Word

מָעַל

mâʻal · H4603 · Hebrew · 35 occurrences

See all 35 in Search

Meanings

to commit a violation, to be unfaithful

Action by which humans do something to (other) humans or deities that is not in line with the behavior that they committed themselves to

Examples
Leviticus 5:15 “If a person acts unfaithfully and sins unintentionally against the LORD’S holy things, then he shall bring his guilt offering to the LORD: a ram without defect from the flock, according to your assessment in silver by shekels, in terms of the shekel of the sanctuary, as a guilt offering.
Deuteronomy 32:51 because you broke faith with Me in the midst of the sons of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, because you did not treat Me as holy in the midst of the sons of Israel.
Joshua 7:1 But the sons of Israel acted unfaithfully regarding the things designated for destruction, for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, took some of the designated things; therefore the anger of the LORD burned against the sons of Israel.

How it’s used In 5 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

35 occurrences in 12 groups

Not stated: he, she or it 9
Not stated: they 8
Not stated (infinitive) 6
Not stated: you (more than one) 3
Other words · 8 groups that occur once or twice (9) 9

What it acts on, or what is saidObject

1 occurrences in 1 groups

מַעַלunfaithfulness 1

With prepositionsPrepositional phrases

26 occurrences in 13 groups

בin/on/with+ יְהֹוָהthe LORD, YHWH 9
בin/on/with+ נִיme 6
בin/on/with+ אֱלֹהִיםGod, gods 4
בin/on/with+ חֵרֶםdevoted thing, net 3
Other words · 9 groups that occur once or twice (9) 9

With adverbsAdverbs

3 occurrences in 1 groups

לֹאnot 3

After prepositionsPrepositional phrases

6 occurrences in 2 groups

לto/for 5
בin/on/with 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.

Near synonyms 1 word

בָּגַד bâgad · H898 · to act unfaithfully, to be treacherous, to deal treacherously: Both words denote acts of unfaithfulness and treachery, a breach of trust.

In the other Testament 1 word

ἀθετέω athetéō · G114 · to not rely on, to set aside, to reject: Greek ἀθετέω emphasizes setting aside or violating an established standard/covenant, overlapping Hebrew מָעַל's core sense of covenant-breaking treachery; both denote faithlessness toward obligation.

Semantic domains 1 entry

Unfaithful002001002027: מָעַל denotes acting unfaithfully or treacherously, as when a person sins unintentionally against the LORD's holy things or a wife is unfaithful to her husband.

Word family 3 words

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

מָעַלmâʻal · H4603מַעַל maʻal · H4604 · unfaithfulness, upwards, above · 29×מְעִיל mᵉʻîyl · H4598 · robe, mantle, cloak · 28×

Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H4603. maal מָעַל verb act unfaithfully, treacherously, a priestly word (P Ezra,…

H4603. maal
מָעַל verb act unfaithfully, treacherously, a priestly word (P Ezra, Chronicles), chiefly late (Late Hebrew id., act unfaithfully; Arabic whisper, backbite, perfidy, fraud); —
Qal Perfect3masculine singular מָעַל Jos 22:20 Jos 22:4t.; 3 feminine singular מָֽעֲלָה Leviticus 5:21; Num 5:12-13t. Perfect; Imperfect יִמְעַל Pro 16:10; 2Ch 26:16; 2Ch 26:3 feminine singular תִּמְעֹל Lev 5:15; Num 5:27; Num 5:3masculine plural יִמְעֲלוּ Jos 7:1, וַיִּמְעֲלוּ 1Ch 5:25; 1Ch 5:2masculine plural תִּמְעָ֑לוּ Neh 1:8; Infinitive construct לִמְעֹל, so read for HCT למסר Num 31:16 Thes Di; — act unfaithfully, treacherously, usually
1 מַ֫עַל מָעַל:
a. absolute בַּחֵרֶם in the matter of the devoted thing (the sin of Achan) Jos 7:1 (JE), Jos 22:20 (P), compare Lev 5:15 (P), 2Ch 36:14; Eze 14:13; Eze 15:8; Eze 18:24.
b. wife against (בְּ) husband Num 5:12, Num 5:27 (P; marital infidelity).
c. elsewhere against (בְּ) God, Lev 26:40 (H), Leviticus 5:21; Num 5:6; Num 31:16 (?) Jos 22:16, Jos 22:31 (all P), 1Ch 10:13; 1Ch 28:19; Eze 17:20; Eze 20:27; Eze 39:26; Dan 9:7.
2 usage without מַעַל (only late):
a. פיו ימעל לא במשׁפט Pro 16:10 let not his (the king's) mouth act treacherously against justice (RV in judgment).
b. elsewhere against God, with בְּ, Deu 32:51 (P), 1Ch 5:25; 1Ch 12:2; 1Ch 26:22; 1Chron 30:7; Ezr 10:2; Neh 13:27; Eze 39:23; without בְּ, 2Ch 26:18; 2Ch 29:6; Ezr 10:10; Neh 1:8; בַּחֵרֶם 1Ch 2:7.

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

Topical studies with this word 1 entry

Unfaithful35 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