בֶּ֫לַע
Bela
BDB lists 5 entries for ‘Bela’ fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Noun
- A naming word — a person, place, thing, or idea.
Noun type
- Proper
- A name of a specific person, place, or people (e.g. Abraham, Zion, Israel).
Every verse where H1106 appears in the Book of Numbers — 2 distinct verses. Click any verse to open its interlinear word-by-word view. Verse text shown in the World English Bible for context — . Each verse’s Hebrew form is shown with its reference; the English is not keyword-highlighted, since the data carries no word-level English alignment. Use “Compare translations” on any verse to read it across multiple English versions. This concordance covers the Hebrew Bible; Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) occurrences are not indexed here.
Numbers
- Numbers 26:38 לְ/בֶ֗לַע prep + n Proper The sons of Benjamin after their families: of Bela, the family of the Belaites; of Ashbel, the family of the Ashbelites; of Ahiram, the family of the Ahiramites;
- Numbers 26:40 בֶ֖לַע n Proper The sons of Bela were Ard and Naaman: [of Ard], the family of the Ardites; of Naaman, the family of the Naamites.
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.
The Hebrew name בלע centers on the idea of “Bela.” 1 Chronicles dominates its distribution — 7 of 14 verses. The Hebrew Bible uses it across 14 verses — uncommon. First canonically at Genesis 14:2, it enters the text early. For the data behind this summary, explore 14-verse concordance and the renderings breakdown below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H1106 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 →
- 14
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 14 distinct verses.
- 3 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 3 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #1,910
- by frequency
- Top 2500 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 1,910 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 14 occurrences in the concordance →
Most concentrated in
- 1 Chronicles 7 verses 50%
- Genesis 5 verses 36%
- Numbers 2 verses 14%
By section of the Old Testament
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 14 distinct verses.
- Torah (Pentateuch) 7 verses · 50%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 7 verses · 50%
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†: Bela 13×
- American Standard Version†: Bela 14×
- Berean Standard Bible†: Bela 14×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text†: Bela 14×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H1106 across 14† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 1 rendering that appears only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H1106 across 14† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
Renders H1106 across 14† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H1106 across 14† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
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 3 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.
בלע I
- 1. בֶּלַע Gn 36:32 = 1 Ch 1:43; בָּ֑לַע Gn 36:33 = 1 Ch 1:44 a king of Edom, ב׳ בן בעור (cf. בִּלְעָם & Di Gn 36:32). e.g. Genesis 36:32
- 2. בֶּלַע 1st son of Benjamin Gn 46:21; Nu 26:38, 40; 1 Ch 7:6, 7; 8:1, 3 (בָּ֑לַע). e.g. Genesis 46:21
- 3. בֶּלַע a Reubenite 1 Ch 5:8. e.g. 1 Chronicles 5:8
בלע II loc. city = צֹעַר q.v. Gn 14
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
n.pr.loc. city = צֹעַר q.v. Gn 14:2, 8.
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Derived from בלע (belaʻ) (H1105) — swallowing.
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.
בָּלַע
- , v. בלל) to absorb, opp. פלט; to swallow, consume. Y. Shek. VI, 49ᶜ bot.… שהאור בּוֹלֵעַ בּוֹלַעַת … בּוֹלְעִין the flame absorbs a portion of the oil, and so do the wood and the kettle. Ḥull. 110ᵇ the liver when boiled with other meat פולטת ואינה ב׳ gives out (blood) but absorbs nothing from the other pieces. Y. Sabb. XIV, 14ᵈ top; Tosef. Sabb. XII (XIII), 9 but he may sip vinegar ובוֹלֵעַ and swallow it (opp. פלט to spit it out). Y. Ter. VIII, 45ᵇ bot. הלעוס כבָלוּעַ what is chewed is to be considered as swallowed. Ḥull. 71ᵃ טומאה בְלוּעָה an unclean object (food) that has been swallowed.—Snh. 110ᵃ הַבְּלוּעִין those (of the band of Korah) that were swallowed up. Kel. IX, 6, v. דָּֽרְבָן; a. fr.
- to be swallowed; with בין, to be absorbed, disappear. Sot. 36ᵇ; Tanḥ. Vayigg. 4; Yalk. Gen. 150 (interpret. the name Bela, Gen. XLVI, 21) שנ׳ בין האומות for he (Joseph) has disappeared among gentiles. Gen. R. s. 94; Yalk. l. c. שנבלע ממני he disappeared to me. e.g. Genesis 46:21
- to cause swallowing, to make absorb. Ex. R. s. 33 הִבְלַעְתָּ לקרה thou mad’st (the earth) swallow Korah. Ber. 24ᵇ מַבְלִיעוֹ בטליתו he hides the spittle in his cloak; Y. Sabb. VII, 10ᵇ top. Ḥull. 113ᵃ מַבְ׳ דם באברים causes the blood to remain in the meat (prevents it from flowing out).—Trnsf. to sell something in connection with other things, in a lump, in the bargain. Bekh. 31ᵇ מבליעו וכ׳ he sells it (the meat) in the bargain with the hide &c. B. Mets. 64ᵃ; B. Kam. 118ᵇ one who robs his neighbor וה׳ לו בחשבון and makes up for it implicitly on settling his accounts. V. הַבְלָעָה.
- to be swallowed up; to mingle with, v. supra Nif.—Part. מוּבְלַע. Ber. 31ᵇ מ׳ בין אנשים mixing with people, expl. לא ארוך וכ׳ neither very tall &c. (of average qualities). Erub. IV, 6 מ׳ ביניהן his property is enclosed between theirs (reaches into the limits of each). Y. ib. IV, 21ᵈ bot. עיירות המוּבְלָעוֹת inland-towns, opp. border-towns. Y. B. Bath. VII, 15ᶜᵈ מוּבְלָעִין בה fields which are enclosed by others belonging to the same estate.
- to be swallowed up, to disappear. Midr. Till. to Ps. XIX, beg. מִתְבַּלֵּעַ מן וכ׳ he disappears from the world (forfeits his life).
בְּלַע
- Targ. Ex. VII, 12; a. fr.—Ḥull. 111ᵃ כי היכי דפליט הדר ב׳ as it gives out, so does it again absorb; a. fr.—Part. pass. בְּלִיעַ, בְּלִיעָא. Ib. בליעא דמא filled with blood.—Snh. 110ᵃ בלועי דקרח, v. בְּלִיעֵי.— Trnsf. to receive blows (cmp. סָפַג). Men. 7ᵃ קולפי טאבי בַּלְעִי וכ׳ I received many blows at the hands of Ab. over &c. Arakh. 22ᵃ. Ber. 56ᵃ.—Targ. II, Esth. III, 7 בְּלִיעָן אינון בידי they are swallowed up (bound to be destroyed) by my hand. e.g. Esther 3:7
- , as h. Hif. Ḥull. 67ᵇ אַבְלַע לי let me swallow them (put them in my mouth). Men. 17ᵃ, v. infra. B. Mets. 64ᵃ וא׳ ליה בחשבון, v. preced. Hif.
- = as h. Nif.
- 1. to be swallowed up, to disappear. Targ. Y. Gen. XLVI, 21 אתב׳ מניה he was swallowed up (disappeared) from his side; v. preced. Targ. Josh. VI, 5 יתבלע וכ׳ shall sink into the ground beneath it; a. e.—Y. R. Hash. II, 58ᵃ bot. איתב׳ מן קומוי (the moon) disappeared from his sight.
- 2. to be given to eat; trnsf. to be taught. Ber. 24ᵇ הא מילתא אִבְלְעָא לי בי וכ׳ v. Rabb. D. S. a. l. note) this I have been taught in the school of R. &c.; (Men. 17ᵃ הא מילתא אבלע לי וכ׳ this has R. Ḥ. taught me).
בֶּלַע
- (preced.)
- 1. absorption, natural loss, leakage. B. Mets. III, 8 (40ᵃ) לוג ומחצה ב׳ a Log and a half is a reasonable leakage (absorbed by new vessels); a. e.
- 2. pr. n. m. (b. h.) Bela; v. בָּלַע a. בְּלִיעָה.
- 3. בֶּלַע or בַּלַּע (cmp. בְּלִי) a nothing, a mote. Tanḥ. Vayak. 7 (ref. to כְּבַלַּע Num. IV, 20) כב׳ הזה שהוא נופל בעין; (Num. R. s. 5 מן העין) as much as a mote which enters one’s eye. e.g. Numbers 4:20
בַּלָּע
- swallower, glutton. Num. R. s. 14; v. בְּלִיעָה. Snh. 105ᵃ, v. בִּלְעָם.
בְּלַע ²
- ch. m. (cmp. בֶּלַע) the thing swallowed, choking fit. Y. Ab. Zar. II, 40ᵈ אהן בלעה שרי in a choking attack it is allowed (to apply remedies on the Sabbath) Ib. הוה ליה בלע had a choking fit; Koh. R. to X, 5 הוה ליה חד בלעא. Ib. לאפקא בִלְעֵיה to get out what he had swallowed.
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 11 distinct written forms H1106 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| בֶּ֖לַע | Noun, Proper | Genesis 14:2 | 3 |
| בָּ֑לַע | Noun, Proper | Genesis 36:33 | 2 |
| בֶ֖לַע | Noun, Proper | Numbers 26:40 | 1 |
| בֶ֗לַע | Noun, Proper | 1 Chronicles 7:7 | 1 |
| בֶּ֚לַע | Noun, Proper | 1 Chronicles 1:43 | 1 |
| בֶּ֣לַע | Noun, Proper | 1 Chronicles 8:1 | 1 |
| בֶּ֤לַע | Noun, Proper | Genesis 46:21 | 1 |
| בֶּ֧לַע | Noun, Proper | 1 Chronicles 7:6 | 1 |
| וּ/בֶ֨לַע֙ | Noun, Proper | 1 Chronicles 5:8 | 1 |
| לְ/בֶ֗לַע | Noun, Proper | Numbers 26:38 | 1 |
| לְ/בָ֑לַע | Noun, Proper | 1 Chronicles 8:3 | 1 |
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H1106, 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
Proper names from this root
People and places named from this root — a name, not an additional meaning of the word.
Compare all same-root words → 1 of the same-root words is a proper name (a person or place). They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Bible dictionary
Public-domain dictionary articles matched to this entry by name (Bela). A biblical name can be shared by more than one person or place, so an article may treat several.
Easton's Bible Dictionary · M. G. Easton, 1897
A thing swallowed. (1.) A city on the shore of the Dead Sea, not far from Sodom, called also Zoar. It was the only one of the five cities that was spared at Lot's intercession (Gen. 19:20, 23). It is first mentioned in Gen. 14:2, 8.
(2.) The eldest son of Benjamin (Num. 26:38; "Belah," Gen. 46:21).
(3.) The son of Beor, and a king of Edom (Gen. 36:32, 33; 1 Chr. 1:43).
(4.) A son of Azaz (1 Chr. 5:8).
Smith's Bible Dictionary · William Smith, 1863
(destruction).
+ One of the five cities of the plain which was spared at the intercession of Lot, and received the name of Zoar, (Genesis 14:2; 19:22) [Zoar] + Son of Beor, who reigned over Edom in the city of Dinhabah, eight generations before Saul. (Genesis 36:31-33; 1 Chronicles 1:43,44) + Eldest son of Benjamin, according to (Genesis 46:21) (Authorized Version "Belah"); (Numbers 26:38,40; 1 Chronicles 7:6; 8:1) and head of the family of the Belaites. + Son of Ahaz, a Reubenite. (1 Chronicles 5:8)
Classic public-domain reference works; full attribution on Sources.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 12 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 14 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.
