Churl

in Isaiah 32:5 (RSV marg., "crafty"), means a deceiver. In 1 Samuel 25:3 , the word churlish denotes a man that is coarse and ill-natured, or, as the word literally means, "hard." The same Greek word as used by the LXX. here is found in Matthew 25:24 , and there is rendered "hard."

A rude, fraudulent person.

The instruments also of the CHURL are evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right. ( Isaiah 32:7 )

CHURL

churl (kilay or kelay):

The Hebrew word occurs only in Isaiah 32:5,7, in the latter verse in a form slightly modified so as to produce a pleasing assonance with the word immediately following. The word probably means "crafty" or "miserly," both ideas being suitable to the context, though "miserly" accords with the setting in Isa somewhat better.

In 1 Samuel 25:3 the Hebrew qasheh which means "hard," "severe," "rough," is rendered "churlish." In Saxon, churl, as the name for the lowest order of freemen, came to be used of persons boorish in manner. The rough and ill-mannered Nabal is aptly described as churlish.

John Richard Sampey