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# גָּאַל

Biblical Hebrew · Strong's H1351

**defile** — used 11 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

defile [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1490/1351/#m1)

### Brown–Driver–Briggs 1906

גָּאַל²: vb. defile [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1490/1351/#m2)

**The whole BDB entry:** vb. defile, late (cf. גָּעַל)— Pf. 3 mpl. נְגֹאֲלוּ Is 59:3 La 4:14, on form v. Ges§ 51 h, Köi 265; Pt. נִגְאָלָה Zp 3:1;—be defiled, hands with blood בַּדָּם, Is 59:3 cf. La 4:14; pt. as subst. defiled, polluted one Zp 3:1 of Jerusalem (‖ מֹֽרְאָה; appos. הָעִיר הַיּוֹנָה). Pf. 1 pl. sf. גֵּאַלְנוּךָ Mal 1:7 pollute, desecrate, obj. י׳ (desecrated in his altar). Impf. וַיְגֹאֲלוּ מִן־הַכְּהֻנָּה Ezr 2:62 = Ne 7:64 cstr. pregn. and they were desecrated out of the priesthood, i.e. deposed, as desecrated ones; Pt. מְגֹאָל of bread laid on Yahweh’s altar Mal 1:7; of Yahweh’s altar (table, שֻׁלְחָן) v 12. Pf. 1 s. אֶגְאָ֑לְתִּי Is 63:3 (on Aramaic form v. Köi 27 Ges§ 53 R. 6 but) read perhaps גֵּאָ֑לְתִּי Pi., v. GFMThLZ 1887, 292 cf. also Gesl.c. N. Ol§ 255 b Sta§ 159 b, 3;—I have polluted, i.e. stained, all my raiment, Impf. יִתְגָּאַל Dn 1:8; יִתְגָּאָ֑ל v 8;—defile himself.

Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech agrees, 8 of its verses cited, 1 words shared with the glosses, lists its Strong's number (5 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 1 words shared with the BDB entry, 1 with the glosses (5 candidates)

## Glosses

MACULA's English glosses of the word in the text, with how often each is used: they were defiled (3); I have defiled (1); \[is\] defiled (1).

## In the verses

[Zephaniah 3:1](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/ZEP.3.1/) · [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/ZEP.3.1/#tree)

ה֥וֹי מֹרְאָ֖ה וְנִגְאָלָ֑ה הָעִ֖יר הַיּוֹנָֽה׃

*Word for word:* woe.to! \[the.one.who.is\].rebellious and \[the.one.who.is\].defiled the city \[which\] oppresses

*JPS 1917:* Woe to her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city!

[Ezra 2:62](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/EZR.2.62/) · [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/EZR.2.62/#tree)

אֵ֗לֶּה בִּקְשׁ֧וּ כְתָבָ֛ם הַמִּתְיַחְשִׂ֖ים וְלֹ֣א נִמְצָ֑אוּ וַֽיְגֹאֲל֖וּ מִן־הַכְּהֻנָּֽה׃

*Word for word:* these they.sought document their \[those who.had\].had.themselves.enrolled and not they.were.found and they.were.defiled from the priesthood

*JPS 1917:* These sought their register, that is, the genealogy, but it was not found; therefore were they deemed polluted and put from the priesthood.

## On Mova

- [This word in the Tanakh dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/w/1351.html) on Mova free.
- [Trees and pragmatics of its meanings](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1490/1351/): 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).