Mischief mis'-chif: The word, in the sense of "hurt" or "evil" befalling, plotted against, or done to, anyone, represents a variety of Hebrew terms (e.g. 'acon, the King James Version
Gen 42:4,
Gen 44:29,
Exo 21:22; ra`,
1Sa 23:9,
2Sa 16:8,
1Ki 11:25, etc.; `amal,
Psa 7:14,
Psa 7:16,
Psa 10:7,
Psa 10:14,
Pro 24:2, etc.). Sometimes the Revised Version (British and American) changes the word, as to "evil" (
Exo 32:12,
Exo 32:22); in
Ac 13:10, to "villany" (rhadiourgia).
In the Revised Version (British and American) Apocrypha the word is used for kaka, "evils," Additions to Esther 13:5 (compare Wisdom of Sirach 19:28); kakia, "evil," Macc 7:23; and Latin malum, "evil," Esdras 15:56. "Mischievous" is used, Additions to Esther 14:19, for ponereuomai, "to be evil." The use in the King James Version Apocrypha is considerably more extended (Wisdom of Sirach 11:33, 19:27, 27:27, etc.).
James Orr