Bastard

Bastard - (Easton's Bible Dictionary)

In the Old Testament the rendering of the Hebrew word mamzer', which means "polluted." In Deut. 23:2, it occurs in the ordinary sense of illegitimate offspring. In Zech. 9:6, the word is used in the sense of foreigner. From the history of Jephthah we learn that there were bastard offspring among the Jews (Judg. 11:1-7). In Heb. 12:8, the word (Gr. nothoi) is used in its ordinary sense, and denotes those who do not share the privileges of God's children.

Bastard - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

B'ASTARD, n. A natural child; a child begotten and born out of wedlock; an illegitimate or spurious child. By the civil and canon laws, a bastard becomes a legitimate child, by the intermarriage of the parents, at any future time. But by the laws of this country, as by those of England, a child, to be legitimate, must at least be born after the lawful marriage.

Bastard eigne', or bastard elder, in law, is when a man has a bastard son, and afterward marries the mother, and has a legitimate son, called mulier puisne, or younger.

B'ASTARD, n. A kind of sweet wine. [Not in use.]

B'ASTARD, a. Begotten and born out of lawful matrimony; illegitimate.

2. Spurious;; not genuine; false; supposititious; adulterate. In this sense, it is applied to things which resemble those which are genuine, but are really not genuine; as a bastard hope, bastard honors.

In military affairs, bastard is applied to pieces of artillery which are of an unusual make or proportion, whether longer or shorter, as the double culverin extraordinary, half or quarter culverin extraordinary.

Bastard-Flower-fence, a plant, a species of Adenanthera.

Bastard-hemp, a plant, a species of Datisca, false hemp.

Bastard-Rocket, dyers-weed, or wild woad, a species of Reseda.

Bastard-Star of Bethlehem, a plant, a species of Albuca.

Bastard-Scarlet, a red color dyed with balemadder.

B'ASTARD, v.t. To make or determine to be a bastard.

bas'-tard (mamzer; nothos): In De 23:2 probably the offspring of an incestuous union, or of a marriage within the prohibited degrees of affinity (Le 18:6-20; 20:10-21). He and his descendants to the tenth generation are excluded from the assembly of the Lord. (See Driver, at the place). Zechariah (Zec 9:6), after prophesying the overthrow of three Philistine cities, declares of the fourth: "And a bastard (the Revised Version, margin "a bastard race") shall dwell in Ashdod," meaning probably that a "mixed population" (BDB) of aliens shall invade and settle in the capital of the Philistines. In Heb (He 12:8) in its proper sense of "born out of wedlock," and therefore not admitted to the privileges of paternal care and responsibility as a legitimate son.

T. Ress