TALE. The word in KJV renders several Hebrew and Greek words that modern versions translate according to their different meanings. Thus, for example, NIV gives the connotations of a moan (Ps.90.9), a quota (Exod.5.8, Exod.5.18), a count (1Chr.9.28), slander (Ezek.22.9), and nonsense (Luke.24.11).

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2. הֶ֫גֶה, H2049. In the sense of an inward sigh, utterance, or meditation Psalm 90:9 says, “as a tale that is told” (KJV); “as a spider’s web” (LXX); literally, “like a sigh” (RSV).

3. רָכִיל, H8215; λη̂ρος, G3333. “Tale” is used in the Bible to mean slander or to carry an idle tale (Ezek 22:9; Luke 24:11).

4. A classification of a literary type found in the Bible as well as in other lit. “Short story tales” are encountered frequently in the narratives of Jacob and Esau (Gen 24-33) and in the Joseph story (Gen 37; 39-50), also in Ruth, Job, and Esther in the OT and Judith and Tobit in the Apoc. In a broader sense, tales include fables of animals and plants (Judg 9:8-15; 2 Kings 14:9).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915)

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The disciples considered the account given by the women in regard to the resurrection as "idle tales" (the King James Version, the Revised Version (British and American) "idle talk"), literally, "nonsensical talk" (Lu 24:11).

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See Slander.