---
title: בְּלִיַּעַל — worthlessness · The Tanakh dictionary
description: בְּלִיַּעַל (1100), a word of Biblical Hebrew, used 27 times: worthlessness. BDB 1906: worthlessness. With 2 verses in Hebrew, word for word and JPS 1917.
---

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# בְּלִיַּעַל

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«בְּלִיַּעַל» in the Tanakh dictionary: **worthlessness** — 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:** 27 times · **Key:** 1100 · **BDB:** בְּלִיַּ֫עַל

### Glosses

of.worthlessness (19); worthlessness (5); a.worthless.person (2)

### Meaning (OSHB)

worthlessness [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1489/1100/#m1)

### Meaning (BDB 1906)

worthlessness [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1489/1100/#m2)

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**The whole BDB entry:** n.\[m.\] worthlessness (cpd. בְּלִי not, without and יַעַל worth, use, profit)—בּ׳ Dt 13:14 + 20 times; בְּלִיָּ֑עַל ψ 101:3 + 5 times;—the quality of being useless, good for nothing. abstr. אִישׁ (ה)בליעל, אַנְשֵׁי הבליעל, worthless, good-for-nothing, base fellows 1 S 25:25; 2 S 16:7; 20:1; 1 K 21:13; Pr 16:27; = בֶּן־ב׳ 1 S 25:17, בְּנֵי ב׳ Dt 13:14; Ju 19:22; 20:13; 1 S 2:12; 10:27; 1 K 21:10, 13; 2 Ch 13:7; בַּת ב׳ 1 S 1:16 (drunken woman); עֵד ב׳ base witness Pr 19:28; דְּבַר ב׳ base, wicked thing ψ 41:9 (yet cf. 3 infr.), 101:3 (add prob. also 1 S 29:10, so 𝔊 We Dr); דָּבָר … ב׳ (elliptical and in apposition) Dt 15:9. concr. elliptical of אישׁ ב׳ 2 S 23:6 Jb 34:18; כָּל־אִישׁ רַע וּבְלִיַּעַל 1 S 30:22; אָדָם בְּלִיַּעַל Pr 6:12. ruin, destruction: so ψ 41:9 according to De Che al., but v. supr.; יֹעֵץ ב׳ counsellor of ruin Na 1:11; ב׳ alone a man of ruin, destroyer Na 2:1; נַחֲלֵי ב׳ floods of destruction (‖ שְׁאוֹל) 2 S 22:5 = ψ 18:5.

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Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech agrees, 26 of its verses cited, 1 words shared with the glosses, lists its Strong's number (2 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 1 words shared with the BDB entry, 1 with the glosses (1 candidates)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every English meaning of «בְּלִיַּעַל» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1489/1100/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.

### In the verses

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[Proverbs 6:12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PRO.6.12/)

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אָדָ֣ם בְּ֭לִיַּעַל אִ֣ישׁ אָ֑וֶן ה֝וֹלֵ֗ךְ עִקְּשׁ֥וּת פֶּֽה׃

*Word for word:* a.person of.worthlessness a.person of.wickedness \[is\].walking crookedness of.mouth

*JPS 1917:* A base person, a man of iniquity, is he that walketh with a froward mouth;

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[Job 34:18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/JOB.34.18/)

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הַאֲמֹ֣ר לְמֶ֣לֶךְ בְּלִיָּ֑עַל רָ֝שָׁ֗ע אֶל־נְדִיבִֽים׃

*Word for word:* to say? to a.king worthless.person wicked.\[one\] to noble.\[people\]

*JPS 1917:* Is it fit to say to a king: 'Thou art base'? Or to nobles: 'Ye are wicked'? —

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