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Word

אָכַל

ʼâkal · H398 · Hebrew · 809 occurrences

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Thing

Meanings

  1. to eat

    Action by which someone consumes food; with or without explicit object

    Examples

    Genesis 2:16 The LORD God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may freely eat;

    Genesis 2:17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for on the day that you eat from it you will certainly die.”

    Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any animal of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”

  2. Action by which someone gives other people food for consumption, sometimes with the added connotation that these people are actually forced to consume it; with or without explicit object (to make (someone) eat, to give (someone) to eat)

    Examples

    Exodus 16:32 Then Moses said, “This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘A full omer of it is to be kept safe throughout your generations, so that they may see the bread that I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’”

    Deuteronomy 8:3 “And He humbled you and let you go hungry, and fed you with the manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, in order to make you understand that man shall not live on bread alone, but man shall live on everything that comes out of the mouth of the LORD.

    Deuteronomy 8:16 “In the wilderness it was He who fed you manna which your fathers did not know, in order to humble you and in order to put you to the test, to do good for you in the end.

  3. to consume, to devour, to destroy

    Action by which people or objects are removed from existence in a violent way as food that is eaten

    Examples

    Genesis 31:40 “This is how I was: by day the heat consumed me and the frost by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes.

    Exodus 3:2 Then the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not being consumed.

    Exodus 15:7 “And in the greatness of Your excellence You overthrow those who rise up against You; You send out Your burning anger, and it consumes them like chaff.

  4. to eat > to enjoy, to eat > to use up

    Literally: to eat (goods); hence pattern of actions by which someone makes a living off material goods until they are gone; often associated with joy

    Examples

    Genesis 31:15 “Are we not regarded by him as foreigners? For he has sold us, and has also entirely consumed our purchase price.

    Genesis 45:18 and take your father and your households and come to me; and I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you will eat the fat of the land.’

    Job 21:25 While another dies with a bitter soul, Never even tasting anything good.

  5. to give to eat > to give to enjoy

    Literally: to give (goods) to eat; hence action by which someone enables someone else to make a living off material goods until they are gone; often associated with joy

    Examples

    Isaiah 58:14 Then you will take delight in the LORD, And I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; And I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

  6. to eat > to take space

    Literally: to eat space; hence: state in which something takes up space that would normally belong to another object

    Examples

    Ezekiel 42:5 Now the upper chambers were smaller because the galleries took more space away from them than from the lower and middle ones in the building.

  7. Literally: to eat (an offering); hence: process by which a deity receives a burnt-offering; used of idols only (to eat > to receive (a sacrifice))

    Examples

    Deuteronomy 32:38 ‘Those who ate the fat of their sacrifices, And drank the wine of their drink offering? Let them rise up and help you, Let them be your protection!

    Ezekiel 16:20 “Furthermore, you took your sons and daughters whom you had borne to Me and sacrificed them to idols to be devoured. Were your obscene practices a trivial matter?

  8. Literally: to eat words; hence: action by which someone listens carefully to someone else's words (to eat words > to listen carefully to (someone's) words)

    Examples

    Jeremiah 15:16 Your words were found and I ate them, And Your words became a joy to me and the delight of my heart; For I have been called by Your name, LORD God of armies.

  9. to eat the fruits > to bear the consequences

    Literally: to eat the fruits (of something); hence: action by which someone accepts the consequences of an attitude or way of life as if they were the fruits of a tree; this expression can have both a positive or a negative sense

    Examples

    Proverbs 1:31 “So they shall eat of the fruit of their own way, And be filled with their own schemes.

    Proverbs 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.

    Isaiah 3:10 Say to the righteous that it will go well for them, For they will eat the fruit of their actions.

How it’s used In 13 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

769 occurrences in 106 groups

What it acts on, or what is saidObject

457 occurrences in 146 groups

Second objectAs in “call him Lord”

14 occurrences in 7 groups

With prepositionsPrepositional phrases

249 occurrences in 144 groups

With adverbsAdverbs

144 occurrences in 18 groups

Whose, or of whatGenitive or possessive

14 occurrences in 8 groups

Named alongside itApposition

3 occurrences in 5 groups

What it doesIt is the subject

13 occurrences in 10 groups

What is done to itIt is the object

13 occurrences in 5 groups

What it is said to bePredicate

3 occurrences in 3 groups

What is said to be itIt is the predicate

5 occurrences in 5 groups

After prepositionsPrepositional phrases

56 occurrences in 4 groups

In phrases “… of it”It is the genitive

1 occurrences in 1 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.

Near synonyms 2 words
יָלַע yâlaʻ · H3216 · to speak rashly, to gulp down
Both words denote consuming or devouring. The target term is the standard, high-frequency Hebrew verb for eating, consuming or devouring, while לעע (יָלַע (yâlaʻ, H3216), 'devour') is very rare, attested only once; both can mean 'devour'.
חָסַל châçal · H2628 · to devour, to consume
Both the target term and חסל (châçal, H2628) genuinely denote consuming or eating actions within the field of ingestion. חסל is very rare (attested only once), providing only weak independent support, but the pairing represents real near-synonymy, since both mean 'consume' or 'eat.'
In the other Testament 6 words
φάγω phágō · G5315 · to eat, to drink, to consume food
φάγω (phágō, G5315) is the standard Greek translation equivalent for אָכַל (ʼâkal, H398), both denoting the core act of eating or consuming; the Hebrew lemma's broader idiomatic extensions (burn up, devour, etc.) are preserved in Greek through φάγω's own figurative range.
ἐσθίω esthíō · G2068 · to eat
Greek ἐσθίω (esthíō, G2068) is the standard Septuagint rendering of Hebrew אָכַל (ʼâkal, H398), both denoting the core action 'to eat/consume' in literal and figurative usage, establishing direct translation equivalence across the two languages.
κατεσθίω katesthíō · G2719 · to eat up, to destroy utterly, to consume completely
κατεσθίω (katesthíō, G2719) κατεσθίω intensifies the basic consumption sense of אָכַל (ʼâkal, H398) אָכַל with the prefix κατα-, emphasizing complete devouring or consuming down/utterly, often in contexts of destruction or thorough consumption.
βρῶσις brōsis · G1035 · to eat, eating, a meal
Greek βρῶσις denotes the abstract noun 'eating/consumption' or concrete 'food,' functioning as a nominal derivative of the verbal action encoded in Hebrew אָכַל 'to eat/consume'; the Greek term captures both the act and its object as substantives where the Hebrew lemma expresses the process verbally.
ἀναλίσκω analískō · G355 · to destroy
ἀναλίσκω focuses specifically on destructive consumption ('use up, destroy'), representing the consuming-as-destruction semantic subset of אָכַל's broader eat/consume/devour range, particularly attested in fire-consumes and devour-destruction contexts rather than ordinary eating.
βιβρώσκω bibrṓskō · G977 · to eat, eating
Greek βιβρώσκω (bibrṓskō, G977) ('to eat') is the direct lexical equivalent of Hebrew אָכַל in the sense of physical eating or consuming, rendering the Hebrew verb's core denotation of consuming food.
Semantic domains 8 entries
Ingest002001001025
אָכַל is the ordinary word for eating, as the man freely permitted to eat from any tree of the garden (Genesis 2:16).
Non-Exist002002002006
The word can describe something being consumed to nothing, an eating away that ends in destruction, as the fire of the LORD that consumed some of the people at the outskirts of the camp (Numbers 11:1).
Dead002001001018
אָכַל is tied to death in the warning that eating from the forbidden tree brings certain dying (Genesis 2:17).
Non-Space002002001018
The word can describe fire consuming and clearing away what occupied a space, as the fire of the LORD that consumed people at the edge of the camp (Numbers 11:1).
Possess002003002019
אָכַל can describe consuming or using up a possession, as the caterpillar devouring gardens and vineyards (Amos 4:9).
Hear002004001003
The word appears in the idiom of absorbing a message, as Ezekiel commanded to eat the scroll given to him and so take in its words (Ezekiel 3:1-3).
Chastise002003002005
אָכַל can describe a devouring judgment or punishment, as the sword, famine, and plague sent to consume the people like vile figs (Jeremiah 29:17).
Revile002004001009012
The word is used of hostile speech pictured as devouring, as evildoers coming to devour the psalmist's flesh (Psalm 27:2).
Word family 8 words

Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.

אָכַלʼâkal · H398אֹכֶל ʼôkel · H400 · food, provisions · 44×מַאֲכָל maʼăkâl · H3978 · food · 30×אֲכַל ʼăkal · H399 · accuse, devour, eat · 7×מַאֲכֶלֶת maʼăkeleth · H3979 · knife · 4×מַאֲכֹלֶת maʼăkôleth · H3980 · food · 2×אֲכִילָה ʼăkîylâh · H396 · food · 1×מַכֹּלֶת makkôleth · H4361 · food · 1×
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H398. akal אָכַל806 verb eat (Arabic , Assyrian akâlu DlW, Aramaic אֲבַל, ) — Qal Perfect…
H398. akal
אָכַל806 verb eat (Arabic , Assyrian akâlu DlW, Aramaic אֲבַל, ) —
Qal Perfect אָכַל Exo 34:28 +; אָֽכְלָה Num 21:28 +; etc. Imperfect יאֹבַל Gen 49:27 +; וַיּאֹ֫כַל Gen 25:34 +; וַיּאֹכַ֑ל Gen 3:6 +; יאֹכֵ֑ל Lev 21:22 +; אֹכַל Gen 24:33 +; וָָֽאֹכַ֫ל Gen 27:33; וְאֹכֵ֑ל Isa 44:19; וָָֽאֹבֵל Gen 3:12-13, Gen 3:3plural יאֹכְלוּ Genesis 32:33 +; יאֹכֵ֑לוּ Deu 18:18 +; etc. (for יוֺכְלוּ Eze 42:5 read ᵐ5 יאצלו יוצלו, Ew Co); suffix יאֹכְלֶנּוּ Lev 7:6 +; תּאֹבַלְכֶם Isa 33:11, etc., probably also תְּאָכְלֵהוּ Job 20:26, either as secondary form from ׳תּאֹ (Ew§ 253 Di) or textual error (Ges§ 68. 1) > Pi`el, Thes KöI, 389; or Po`el, Ki De MV; Imperative אֱכוֺל 1Ki 18:41 +, etc.; Infinitive absolute אָכוֺל Gen 2:16 +; construct אֲכֹל Num 26:10 Num 26:2t.; לֶאֱכֹל Gen 24:33 +; לְאָכְלָה Jer 12:9; Participle אֹכֵל (אוֺכֵל) Gen 39:6 +, אֹכֶלֶת Exo 24:17 +, etc. —
1 eat, human subject Gen 3:11, Gen 3:18 + often; mostly with accusative Exo 16:35 +; also followed by מִןֿ (eat of, — some of, — or from) Exo 34:15; Rth 2:14 +; followed by בְּ (eat of or at) Exo 12:43 f; absolute Deu 2:6 +; as act of worship Gen 31:54 (compare Gen 46:1) Exo 18:12; Exo 24:11; Exo 34:15; Deu 12:7, Deu 12:18; Deu 14:23, Deu 14:26 +; compare of priests Exo 29:32; Lev 10:13 +; compare אֶלהֶֿהָרִים אָבַל Eze 18:6, Eze 18:11, Eze 18:15; Eze 22:9 + Eze 33:25 עַלהַֿדָּם Co עַלהֶֿהָרִים; (but RSRel. Semitic i. 324 N would emend first 4 by last); eat up, finish eating Gen 43:2 (with בלה) 1Ki 13:28 +; לֶחֶם אָכַל = take a meal Gen 43:25; Exo 2:20; 1Sa 20:24; Jer 41:1 +; so ׳א alone Gen 43:16; 1Sa 20:5 +; ׳א לֶחֶם = eat, get food Gen 3:19; 2Ki 4:8 +; Amo 7:12 (i.e. spend one's life) compare Ecc 5:16; א ׳לֹא ׳ל i.e. fast 1Sa 28:20; 1Sa 30:12; Ezr 10:6 compare Dan 10:3; figurative ׳א אֶתבְּֿשָׂרוֺ Ecc 4:5 (i.e. waste away); eat words Jer 15:16 (i.e. eagerly receive); of adultery, Pro 30:20 אָֽוֶן׃ פָעַלְתִּי לֹאֿ וְאָֽמְרָה מִּ֑יהָ וּמָֽחֲתָה אָֽכְלָה; eat (taste) good fortune, ׳א בַּטּוֺב Job 21:25; אָבְלוֺ לְמִּי according to his eating, i.e. according to his needs in eating Exo 12:4; Exo 16:16, Exo 16:18 also Exo 16:21; compare Job 20:21 & below אָכְלָה; הַמְּרִי אָכַל 2Ki 19:29; Amo 9:14, of peaceful enjoyment of results of labour; figurative of receiving consequences of action, good or bad Pro 1:31; Pro 18:21; Hos 10:13 compare אֶתכַּֿסְמֵּנוּ גַּםאָֿכוֺל וַיּאֹכַל Gen 31:15 i.e. he has reaped all the benefit, compare Hos 7:9; figurative of mourner, אָכָ֑לְתִּי כַּלֶּחֶם אֵפֶר Psa 102:10 (compare Psa 80:6 Hiph`il, & Assyrian akâl al âkul, bikîtum kurmatî = food I ate not, weeping (was) my refreshment HptASKT 166 f. Obsev. 1. 21, 22 ZimBP 34. 42); of gods, partaking of sacrifices Deu 32:38; figurative = destroy Deu 7:16 (compare Num 14:9); compare Jer 10:25; Jer 30:16; Jer 50:7; Hos 7:7.
2 of beasts, birds, etc., eat, devour; Gen 37:20, Gen 37:33; Gen 40:17, Gen 40:19; 1Ki 13:28; 1Ki 14:11; 1Ki 16:4; 1Ki 21:23-24, Hos 2:14 +; specifically of locusts Joe 1:4; Joe 2:25; 2Ch 7:13 compare Amo 4:9; moth Job 13:28; flies Psa 78:45; worms Deu 28:39; also Eze 19:3, Eze 19:6 (of Israel under figure of lion), compare Jer 50:7, Jer 50:17; Jer 51:34; also Hos 13:8 (of ׳י under fig, of lion), Eze 22:25 (אָכָ֑לוּ נֶפֶשׁ, of false prophets under figure of lion).
3 figurative of fire, devour, consume Lev 6:3 (followed by 2 accusative consume offering to ashes) Nah 3:13; Isa 5:24 (in simile), particular of fire from ׳י Lev 10:2; Lev 16:25; Jdg 9:15 f 1Ki 18:38; 2Ki 1:10, 2Ki 1:12, 2Ki 1:14; 2Ch 7:1; compare Amo 1:4, Amo 1:7, Amo 1:10, Amo 1:12, Amo 1:14; Amo 2:2, Amo 2:5; Amo 5:6 +; Deu 5:22 of fire at Sinai; of ׳י as fire (in judgment) Deu 4:24 י ׳כִּי הוּא אֹכְלָה אֵשׁ אֱלֹהֶיךָ; compare Deu 9:3; Isa 10:17 (|| בּער) Isa 30:27, Isa 30:30; Isa 33:14 (|| עוֺלָם מוֺקְדֵי).
4 of sword, devour, slay Deu 32:42; 2Sa 22:26; 2Sa 11:25; 2Sa 18:8; Hos 11:6; Jer 2:30; Jer 12:12; compare of devastation of land Isa 1:7; Jer 8:16.
5 in Genl. devour, consume, destroy (inanimate subject) of drought Gen 31:40; of pestilence Eze 7:15; of woods 2Sa 18:8; compare Lev 26:38 אֹיְבֵיכֶם אֶרֶץ אֶתְכֶם וְאָֽכְלָה; of הַבּשֶׁת Jer 3:24 (see בּשֶׁת).
6 figurative of oppression, devour the poor, etc. Pro 30:14; Hab 3:14 compare Psa 14:4; of bitter enmity אֶתבְּֿשָׂרִי לֶאֱכֹל Psa 27:2. (compare Job 19:22).
Niph`al Perfect וְנֶאֱבַל consecutive Exo 22:5 Imperfect יֵאָכֵל Gen 6:21 +; וַיֵּאָכֵ֫ל Num 12:12, etc.; Infinitive absolute הֵאָבֹל Lev 7:18; Lev 19:7; Participle feminine נֶאֱכֶ֫לֶת Lev 11:47; —
1 be eaten by man Exo 12:46; Exo 13:3, Exo 13:7; Exo 21:28; Exo 29:34; Lev 6:9; Lev 6:16; Lev 6:19; Lev 6:23; Lev 7:6, Lev 7:15, Lev 7:16 (twice in verse); Lev 7:18; Lev 11:41; Lev 19:6; Lev 19:7; Lev 19:23; Lev 22:30; Lev 28:17; Eze 45:21; of custom, usage Gen 6:21; Exo 12:16; Deu 12:22; Job 6:6; of permission to eat Lev 7:19; Lev 11:13, Lev 11:34, Lev 11:47 (twice in verse); Lev 17:13; with negative be uneatable Jer 24:2-3, Jer 24:8; Jer 29:17.
2 be devoured by fire, consumed Zep 1:18; Zep 3:8; Zec 9:4; Eze 23:25.
3 be wasted, destroyed, of flesh Num 12:12; Jer 30:16.
Pu`al Perfect אֻכְּלוּ be consumed with fire Neh 2:3, Neh 2:13 compare Nah 1:10 (figurative); so Participle אֻכָּל (= מְאֻכָּל Ew§ 169 d) Exo 3:2; by sword Isa 1:20 תְּאֻכְּלוּ.
Hiph`il Perfect2masculine singular suffix הֶאֱכַלְתָּם Psa 80:6, וְהַאֲכַלְתִּ֫י Isa 49:26; suffix וְהַאֲכַלְתִּיךָ consecutive Isa 58:14; הֶאֱכַלְתִּיח Eze 16:19; וְהַאֲכַלְתִּים consecutive Jer 19:9; Imperfect suffix יַאֲכִלֵנוּ Num 11:4, Num 11:18, etc.; 2masculine singular js. תַּאֲכֵל; 1 singular אוֺכִיל Hos 11:4; Imperative הַאֲכִילֵהוּ Pro 25:21, etc.; Infinitive לְהָכִיל Ezekiel 21:33 (but Co לההל, q. v.); Participle מַאֲבִיל Jer 23:15, etc.; —
1 cause to eat, feed with, followed by 2 accusative subject mostly ׳י; Exo 16:32; Deu 8:3, Deu 8:16; Eze 3:2; Jer 19:9; absolute Hos 11:4; compare Num 11:4, Num 11:18; figurative Jer 9:14; Jer 23:15; Isa 49:26; Isa 58:14; Eze 16:19; also Psa 80:6 דִּמְעָ֑ה לֶחֶם הֶאֱבַלְתָּם (compare Psa 102:10 Qal above); followed by accusative of person + מן Psalm 81:17, but also subject man Pro 25:21; 1Ki 22:27; 2Ch 18:26 לַ֫חַץ לֶחֶם וְהַאֲכִלֻהוּ of prison fare; followed by accusative of person only 2Ch 28:15, compare Eze 2:3.
2 cause to devour, object sword Ezekiel 21:33 (but on text see Co).
[אֲכַל] verb eat, devour (Biblical Hebrew); —
Pe`al Perfect3masculine plural אֲכַ֫לוּ Dan 3:8; Dan 6:25; Imperfect3masculine singular יֵאכֻל Dan 4:30; Dan 4:3feminine singularתֵּאכֻל Dan 7:23; Imperative feminine singular אֲכֻּ֫לִי Dan 7:5; Participle feminine singular אָֽכְלָה, Dan 7:7; Dan 7:9; —
1 eat, of beast, Dan 4:30 (accusative of thing).
2 devour, of beast in vision, Dan 7:5 (accusative of thing), absolute Dan 7:7; Dan 7:19; hence figurative of kingdom, devour, devastate, Dan 7:23 (accusative of earth).
3 in phrase ׳א ק־רְצֵיהוֺן Dan 3:8 eat their pieces, i.e. slander them, compare Dan 6:25 (see קְרַץ).

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

Topical studies with this word 7 entries
Ingest633 occurrencesNon-Space1 occurrenceNon-Exist149 occurrencesChastise4 occurrencesPossess2 occurrencesHear1 occurrenceRevile0 occurrences

Meanings adapted from the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament, © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0 and the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew (from the Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew), © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0; 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.

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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