Lexical Summary kechash: Deceit, falsehood, lie Original Word: כֶּחָשׁ Strong's Exhaustive Concordance lying From kachash; faithless -- lying. see HEBREW kachash NAS Exhaustive Concordance Word Originfrom kachash Definition deceptive, false NASB Translation false (1). Brown-Driver-Briggs [כֶּחָשׁ] adjective deceptive, false (on formation see BaNB 50 Ges§ 84b) — בָּנִים כֶּחָשִׁים Isaiah 30:9 ("" עַם מְרִי). Topical Lexicon Overview Hebrew 3586, kechash, designates the moral quality of deliberate falsehood. It appears once in the Old Testament, in Isaiah 30:9, where the prophet censures Judah as “rebellious people, deceitful children” (Berean Standard Bible). Although the vocabulary item is rare, the concept it conveys—calculated dishonesty in word or deed—is a recurring theme throughout Scripture. By highlighting this single term, Isaiah exposes the spiritual rot of a nation whose lips venerated the covenant while its heart spurned it. Context in Isaiah’s Oracle (Isaiah 30:1–17) The section begins, “Woe to the rebellious children… who carry out a plan, but not Mine” (Isaiah 30:1). Judah was courting Egyptian help against Assyria, relying on political stratagems rather than the Lord. Verse 9 identifies a deeper problem: the nation’s penchant for deception. The lie was two-fold—first, to themselves (“Speak to us pleasant words,” verse 10), and second, to God, by professing covenant fidelity while plotting faithless alliances. Kechash therefore stands as the ethical pivot of the passage, revealing that military coalitions were merely symptoms; the disease was spiritual fraud. Theological Significance 1. Sin against Truth: Scripture consistently presents God as “the God of truth” (Isaiah 65:16) and Satan as “the father of lies” (John 8:44). Kechash signals alignment with the latter. Comparison with Related Hebrew Terms • Sheqer (H8257) often describes false witness or idolatrous promises. Kechash is narrower, focusing on conscious duplicity that masks itself under a façade of faithfulness. New Testament Resonance While kechash is absent from the Greek canon, its ethical freight reappears. Paul commands, “Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully” (Ephesians 4:25). Revelation 21:8 lists “all liars” among those excluded from the New Jerusalem. Thus the single Old Testament occurrence foreshadows a trans-canonical insistence that God’s people embody truthfulness. Practical Ministry Applications 1. Preaching and Teaching: Isaiah 30:9 warns against sanitizing prophetic messages to please audiences. Faithful proclamation resists kechash by letting Scripture set the agenda. Illustrative Insights from Church History • The Arian controversy hinged on a Christological half-truth. Athanasius’s insistence on “very God of very God” modeled Isaiah’s refusal to accommodate deceitful doctrine. Personal Spiritual Formation Believers cultivate truthfulness by meditating on God’s self-revelation (“Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth,” John 17:17) and by inviting the Spirit to “search me… and see if there is any offensive way in me” (Psalm 139:23-24). Regular confession and accountability resist the subtle slide into kechash. Missional Implications The church’s witness is credible only when words and actions align. In a culture skeptical of absolute truth, Christians who model transparent integrity embody the gospel’s power, fulfilling Jesus’ call to be “the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14). Summary Though kechash surfaces only once in the Hebrew canon, it crystallizes a universal peril: the temptation to cloak rebellion in religious language. Isaiah’s rebuke summons God’s people to wholehearted honesty—a virtue flowing from the character of the God who “cannot lie” (Titus 1:2). By renouncing kechash and embracing truth, the covenant community reflects its Redeemer and becomes a beacon of hope in a world darkened by deceit. Forms and Transliterations כֶּחָשִׁ֑ים כחשים ke·ḥā·šîm kechaShim keḥāšîmLinks Interlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel TextsEnglishman's Concordance Isaiah 30:9 HEB: ה֔וּא בָּנִ֖ים כֶּחָשִׁ֑ים בָּנִ֕ים לֹֽא־ NAS: people, false sons, KJV: people, lying children, INT: this sons lying Sons not 1 Occurrence |
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