---
title: בַּל — not · The Tanakh dictionary
description: בַּל (1077), a word of Biblical Hebrew, used 73 times: not. BDB 1906: adv. not. With 2 verses in Hebrew, word for word and JPS 1917.
---

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# בַּל

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«בַּל» in the Tanakh dictionary: **not** — how often it is used, MACULA's glosses, its meanings in the printed dictionaries and why they were chosen, and 2 verses in layers.

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**Used:** 73 times · **Key:** 1077 · **BDB:** בַּל²

### Glosses

not (70); \[which\].not (2); (of).\[which\].not (1)

### Meaning (OSHB)

not [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1489/1077/#m1)

### Meaning (BDB 1906)

adv. not [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1489/1077/#m2)

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**The whole BDB entry:** adv. not (Ph. id.; e.g. CISi. 165, 15 בל יכן לכהן shall not be for the priest; 3, 3 בל עתי = before my time) a poet. syn. of לֹא, of comparatively rare occurrence, Ho 7:2; 9:16 (Qr) Is 14:21; 35:9; 43:17 Pr 9:13; 14:7; 19:23; 22:29; 23:7, 35(×2) 24:23 1 Ch 16:30 (= ψ 96:10), only besides, except in the passages cited, in other Psalms: often repeated in the same context, as Is 26:10(×2), 11, 14(×2), 18(×2); 33:20(×2), 21, 23(×2), 24; 44:8, 9(×3) ψ 10:4, 6, 11, 15, 18; 16:2, 4(×2), 8; 17:3(×2), 5; 21:3, 8, 12; also used often with אֶמּוֹט, יִמּוֹט, תִּמּוֹט ψ 10:6; 16:8; 21:8; 30:7; 46:6; 93:1; 96:10; 104:5 Pr 10:30; 12:3 Jb 41:15. In Is 40:24 it is prob. that it acquires from the context the sense of hardly: yea, hardly are they planted, yea, hardly are they sown …, when he even bloweth upon them, and they wither; cf. לֹא 2 K 20:4. Joined anomalously with an infin., ψ 32:9 בַּל קְרוֹב אֵלֶיךָ (else) there is not coming nigh thee (i.e. else they will not approach thee).

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Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech not compared, 46 of its verses cited, 1 words shared with the glosses (17 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech not compared, 1 words shared with the BDB entry, 1 with the glosses (13 candidates)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every English meaning of «בַּל» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1489/1077/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.

### In the verses

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[Proverbs 9:13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PRO.9.13/)

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אֵ֣שֶׁת כְּ֭סִילוּת הֹֽמִיָּ֑ה פְּ֝תַיּ֗וּת וּבַל־יָ֥דְעָה מָּֽה׃

*Word for word:* a.woman of.folly \[is\].boisterous naiveté and not she.knows whatever

*JPS 1917:* The woman Folly is riotous; she is thoughtless, and knoweth nothing.

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[Job 41:15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/JOB.41.15/)

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מַפְּלֵ֣י בְשָׂר֣וֹ דָבֵ֑קוּ יָצ֥וּק עָ֝לָ֗יו בַּל־יִמּֽוֹט׃

*Word for word:* the.hanging.parts its.flesh his they.cling \[it.is\].hard to it not it.is.moved

*JPS 1917:* The flakes of his flesh are joined together; they are firm upon him; they cannot be moved.

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