ma.rah describes defiant disobedience toward God’s word, command, statutes, or other authority.

The occurrences consistently describe defiant disobedience, most often directed against the LORD, his command, words, statutes, judgments, or instruction. The same usage also characterizes a son who refuses his parents’ voice and people identified as persistently defiant.

1. Defiant disobedience toward an authority · dominant

   Finite forms portray refusal of expressed authority: in Deuteronomy 9:23 the people do not trust or listen after being commanded to go up, and in Ezekiel 20:13 they do not walk in statutes, reject judgments, and profane Sabbaths. Active participles characterize those marked by this conduct, including the son who will not listen to father or mother in Deuteronomy 21:18 and the generation whose heart was not prepared in Psalm 78:8. In 1 Kings 13:21 the APB renders the clause "you have rebelled against the mouth of the LORD," confirming the verse’s direct opposition to a command.

   Deuteronomy 9:23Ezekiel 20:131 Kings 13:21Deuteronomy 21:18Psalm 78:8Joshua 1:18

In the Anselm Project Bible: Across the clearer clauses, the APB commonly uses "rebelled" or "rebellious," often followed by the authority opposed, such as the LORD, his words, or his command. Verses such as Psalm 5:11 do not make this lemma’s individual contribution clear in the English rendering.