Flee
Vine's Expository Dictionary of OT Words [1]
Bârach ( בָּרַח , Strong'S #1272), “to flee, pass through.” Some scholars see this word, which is used throughout the history of the Hebrew language, reflected in ancient Ugaritic as well. Bârach occurs about 60 times in the Hebrew Bible. The word first appears in Gen. 16:6, where it is said that Hagar “fled from her [Sarah’s] face” as a result of Sarah’s harsh treatment.
Men may “flee” from many things or situations. David “fled” from Naioth in Ramah in order to come to Jonathan (1 Sam. 20:1). Sometimes it is necessary to “flee” from weapons (Job 20:24). In describing flight from a person, the Hebrew idiom “from the presence of” (literally, “from the face of”) is often used (Gen. 16:6, 8; 31:27; 35:1, 7).
In its figurative use, the word describes days “fleeing” away (Job 9:25) or frail man “fleeing” like a shadow (Job 14:2). A rather paradoxical use is found in Song of Sol. 8:14, in which “flee” must mean “come quickly”: “Make haste [literally, “flee”], my beloved, and be thou like to a gazelle.…”
Nûs ( נוּס , 5127), “to flee, escape, take flight, depart.” This term is found primarily in biblical Hebrew, where it occurs some 160 times. Nûs occurs for the first time in Gen. 14:10, where it is used twice to describe the “fleeing” of the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah. :$ is the common word for “fleeing” from an enemy or danger (Gen. 39:12; Num. 16:34; Josh. 10:6). The word is also used to describe “escape,” as in Jer. 46:6 and Amos 9:1. In a figurative use, the word describes the “disappearance” of physical strength (Deut. 34:7), the “fleeing” of evening shadows (Song of Sol. 2:17), and the “fleeing away” of sorrow (Isa. 35:10).
King James Dictionary [2]
FLEE,
1. To run with rapidity, as from danger to attempt to escape to hasten from danger or expected evil. The enemy fled at the first fire.
Arise, take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt. Matthew 2 .
2. To depart to leave to hasten away.
Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4 .
3. To avoid to keep at a distance from.
Flee fornication flee from idolatry. 1 Corinthians 6:10 .
To flee the question or from the question, in legislation, is said of a legislator who, when a question is to be put to the house, leaves his seat to avoid the dilemma of voting against his conscience, or giving an unpopular vote. In the phrases in which this verb appears to be transitive, there is really an ellipsis.
Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types [3]
Jeremiah 48:6 (a) In this passage the Lord is urging us to make haste and leave those situations in which the soul is not being fed nor watered, and to make our way to that place where the soul will be refreshed and blessed. There are those who are in modernistic churches where the Word of GOD has been supplanted by human expedients and they are not learning to know the Lord, nor His ways. They should leave the group and find a fellowship where the Holy Spirit is working and the Word is loved. (See under "HEATH").
Matthew 3:7 (a) John is warning the people to make haste in getting to the Saviour and thus escape the terrible wrath of GOD that will be executed against all the ungodly. If men believe GOD's Word and realize that outside of Christ they will be forever punished in the lake of fire, there would certainly be a rush to get to the Saviour.
Webster's Dictionary [4]
(v. i.) To run away, as from danger or evil; to avoid in an alarmed or cowardly manner; to hasten off; - usually with from. This is sometimes omitted, making the verb transitive.
