📖 Biblical Definition
KJV word for perverse, turned-away from what is right. The Hebrew iqqesh (crooked, perverse) names the moral category. Proverbs returns to it frequently: Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee (4:24); A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth (6:12); They that are of a froward heart are abomination to the LORD (11:20); The way of a fool is right in his own eyes... He that speaketh truth sheweth forth righteousness: but a false witness deceit. There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword: but the tongue of the wise is health (12:15-18, with frowardness all through). The froward person's mouth, ways, thoughts, and dealings have all gone the wrong direction at the heart level. The corrective is the fear of the LORD (Prov 8:13: The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate).
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Perverse; turned away from rightness.
expand to see more
The KJV adjective for those whose nature has turned away from rightness — froward mouth, froward heart, froward generation. The opposite is upright. Contemporary English has lost the word; the moral category survives.
📖 Key Scripture
Proverbs 4:24 — "Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee."
Proverbs 6:12 — "A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth."
Proverbs 11:20 — "They that are of a froward heart are abomination to the LORD: but such as are upright in their way are his delight."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Vocabulary fallen out of use; the moral perception it captured is fading too.
expand to see more
When a culture loses a word, it often loses the perception that word served. 'Froward' captured a real moral state: the heart that has turned. Modern English speaks of 'crooked' or 'twisted'; the older word held the directional sense — turned away. Recover the perception.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Hebrew tahpukah — perversity.
expand to see more
['Hebrew', 'H8419', 'tahpukah', 'perverse, froward']
['Hebrew', 'H6141', 'iqqesh', 'perverted, crooked']
Usage
"Read Proverbs in KJV to recover the word."
"Froward hearts grieve God."