[Elamur Dictionary](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/biblical-hebrew/%D7%91%D7%9C%D7%94/)

[dictionaries](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [Biblical Hebrew](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/biblical-hebrew/) / [ב](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/biblical-hebrew/bet/)‎ / בָּלָה‎

# בָּלָה

Biblical Hebrew · Strong's H1086

**become old and worn out** — used 15 times in the Hebrew Bible. Below: its meanings with their sources, MACULA's glosses, and 2 verses word for word and in JPS 1917.

## Meaning

### OpenScriptures lexical index

become old and worn out [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1489/1086/#m1)

### Brown–Driver–Briggs 1906

בָּלָה²: vb. become old and worn out [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1489/1086/#m2)

**The whole BDB entry:** vb. become old and worn out (Arabic بَلِىَ, Aramaic בְּלֵי, ܒܠܴܐ, Ethiopic በልየ id.)— Pf. בָּלְֽתָה Dt 8:4, בָּלוּ 29:4 +; Impf. יִבְלֶה Jb 13:28 etc.; Inf. c. sf. בְּלֹתִי Gn 18:12;—wear out (intr.), especially of garments Dt 8:4; 29:4(×2), all c. מֵעַל pregn. wear out (and fall) from upon … (hence Ne 9:21), Jos 9:13; fig. of the heavens (with sim. of garment) Is 50:9 ψ 102:27 כַּבֶּגֶד יִבְלוּ, the earth Is 51:6 כַּבֶּגֶד תִּבְלֶה; the bones (through suffering) ψ 32:3; afflicted man Jb 13:28 וְהוּא כְּרָקָב יִבְלֶה (‖ כְּבֶגֶד אֲכָלוֹ עָשׁ); of an aged and decrepit woman Gn 18:12 (J) אַחֲרֵי בְלֹתִי after I am worn out. caus. of Qal. wear out (trans.), fig. La 3:4 בִּלָּה בְשָׂרִי וְעוֹרִי, ψ 49:15 and their form לְבַלּוֹת שְׁאוֹל is for She’ôl to consume away (others read לִבְלוֹת is for wasting away \[Dr§ 204\], connecting שׁ׳ with foll.), 1 Ch 17:9 לְבַלֹּתוֹ to wear it (Isr.) out (altered from לְעַנּוֹתוֹ 2 S 7:10), cf. Dn 7:25 Aramaic wear out by use, use to the full, Is 65:22 and the work of their hands יְבַלּוּ they shall use to the full, enjoy, Jb 21:13 they wear out their days in prosperity (Qr here יְכַלּוּ complete, which perhaps is the true reading in both passages; cf. Ex 5:13 Jb 36:11).—On בַּ֜לּוֹתִ֗י ψ 92:11, v. sub בָּלַל.

Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech agrees, 14 of its verses cited, 2 words shared with the glosses, lists its Strong's number (4 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 4 words shared with the BDB entry, 2 with the glosses (4 candidates)

## Glosses

MACULA's English glosses of the word in the text, with how often each is used: it wore out (2); they will wear out (2); they wore out (2).

## In the verses

[Lamentations 3:4](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/LAM.3.4/) · [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/LAM.3.4/#tree)

בִּלָּ֤ה בְשָׂרִי֙ וְעוֹרִ֔י שִׁבַּ֖ר עַצְמוֹתָֽי׃

*Word for word:* he.has.made.to.waste.away flesh my and skin my he.has.broken bones my

*JPS 1917:* My flesh and my skin hath He worn out; He hath broken my bones.

[Job 13:28](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/JOB.13.28/) · [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/JOB.13.28/#tree)

וְ֭הוּא כְּרָקָ֣ב יִבְלֶ֑ה כְּ֝בֶ֗גֶד אֲכָ֣לוֹ עָֽשׁ׃

*Word for word:* and he like rottenness he.wears.out like a.garment \[which\].it eats.it a.moth

*JPS 1917:* Though I am like a wine-skin that consumeth, like a garment that is moth-eaten.

## On Mova

- [This word in the Tanakh dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/w/1086.html) on Mova free.
- [Trees and pragmatics of its meanings](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1489/1086/): every English meaning parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.

Sources. The words, their counts, glosses and the word-for-word renderings: MACULA Hebrew (the Westminster Leningrad Codex; Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0). Meanings: the OpenScriptures lexical index (CC BY 4.0), Brown–Driver–Briggs 1906 and Jastrow 1903 (public domain, via Sefaria); Targum Onkelos from Sefaria (public domain). Translation: JPS 1917 (public domain, from eBible.org).