---
title: עָלַל — act severely · The Tanakh dictionary
description: עָלַל (5953), a word of Biblical Hebrew, used 18 times: act severely. BDB 1906: vb. Poʿēl act arbitrarily denom. Pōʿal Hithpōʿ. With 2 verses in Hebrew, word for word and JPS 1917.
---

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# עָלַל

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«עָלַל» in the Tanakh dictionary: **act severely** — 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:** 18 times · **Key:** 5953 · **BDB:** עָלַל

### Glosses

they.will.deal.wantonly (3); you.will.glean (2); I.have.dealt.ruthlessly (1)

### Meaning (OSHB)

act severely [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1506/5953/#m1)

### Meaning (BDB 1906)

vb. Poʿēl act arbitrarily denom. Pōʿal Hithpōʿ. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1506/5953/#m2)

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**The whole BDB entry:** vb. Poʿēl, act arbitrarily (toward) (NH id., deal with (rare), and deriv.; Arabic عَلَّ do a thing (drink, beat, give) a second time, ii. divert, occupy, v. divert, occupy oneself with (food, a woman, etc.); Syriac ܥܶܠܬܳܐ cause, occasion, affair);—act severely, always c. ל pers.: Pf. 2 ms. עוֹלַלְתָּ לִי La 1:22 as thou hast acted severely to me (in punishment, subj. י׳); לְמִי ע׳ 2:20 to whom hast thou acted thus severely? 3 fs. עֵינִי עוֹלְלָה לְנַפְשִׁי 3:51 my eye deals severely with me, i.e. gives me pain (?; text dub.; cf. PerlesAnal. 18 Bu). Imv. ms. עוֹלֵל לָמוֹ La 1:22 deal severely with them.—Vid. also ע׳ denom. infr. Pōʿal Pf. 3 ms. מַכְאֹבִי אֲשֶׁר עוֹלַל לִי La 1:12 my pain which is severely dealt out to me. Pf. 1. busy, divert oneself with (cf. Arabic v.), always c. ב pers.: 1 s. אֶת־אֲשֶׁר הִתְעַלַּלְתִּי בְּ׳ Ex 10:2 (J) how I \[י׳\] have made a toy of Egypt; especially deal wantonly, ruthlessly with (ב pers.): 3 ms. הִתְעַלֵּל 1 S 6:6; 2 fs. הִתְעַלַּלְתְּ Nu 22:29 (JE; Balaam’s ass); 3 pl. וְהִתְעַלְּלוּ consec. 1 S 31:4 = 1 Ch 10:4; Je 38:19; Impf. 3 mpl. וַיִּתְעַלְּלוּ־בָהּ Ju 19:25 (of abusing a woman; ‖ וַיֵּדְעוּ אֹתָהּ). Hithpōʿ. Inf. cstr. לְהִתְעוֹלֵל עֲלִלוֹת ψ 141:4 to practise practice in wickedness (perhaps denom.).

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Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech agrees, 12 of its verses cited, 0 words shared with the glosses, lists its Strong's number (8 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 2 words shared with the BDB entry, 1 with the glosses (6 candidates)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every English meaning of «עָלַל» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1506/5953/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.

### In the verses

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[Lamentations 3:51](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/LAM.3.51/)

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עֵינִי֙ עֽוֹלְלָ֣ה לְנַפְשִׁ֔י מִכֹּ֖ל בְּנ֥וֹת עִירִֽי׃ס

*Word for word:* eye my it.has.dealt.severely to self my from all the.daughters my.city my

*JPS 1917:* Mine eye affected my soul, because of all the daughters of my city.

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[Jeremiah 6:9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/JER.6.9/)

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כֹּ֤ה אָמַר֙ יְהֹוָ֣ה צְבָא֔וֹת עוֹלֵ֛ל יְעוֹלְל֥וּ כַגֶּ֖פֶן שְׁאֵרִ֣ית יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל הָשֵׁב֙ יָדְךָ֔ כְּבוֹצֵ֖ר עַל־סַלְסִלּֽוֹת׃

*Word for word:* thus he.says Yahweh of.hosts thoroughly.(glean) people.will.glean like (the) vine the.remnant of.Israel return hand your like a.grape.gatherer over branches

*JPS 1917:* Thus saith the LORD of hosts: They shall thoroughly glean as a vine the remnant of Israel; turn again thy hand as a grape-gatherer upon the shoots.

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