speaker not to the content of the speech. Proverbs is especially interested in warning readers about various categories of dangerous people that they will encounter in life–the sluggard, the wayward wife, the angry man, the fool, and the gossip.

In our next post, we will learn about the first word: rakil.

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New Blog Series: Toward a Definition of Gossip