To vacillate , i.e. reel or stray (literally or figuratively); also causative of both
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The Hebrew verb taah describes movement away from a path, whether a person wanders geographically, an animal strays, intoxication disrupts judgment, a community turns morally, or a leader causes others to err. Genesis finds Joseph wandering in a field; Exodus requires the return of an enemy's stray animal; Isaiah portrays both human waywardness and impaired leaders; Jeremiah condemns prophets whose reckless lies.
Reader summary
Full entry for תָּעָה (H8582) · Open the biblical lexicon
The Hebrew verb taah describes movement away from a path, whether a person wanders geographically, an animal strays, intoxication disrupts judgment, a community turns morally, or a leader causes others to err. Genesis finds Joseph wandering in a field; Exodus requires the return of an enemy's stray animal; Isaiah portrays both human waywardness and impaired.
The BSB source-word alignment has 50 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include astray (5), go astray (4), stray (3), went astray (3), and makes them wander (2).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 20:13. Its strongest book concentrations include Isaiah (15), Ezekiel (7), Psalms (6), Proverbs (5).
The Hebrew verb taah describes movement away from a path, whether a person wanders geographically, an animal strays, intoxication disrupts judgment, a community turns morally, or a leader causes others to err. Genesis finds Joseph wandering in a field; Exodus requires the return of an enemy's stray animal; Isaiah portrays both human waywardness and impaired leaders; Jeremiah condemns prophets whose reckless lies lead people astray; and the psalmist asks God to seek a servant who has wandered like a lost sheep.
The word therefore cannot be reduced to one accusation about rebellion. Sometimes it names vulnerability, disorientation, deception, or failed leadership. Responsible teaching identifies who strays, who caused the wandering, what path or obligation is in view, and what help or accountability the passage provides. It must not be used to shame trauma, cognitive impairment, addiction, honest questions, or people harmed by manipulative authorities.
Taah ranges from literal wandering and a stray animal to intoxicated staggering, covenant waywardness, deceptive leadership, and a lost servant's plea to be sought. Agency and causation must be read from each context.
A man found him wandering in the field and asked, “What are you looking for?”
Joseph is found wandering in a field while trying to locate his brothers and their flocks.
If you encounter your enemy’s stray ox or donkey, you must return it to him.
Covenant law requires returning even an enemy's animal when it has strayed from its owner.
These also stagger from wine and stumble from strong drink: Priests and prophets reel from strong drink and are befuddled by wine. They stumble because of strong drink, muddled in their visions and stumbling in their judgments.
Priests and prophets stagger from alcohol, and their intoxication disrupts vision and judicial judgment.
We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.
The servant song describes universal human waywardness while locating the people's iniquity upon the servant.
“Indeed,” declares the Lord, “I am against those who prophesy false dreams and retell them to lead My people astray with their reckless lies. It was not I who sent them or commanded them, and they are of no benefit at all to these people,” declares the Lord.
False prophets use reckless lies to lead God's people astray despite lacking divine commission.
My people consult their wooden idols, and their divining rods inform them. For a spirit of prostitution leads them astray and they have played the harlot against their God.
Hosea portrays idolatrous divination as a power that leads the covenant people away from God.
I have strayed like a lost sheep; seek Your servant, for I have not forgotten Your commandments.
The psalmist confesses being like a lost sheep and asks God to seek rather than abandon His servant.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Hebrew word. Vacillating movement—physical staggering or moral straying—often implies deception or leading others deliberately astray.
Vacillating movement—physical staggering or moral straying—often implies deception or leading others deliberately astray.
to vacillate, i.e. reel or stray (literally or figuratively); also causative of both BDB: err Usage: (cause to) go astray, deceive, dissemble, (cause to, make to) err, pant, seduce, (make to) stagger, (cause to) wander, be out of the way.
How the stem changes the meaning of this verb across the biblical text.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 1 selected witness from 51 lexical occurrence verses.
תָּעָה is a primitive root - no further derivation.
Describes the heart’s self-deception in false worship.Isaiah 44:9-20
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Taah refuses a single moral label for every kind of wandering. Joseph's field experience is ordinary disorientation during a search, while the stray animal in Exodus creates an obligation of practical restoration even toward an enemy. Isaiah 28 names alcohol-impaired religious leaders whose distorted perception damages judgment; the problem is not a vague lack of confidence but conduct that compromises public responsibility.
Isaiah 53 includes all people in waywardness and centers the servant's burden-bearing work, preventing the text from becoming a weapon aimed only at outsiders. Jeremiah places special accountability on prophets who invent dreams and mislead people with reckless lies. Hosea exposes worship practices that redirect trust, while Psalm 119 combines confession with a plea for God to seek the wanderer.
Faithful teaching therefore distinguishes vulnerability from defiance and followers from those who manipulate them. It offers directions, treatment, truthful correction, restitution, and safe community where appropriate, while confronting leaders who exploit uncertainty. Repentance is a relational return enabled by truth and grace, not a vocabulary label used to coerce conformity or suppress honest inquiry.
Jer.23.32
Taah is a Hebrew verb that can be intransitive, describing wandering or staggering, or causative, describing someone leading another astray. Literal route, bodily impairment, moral direction, and deceptive influence remain distinct senses governed by syntax and narrative.
Jesus depicts a shepherd seeking a lost sheep, warns disciples about leaders who mislead, and receives people who turn toward God. The apostles likewise require sober oversight, careful testing of prophecy, restoration with gentleness, and protection from teaching that exploits unstable hearers.