ra.qav denotes decay or wasting deterioration, pictured in bodies and used for inwardly destructive conditions.

The attested noun denotes wasting decay, whether pictured as entering bones or consuming a person, and it is also used in comparisons for shame, jealousy, and Judah's afflicted condition.

1. Wasting decay and its destructive comparison · dominant

   The masculine singular noun describes deterioration in bodily imagery: in Habakkuk 3:16 the APB renders it as coming “into my bones,” in Job 13:28 it renders a person wasting away “like something rotten,” and in Proverbs 14:30 it places the construct form in the contrast where jealousy is “rottenness of bones.” The same decay image marks destructive comparisons: in Hosea 5:12 the APB renders the clause “like decay to the house of Judah,” while Proverbs 12:4 compares a shame-causing wife to “rottenness in his bones.”

   Habakkuk 3:16Hosea 5:12Job 13:28Proverbs 12:4Proverbs 14:30

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB uses “rottenness,” “decay,” and “something rotten” across these clauses. These terms confirm the verses' decay imagery rather than establish separate lexical senses.