Cruel

kroo’-el, kroo’-el-ti ’akhzar, ("harsh," "fierce," chamac, "violence"): There are various uses of the word "cruel" in the Old Testament:

(a) "the cruel (deadly) venom of asps" (De 32:33);

(b) spoken of men of relentless hate: "They hate me with cruel hatred" (Ps 25:19; compare Pr 5:9; 11:17; 12:10; Jer 6:23; 50:42);

(c) Job speaks of God’s dealings with him as "cruel" and arbitrary: "Thou art turned to be cruel to me" (Job 30:21); conscious of his virtue, yet holding God to be the author of his sufferings, Job is driven to the conclusion that God has become his enemy and is bent upon destroying him;

(d) the "day of Yahweh"--a prophetic phrase to denote the time of God’s manifestation in judgment--is described as coming, "cruel, with wrath and fierce anger" (Isa 13:9). The word "cruelty" has nearly disappeared from the Bible. In the Revised Version (British and American) it occurs only in Ps 27:12. The King James Version has it in Ge 49:5; Ps 74:20 (the Revised Version (British and American) "violence"); Eze 34:4 (perekh, "crushing," the Revised Version (British and American) "rigor").