כסיל

From the root כ־ס־ל . Related to Aramaic כסלא.

כְּסִיל • (ksil) m (plural indefinite כְּסִילִים, feminine counterpart כְּסִילָה) [pattern: קְטִיל]

1. (Biblical Hebrew) fool, unintelligent person
   • Tanach, Proverbs 10:1, with translation of the Jewish Publication Society:

     בֵּן חָכָם יְשַׂמַּח אָב וּבֵן כְּסִיל תּוּגַת אִמּוֹ׃

     ben khakhám yisamákh av, uvén k'síl tugát imó

     A wise son maketh a glad father; but a foolish son is the grief of his mother.

   • Tanach, Psalms 92:7, with translation of the Jewish Publication Society:

     אִישׁ בַּעַר לֹא יֵדָע וּכְסִיל לֹא יָבִין אֶת זֹאת׃

     ish bá'ar lo yedá ukh'sil lo yavín et zot

     A brutish man knoweth not, neither doth a fool understand this.

2. (Biblical Hebrew) the constellation Orion
   • Tanach, Job 38:31, with translation of the Jewish Publication Society:

     הַתְקַשֵּׁר מַעֲדַנּוֹת כִּימָה אוֹ מֹשְׁכוֹת כְּסִיל תְּפַתֵּחַ׃

     hat'kashér ma'adanót kimá, o moshkhót k'sil t'fatéakh?

     Canst thou bind the chains of the Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?

   • a. 500 C.E., Babylonian Talmud. Berachot, 58b:

     שְׁמוּאֵל רָמֵי. כְּתִיב ״עֹשֶׂה עָשׁ כְּסִיל וְכִימָה״, וּכְתִיב: ״עֹשֵׂה כִימָה וּכְסִיל״. הָא כֵּיצַד? אִלְמָלֵא חַמָּה שֶׁל כְּסִיל, לֹא נִתְקַיֵּים עוֹלָם מִפְּנֵי צִינָּה שֶׁל כִּימָה. וְאִלְמָלֵא צִינָּה שֶׁל כִּימָה, לֹא נִתְקַיֵּים עוֹלָם מִפְּנֵי חַמָּה שֶׁל כְּסִיל.

     Shmu'él ramé: k'tív "osé ásh, k'sil v'khimá," ukh'tiv "osé khima ukh'sil." ha ketsád? ilmalé khamá shel k'sil, lo nitkayém olám mipné tsiná shel kimá, v'ilmalé tsiná shel kimá, lo nitkayém olám mipné khamá shel k'síl.

     Samuel brought up a contradiction: It is written, "He makes Ursa Major, Orion, and the Pleiades," but it is written, "He makes the Pleiades and Orion." So how? Were it not for the heat of Orion, the world would not withstand the cold of the Pleiades. And were it not for the cold of the Pleiades, the world would not withstand the head of Orion.

• כְּסִילִי
• כְּסִילוּת

• H3684 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible