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Word

יָאַל

yâʼal · H2974 · Hebrew · 19 occurrences

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Meanings

  1. State in which humans and deities are willing to do something; often used in polite speech to soften one's request or to underline its sincerity (to be willing, to accept (to do something))

    Examples

    Exodus 2:21 And Moses was willing to live with the man. And he gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses.

    Joshua 7:7 And Joshua said, “Oh, Lord GOD! Why did You ever bring this people across the Jordan, only to hand us over to the Amorites, to eliminate us? If only we had been willing to live beyond the Jordan!

    Judges 17:11 The Levite agreed to live with the man, and the young man became to him like one of his sons.

  2. to resolve, to persist

    Action by which humans a take firm decision to do something, often in spite of the circumstances

    Examples

    Genesis 18:27 And Abraham replied, “Now behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord, although I am only dust and ashes.

    Genesis 18:31 And he said, “Now behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord; suppose twenty are found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it on account of the twenty.”

    Deuteronomy 1:5 Across the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses began to explain this Law, saying,

How it’s used In 2 roles

Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.

the word studied the word it goes with

Who or what does itSubject

19 occurrences in 11 groups

With prepositionsPrepositional phrases

10 occurrences in 5 groups

When two words share a role, as in “Paul and Barnabas said”, the verse appears under each, so a section’s counts can add up to more than the number of occurrences.

MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.

In the other Testament 1 word
ἄρχομαι árchomai · G756 · to rule, to govern, to begin
Greek ἄρχομαι focuses on temporal commencement ('to begin'), while Hebrew יָאַל emphasizes willingness/consent ('be content, please, willingly'); the alignment reflects LXX rendering of volitional beginning contexts where consent-to-commence overlaps with simple inception.
Semantic domains 3 entries
Foolish002001002010
This entry carries no independent "Foolish" sense of its own; every genuine tagged occurrence of this homonymous יָאַל (19 occurrences: Genesis 18:27, Exodus 2:21, Judges 17:11, 2 Kings 5:23, and others) denotes willing consent or agreement, never folly. The domain is bundle-shared with the unrelated homonym יָאַל (yâʼal, H2973), which carries the genuine "foolish" sense. See יָאַל (yâʼal, H2973).
Willing002001002028
The verb most often expresses being willing or content to undertake something, as Moses being willing to live with Reuel (Exodus 2:21) and Abraham venturing to speak boldly to the Lord (Genesis 18:27, 31).
Think002004002013
The willingness this verb describes follows a deliberate decision, illustrated at Genesis 18:27 ("I have ventured to speak to the Lord") and Job 6:9 ("that God would decide to crush me") — a genuine sense of a considered choice to undertake a course of action.
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H2974. yaal II. [יָאַל] verb only Hiph`il shew willingness, be pleased, determine,…
H2974. yaal
II. [יָאַל] verb only
Hiph`il shew willingness, be pleased, determine, undertake to do anything (and do it) (see Ki Thes; Arabic is take refuge with, escape, hasten to a place; compare II. אול be in front of, NöMBAK 1880. 775; Sabean ואל in proper name מואלת DHMEpigr. Denkm. 53; perhaps As âlû, accept, LyonSargontexte 72) —
Hiph`il Perfect3masculine singular הוֺאִיל Hos 5:11 Hos 5:2t.; 2 masculine singular הוֺאַלְתָּ 1Ch 17:27; 1Ch 17:1singular הוֺאַלְתִּי Gen 18:27, Gen 18:31; Gen 18:1plural הוֺאַלְנוּ Jos 7:7; Imperfect וְיֹאֵל Job 6:9 (jussive); וַיּ֫וֺאֶל Exo 2:21 Exo 2:4t.; וַיֹאֶל 1Sa 17:39 (but see below); Imperative הוֺאֵל 2Sa 7:29; 2Ki 5:23; הוֺאֶלנָֿא Jdg 19:6; נָא ה֫וֺאֶל 2Ki 6:3; הוֺאִ֫ילוּ Job 6:28; —
1 shew willingness to do anything, accept an invitation, acquiesce, followed by infinitive אֶתהָֿאִישׁ לָשֶׁבֶת משֶׁה וַי֫וֺאֶל Exo 2:21 (JE) and Moses was willing to dwell with the man (and did so), = Jdg 17:11 (of Levite); elsewhere following by finite verb; וַנֵּשֶׁב הוֺאַלְנוּ וְלוּ Jos 7:7 and would that we had been willing and had stayed; especially imperative, followed by imperative: וְלִין הוֺאֶלנָֿא Jdg 19:6 be willing and spend the night (kindly accept my invitation) see Ges§ 110. 2 a, R 2; 120. 2 a, 2Ki 6:3 and (no וְ) 2Ki 5:23; פְֿנוּבִֿי הוֺאִילוּ Job 6:28 i.e. be good enough to look upon me.
2 more actively, voluntarily undertake to do anything (and do it), followed by infinitive: Gen 18:27 I have undertaken to speak = Gen 18:31 (both J); so 1Sa 17:39 ᵑ0, but read וַ֫יֵּלֶא, and he laboured vainly, for וַיֹאֶל, so ᵐ5, GeiUrschrift, 377 We Dr (compare also vb בָּאֵלֶּה לָלֶכֶת אוּכַל לֹא); followed by finite verb בֵּאֵר משֶׁה הוֺאִיל Deu 1:5 i.e. Moses took upon himself to expound the law.
3 more actively still, be pleased, determine on one's own responsibility, resolve, followed by infinitive: Jos 17:12 (JE) = Jdg 1:27 but the Canaanites were determined (shewed a determination) to remain in this territory (= persisted in dwelling there); Jdg 1:35 the Amorites persisted in dwelling in Har-Heres, etc.; followed by finite verb, of irreligious action, הָלַךְ הואיל Hos 5:11 Ephraim persisted, he walked after vanity (read שׁוא for צו, see Che); elsewhere only of the divine good pleasure: followed by infinitive 1Sa 12:22 ׳י hath been pleased to make you a people for himself; 1Ch 17:27; followed by finite verb וּבָרֵךְ הוֺאֵל 2Sa 7:29 be pleased and bless the house of thy servant; וִידַכְּאֵנִי אֱלוֺהַּ וְיֹאֵל Job 6:9 and that Eloah would be pleased and crush me! (see Ges§ 120, 2 a DaSynt. § 83 b).

Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain

Sources

eRhema lexical overview, based on the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew and the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (© United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Macula Hebrew and Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0); released under CC BY-SA 4.0

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