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בְּלִי

without

‘without’ is one of 2 main senses fuller range ↓

H1097 Strong's Hebrew
bᵉlîy Transliteration
/bel-ee'/ Pronunciation
Usage in the Hebrew Bible 58 appearances

Compare with another word →

About this entry

At a glance — auto-summarized from this page’s data, not written by a person. Every figure links to its source below. This summary describes the numbers; it doesn’t interpret them.

“without” is the headline sense of the Hebrew word בלי (bᵉlîy). First canonically at Genesis 31:20, it enters the text early. It turns up in 57 verses across 16 books, a moderately common footprint. It concentrates in Job, which alone accounts for 37% of its uses. Carrying more than one sense, it rewards its full sense range. The sections below give every sense, occurrence, and version rendering.

Gloss history

Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship

Strong's · 1890
corruption
Modern gloss
without
Strong's 1890 sometimes compressed multiple senses — or homonymous roots — under one number, and used 19th-century English phrasing that no longer carries the same connotation. The modern gloss reflects current BDB scholarship; open the Lexicon Entry tab for the full sense breakdown. Download share card

About this word

Strong's H1097 catalogs a Hebrew word from the Hebrew Old Testament.

These counts are not copied from any lexicon or concordance. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged Hebrew Old Testament. What Lemma adds →

57
distinct verses
The word appears in 57 distinct verses.
16 / 39
OT books
The word appears in 16 of 39 Old Testament books.
Genesis 31:20
first appearance
The earliest occurrence is in Genesis 31:20.
Malachi 3:10
last appearance
The latest occurrence is in Malachi 3:10.
#658
by frequency
Top 1000 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 658 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).

View all 57 occurrences in the concordance →


Most concentrated in

By section of the Old Testament

  • Pentateuch 6 · 11%
  • Historical 6 · 11%
  • Wisdom 26 · 46%
  • Prophets 19 · 33%

By traditional corpus

Conventional, traditional groupings — biblical authorship is debated, so this is a traditional corpus grouping, not an authorship claim. Each share is this word’s portion of its verses in that division of the Hebrew canon. Each figure is a share of the word’s 57 distinct verses.

  • Writings (Ketuvim) 27 verses · 47%
  • Prophets (Nevi'im) 24 verses · 42%
  • Torah (Pentateuch) 6 verses · 11%

How translations render this word

Counts come from each version’s own published word-to-Strong’s tagging or interlinear alignment — an approximate guide to how each version renders this word, not a word-level alignment the data otherwise carries. Because each total is that version’s own tagged count, the per-version totals vary from one another and need not match the appearance or distinct-verse counts above. These counts may also differ from a printed concordance because Lemma counts each distinctly tagged rendering and does not collapse phrase taggings into a single head-word total. This is a fixed set of word-tagged versions (KJV, ASV, BSB, ULT) and does not change with the reading translation you choose elsewhere. Each version’s license is shown beside its name below (and on Sources).

BDB lists this Strong’s number as 2 distinct words (homographs). Each count above pools all of them and is not split by sense — see the Senses section below. A low-frequency rendering may belong to a different one of those words, not the primary meaning.

  • King James Version: Without 3×, Lack 2×
  • American Standard Version: Unawares 3×, Without 3×, Lack 2×
  • Berean Standard Bible: Without 15×, No 5×, Lack 4×
  • unfoldingWord Literal Text: Without 29×, Not 8×, Is not 4×

King James Version Public Domain

Renders H1097 across 14 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Without” 3×
  • “Lack” 2×

Plus 9 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.

American Standard Version Public Domain

Renders H1097 across 15 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Unawares” 3×
  • “Without” 3×
  • “Lack” 2×
  • “That” 2×

Plus 5 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.

Berean Standard Bible Public Domain

Renders H1097 across 55 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Without” 15×
  • “No” 5×
  • “Lack” 4×
  • “Accidentally” 2×
  • “Lack of” 2×
  • “One” 2×

Plus 25 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 2 further occurrences.

unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0

Renders H1097 across 62 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Without” 29×
  • “Not” 8×
  • “Is not” 4×
  • “Lack of” 4×
  • “That” 3×
  • “From” 2×
  • “Is it because” 2×
  • “Man” 2×

Plus 8 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.


8 senses and sub-senses in the full BDB

What do BDB’s symbols mean?

BDB uses these scholarly abbreviations:

Symbol Meaning
𝔊 the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation, LXX)
𝔙 the Vulgate (the Latin translation)
𝔖 the Syriac version (the Peshitta)
𝔗 the Targum (the Aramaic translation)
ψ the Psalms
√ root (the underlying root or stem)
‖ parallel passage (a synonymous or contrasted parallel)
† the dagger: every passage where the word occurs is cited

The 8 senses and sub-senses the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency), with BDB’s own verbatim wording and sub-sense lettering. Shown in Hebrew script with BDB’s own scholarly abbreviations. The condensed entry is in the Lexicon Entry tab. See also the Forms in the corpus table below.

  • 1. fig. destruction Is 38:17 שַׁחַת בְּלִי pit of destruction (of She’ôl). e.g. Isaiah 38:17
  • 2. defect, failure, hence adv. of negation (cf. אֶפֶס), chiefly poet. for לֹא, אֵין—
      • a. with finite vb. rare and only once in prose, Gn 31:20 (E) עַל־בְּלִי הִגִּיד לוֹ because he told him not, Is 14:6; 32:10 Ho 8:7; 9:16 (Kt) Jb 41:18. e.g. Genesis 31:20
      • b. used to negative an adj. or ptcp. 2 S 1:21 בְּלִי מָשִׁיחַ not anointed, ψ 19:4 Ho 7:8: more freq., especially in Job, joined with a subst. in sense of without, Jb 8:11 will the reed-grass grow בְּלִי־מָ֑יִם without water? 24:10 they go about naked בְּלִי לְבוּשׁ without clothing, 31:39; 33:9; 34:6; 38:2 words בְּלִי־דַעַת without knowledge, 39:16; 42:3 ψ 59:5 בְּלִי־עָוֹן יְרוּצוּן without (my) iniquity they run (against me), cf. v 4 לֹא, 63:2 a dry land בְּלִי מָ֑יִם without water, Is 28:8; Jb 30:8 בְּנֵי בְלִי־שֵׁם children of (men of) no name. e.g. 2 Samuel 1:21

With preps

  • a. †בִּבְלִי, in בִּבְלִי דַעַת Dt 4:42; 19:4 Jos 20:3, 5 D (= unawares: all in D’s law of homicide); without knowledge Jb 35:16; 36:12. e.g. Deuteronomy 4:42
  • b. †לִבְלִי in a state of (v. sub לְ) no …, i.e. without, Is 5:14 לִבְלִי־חֹק regardless of, without measure, Jb 38:41; 41:25 that is made לִבְלִי־חָֽת (to be) in a state of no fear, i.e. to be fearless. e.g. Isaiah 5:14
  • c. †מִבְּלִי (α) from want of, followed by a subst. or infin., מִן expressing causation, Dt 9:28 מִבְּלִי יְכֹלֶת י׳ on account of Jehovah’s not being able … (in Nu 14:16 מִבִּלְתִּי), 28:25 (Ew238 d; but also RSJPh. xvi.72), Is 5:13 unawares (= suddenly); Ho 4:6 Ez 34:5 La 1:4 מִבְּלִי בָּאֵי מוֹעֵד for lack of comers to the stated feast. Followed by a pleon. אֵין in the phrase הֲמִבְּלִי אֵין … is it on account of there being no …? (lit. is it from the deficiency of no …? cf. ܡܶܢ ܒܠܰܝ ܕܠܰܝܬ in Syriac; PS528), Ex 14:11 2 K 1:3, 6, 16. (β) so that there is no … (lit. away from there being no …, מִן expressing negation, and בְּלִי being pleon., as in מֵאֵין, v. sub אַיִן 6 d β); Je 2:15 its cities are burnt מִבְּלִי יוֹשֵׁב so that there is no inhabitant, 9:9–11 Ez 14:15 Zp 3:6. Once as a conj. מִבְּלִי אֲשֶׁר, with pleon. לֹא, so that not … Ec 3:11. In Job מִבְּלִי is used more freely = without, the connexion with a preceding verb being no longer distinctly felt: 4:20 without any heeding, they perish for ever, 6:6; 24:7, 8; prob. also 4:11; 31:19 (though here the sense) (α) would be admissible). (γ) in Jb 18:15 תִּשְׁכּוֹן בְּאָהֳלוֹ מִבְּלִי־לוֹ, מִן is prob. partitive (so Hi): there shall dwell in his tent what is naught of his: Ew§ 323 a De less probably even naught, cf. sub אַיִן 6 d γ; Ges ‘t error (supplied from v 14) shall dwell in his tent so that it is no more his.’ e.g. Deuteronomy 9:28
  • d. †עַד־בְּלִי till there be no … ψ 72:7 Mal 3:10. e.g. Psalms 72:7

Senses from the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon (Brown, Driver, Briggs; Oxford 1906 — public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). Full attribution on Sources.


Word origin

subst. wearing out (بِلًى, ܒܠܳܝ wearing out of a garment), hence

— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.

Derived from בלה (bâlâh) (H1086) — to wear out.

TWOT: 246e


Jastrow Dictionary

A second Hebrew/Aramaic lexicon for comparison, covering Aramaic and post-biblical (Talmudic, Targumic, Midrashic) usage that the biblical-Hebrew BDB does not. Matched by lemma rather than by Strong’s number, so a lemma may carry more than one Jastrow headword (shown separately below), and the entries cover usage well beyond the Bible.

בלי

  • , Y. Ned. III, 38ᵃ top, v. בריכסון.—Pesik. Baḥod. p. 107ᵇ, v. כִּילִי.

בלי ²

  • , v. בלל; cmp. נבל) to be crumbled; to be worn out, to fail, decay, perish. Koh. R. to I, 4 הוא בוֹלֶה it (the generation of man) decays (dies out), אינה בוֹלָה it (the earth) does not grow old. Taan. 9ᵃ (play on עד בלי די Mal. III, 10) עד שיִבְלוּ שפתותיכם מלומר די until your lips grow tired from saying, It is enough; (Y. ib. III, 66ᵈ bot. שיבללו, v. בָּלַל); a. fr.—Part. pass. בָּלוּי outworn. Pl. בְּלוּיִים. Midr. Till. to Ps. XXV, 1. e.g. Malachi 3:10
    • to wear out, outlive, survive. Lev. R. s. 4 הנפש מְבַלָּה וכ׳ the soul survives the body. Lev. R. s. 19 (play on אין בלתך, I Sam. II, 2) אין לְבַלֹּותֶךָ there is none to outlive thee. Koh. R. l. c.; Cant. R. to V, 15 one erects a building ואחר מְבַלֶּה אותו (not מכלה) and another man ruins it. Snh. 105ᵃ, v. בִּלְעָם. e.g. 1 Samuel 2:2
    • , Nithpa. נִתְבַּלָּה to become outworn, fade away. Esth. R. introd. עתידין לְהִבָּלוֹת (Gen. R. s. 42 לִבְלוֹת) are destined to decay. Deut. R. s. 7, end נִתְבַּלּוּ (the garments) were worn out. B. Mets. 87ᵃ נ׳ הבשר her body was withered. B. Bath. 146ᵃ עשויין לִיבָּלוֹת made to be used up.

בְּלֵי I

  • Targ. Deut. VIII, 4; Targ. Y. Deut. XXIX, 4 בלמו, Var. כלמו, read בלת; a. fr.—Lev. R. s. 19 כולו בלה all goes to ruin. Ber. 5ᵇ, v. בְּכָא. Ib. 6ᵃ. Bekh. 9ᵃ ובלו להו ואזול they failed and went to destruction. Ab. V, 22 סיב ובְלֵה בה grow old and frail in it (the study of the Law).—[Targ. Ps. LXII, 11; XCI, 2 Ms., v. כְּלִי I.]
    • as preced. Pi.—Targ. Is. III, 15; a. e.—Ab. Zar. 20ᵃ that this beauty ב׳ עפרא dust will destroy.—Part. pass. f. מְבַלְּיָא. Lev. R. s. 33 (interpret. בלה נאפים Ezek. XXIII, 43) Aquila translates παλαιὰ πόρνη (old harlot), דהוא מבליא גייארא ed. (Ar. דהיא מב׳ גיירייא, Yalk. Dan. 1061 only דהיא מבליא) which means, a wasted harlot (wasted through fornication). e.g. Ezekiel 23:43

*בְּלֵי II

  • constr. (preced., cmp. בְּלָאוֹת, בְּלוֹיִים) rotten pieces of (wood). Targ. Is. XLIV, 19 (h. text בּוּל, v. Rashi a. l.; Var. יִבְלֵי).

בְּלִי

  • v. preced. ws.) prop. destruction, naught; not; v. בְּלִימָה. Ber. 44ᵇ מב׳ בשר if without meat.

A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (Marcus Jastrow; London, Luzac, 1903) — Public Domain. Digitized via Sefaria. Digitized via Sefaria. Full attribution on Sources.


Forms in the corpus

The 23 distinct written forms H1097 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that state’s occurrences in the concordance. Hebrew forms include their vowel points and cantillation, so a single lemma takes many written forms.

Form Parsing Example Uses
מִ/בְּלִ֣י Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Ezekiel 14:15 6
מִ/בְּלִי Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Isaiah 5:13 6
הַֽ/מִ/בְּלִ֤י Adverb 2 Kings 1:3 4
בְלִי Particle, Negative Job 8:11 4
בְּלִ֥י Particle, Negative Hosea 7:8 4
בִּ/בְלִי Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Deuteronomy 4:42 4
לִ/בְלִי Particle, Negative Job 38:41 3
בְּלִ֣י Particle, Negative Hosea 8:7 3
בְּלִי Particle, Negative Job 39:16 3
מִ/בְּלִ֥י Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Deuteronomy 28:55 3
בְּֽלִ֫י Particle, Negative Job 33:9 2
בְּֽלִי Particle, Negative Job 38:2 2
בְּלִ֖י Particle, Negative 2 Samuel 1:21 2
מִ/בְּלִ֖י Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Jeremiah 9:11 2
מִ/בְּלִי֙ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Deuteronomy 9:28 2
בִ/בְלִי Particle, Negative Joshua 20:5 1
בְּ֝לִ֗י Particle, Negative Psalms 19:3 1
בְּלִ֔י Particle, Negative Isaiah 38:17 1
בְּלִי֙ Particle, Negative Genesis 31:20 1
בלי Particle, Negative Hosea 9:16 1
וּֽ/מִ/בְּלִ֥י Particle, Negative Job 24:8 1
כִּ/בְלִי Particle, Negative Job 36:12 1
מִ/בְּלִ֞י Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Ecclesiastes 3:11 1

Same root — word family

Other BDB entries built from the same root as H1097, grouped by Strong’s listed origin. These share a root / origin per the lexicon — not necessarily a shared meaning. Each links to that word’s own entry.

Derives from

Shares the same root

Derived from this word

Compare all same-root words → Showing 4 of 11 — not the complete family. They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.


Septuagint verse parallels

This word appears in 56 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 57 Hebrew verses it occurs in. You can read those verses in Greek by switching the Old Testament edition to the Septuagint.

Read these verses in the Septuagint

This is a verse-level parallel only — the same verses exist in both the Hebrew and Greek Old Testaments. No word-level Hebrew↔Greek correspondence is claimed: the data carries no such alignment, so no Greek word is shown as this Hebrew word’s translation. Coverage is not total — the Septuagint omits the deuterocanon and renumbers the Psalms, so some Hebrew verses have no direct Greek parallel.

Reading settings

Reading text

Shown beneath each verse's original-language words.

Old Testament
Old Testament edition

Read the OT as the Masoretic Hebrew (MT) or the Greek Septuagint (LXX).

English shown for the Greek Septuagint (in the Hebrew ↔ Greek comparison).

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