חבר מרעים

English translation: group (or band or whatever) of evildoers

15:12 May 14, 2009
Hebrew to English translations [PRO]
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
Hebrew term or phrase: חבר מרעים
ההקשר:

הוא לא היה מודע לקשר שקשרו נגדו בצוותא חבר מרעים זה
yael lewis
Local time: 11:17
English translation:group (or band or whatever) of evildoers
Explanation:
No explanation required. You could have consulted any decent dictionary and found it. It appears in Alcalay and in Even Shoshan. Mem-resh-ayin also means friend, as Smantha said, but the nikkud and pronunciation are different.
Selected response from:

Sue Goldian
Local time: 11:17
Grading comment
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
5Group of friends
Lingopro
3 +1gang
Alex Khanin
5 -2group (or band or whatever) of evildoers
Sue Goldian


Discussion entries: 3





  

Answers


23 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): -2
group (or band or whatever) of evildoers


Explanation:
No explanation required. You could have consulted any decent dictionary and found it. It appears in Alcalay and in Even Shoshan. Mem-resh-ayin also means friend, as Smantha said, but the nikkud and pronunciation are different.

Sue Goldian
Local time: 11:17
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Smantha: Yes, this seems more like it :)
3 mins

disagree  Lingopro: Sorry Sue, but this is wrong. It may seem that because "they ganged up on him" that they are evildoers, but in fact they are a group of friends ganging conjuring against "him"
28 mins

disagree  Rami Heled: look at the babylone dictionary it says group of friends
3 hrs

disagree  Jonathan Addess: Lingopro is right
20 hrs
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48 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
Group of friends


Explanation:
Check out Babylon.
מרעים is from the word רֱע , which means friend.
IMHO it does not mean evildoers, and definately not in the context you provided.
It is a known Hebrew idiom.

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Note added at 49 mins (2009-05-14 16:02:02 GMT)
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http://www.babylon.com/definition/חבר_מרעים/Hebrew

Lingopro
Israel
Local time: 11:17
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in HebrewHebrew
PRO pts in category: 4
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
gang


Explanation:
in fact חבר מרעים means both friends (sing. מֵרֵעַ) and evildoers (sing. מֵרַע).
Gang is used both ways as well

Alex Khanin
Germany
Native speaker of: Native in RussianRussian

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Juliana Brown: A good option, since, as Alex points out, one can find many examples of both uses in a simple Google. The nuance works either way.
9 mins
  -> Thanks, Juliana
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