מָלַל
mâlal · H4448 · Hebrew · 12 occurrences
Meanings
-
to make signs, to signal
Action by which humans move parts of their bodies in order to pass on information without other people noticing
ExamplesProverbs 6:13 Who winks with his eyes, who signals with his feet, Who points with his fingers;
-
to speak, to say
Action by which humans, and personified objects utter words; usually not directly followed by the actual words that are spoken
ExamplesGenesis 21:7 And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have given birth to a son in his old age.”
Job 8:2 “How long will you say these things, And the words of your mouth be a mighty wind?
Job 33:3 “My words are from the integrity of my heart, And my lips speak knowledge sincerely.
How it’s used In 4 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
12 occurrences in 6 groups
- Not stated: they 4
- מִיwho? 2
- Not stated: you (one person) 2
- Not stated: he, she or it 2
- קָצִירharvest 1
- Not stated (participle) 1
What it acts on, or what is saidObject
4 occurrences in 4 groups
- בֵּןson 1
- גְּבוּרָהmight, strength, power 1
- דַּעַתknowledge 1
- אֵלֶּהthese 1
With prepositionsPrepositional phrases
7 occurrences in 7 groups
- מִןfrom+ מַעַלabove, upward, more 1
- עַדto, as far as, until+ אָןwhere? 1
- בin/on/with+ רֶגֶלfoot, leg 1
- כlike/as+ חָצִירleek 1
- כlike/as+ רֹאשׁhead, top, chief 1
- לto/for+ עֶרֶבevening 1
With adverbsAdverbs
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- מְהֵרָהquickly 1
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
- λαλέω laléō · G2980 · to speak, to say, to talk
- Greek λαλέω denotes the act of speaking or uttering words, directly corresponding to Hebrew מָלַל's core sense of verbal utterance.
Semantic domains 5 entries
- Dry002001001021
- This entry carries no independent "Dry" sense of its own; every genuine tagged occurrence of this מָלַל (Genesis 21:7, Job 8:2, 33:3) concerns speaking, not dryness. The domain is bundle-shared with the identically-spelled homonym meaning "to wither, be cut down" (a distinct root sharing this spelling).
- Insignificant002001002015
- The same withering sense of מָלַל extends to the diminishing or fading away of something once significant, paralleling how a withered plant loses its former vigor and standing — a nuance the sampled citations support only indirectly through the withering imagery itself.
- Stance002001001061
- מָלַל's withering sense also carries a bodily-posture nuance, a drooping or wasting away of physical form, though none of this lexeme's sampled citations directly isolate that posture-specific shade apart from the general withering idiom.
- Speak002004001009008
- מָלַל describes speaking or uttering words, illustrated at Job 8:2 and Job 33:3 ("my words come from the uprightness of my heart, and my lips speak knowledge sincerely").
- Non-Whole002003001021
- This entry carries no independent "Non-Whole" sense of its own; every genuine tagged occurrence concerns speaking, not incompleteness. The domain is bundle-shared with a related sense.
Word family 5 words
Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H4448. malal I. [מָלַל] verb Pi`el speak, utter, say (Late Hebrew Pi`el id.; Aramaic (and…
I. [מָלַל] verb Pi`el speak, utter, say (Late Hebrew Pi`el id.; Aramaic (and many derivatives ), מַלֵּל; perhaps compare Arabic IV. dictate (a letter, etc.), () IV id. NöZMG xi. 1886, 725); —
Pi`el Perfect מִלֵּל Gen 21:7; compare 1singular מַלּוֺתִי (Ew§274 b. N) as
proper name below; מִלֵּ֑לוּ Job 33:3; Imperfect יְמַלֵּל Psa 106:2; תְּמַלֶּלֿ Job 8:2; — say, followed by direct quotation + לְ of indirect object Gen 21:7; utter, object דַּ֫עַת Job 33:3; compare Job 8:2; object י ׳גְּבוּרוֺת Psa 106:2.
II. [מָלַל] verb rub, scrape (Late Hebrew id., rub ears of wheat, scrape); — only
Qal Participle מוֺלֵל in בְּאֶצְבְּעֹתָיו מֹרֶה בְּרַגְלָ֑ו֯ מוֺלֵל בְּעֵינָו֯ קֹרֵץ Pro 6:13 he that winketh with his eyes, that scrapeth with his feet (making signs), etc., so De Now Str < Ew Wild from I. מלל that speaketh with his feet.
Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain
Topical studies with this word 5 entries
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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