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גִּיל

to rejoice

also: exult, be glad fuller range ↓

H1523 Strong's Hebrew
gîyl Transliteration
/gheel/ Pronunciation
Usage in the Hebrew Bible 46 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.

גיל — transliterated gîyl — is a Hebrew verb carrying the sense “to rejoice.” It first appears in 1 Chronicles 16:31. The Hebrew Bible uses it across 44 verses — moderately common. More than a third of its appearances fall in Psalms. It also covers “exult” and “be glad”, alongside “to rejoice” — see 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
be glad
Modern gloss
to rejoice
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 H1523 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 →

44
distinct verses
The word appears in 44 distinct verses.
10 / 39
OT books
The word appears in 10 of 39 Old Testament books.
1 Chronicles 16:31
first appearance
The earliest occurrence is in 1 Chronicles 16:31.
Zechariah 10:7
last appearance
The latest occurrence is in Zechariah 10:7.
#796
by frequency
Top 1000 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 796 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).

View all 44 occurrences in the concordance →


Most concentrated in

By section of the Old Testament

  • Pentateuch 0 · 0%
  • Historical 1 · 2%
  • Wisdom 24 · 55%
  • Prophets 19 · 43%

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 44 distinct verses.

  • Writings (Ketuvim) 25 verses · 57%
  • Prophets (Nevi'im) 19 verses · 43%

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 3 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: Rejoice 9×, Be glad 6×, Shall rejoice 6×
  • American Standard Version: Rejoice 11×, Be glad 5×, Shall rejoice 3×
  • Berean Standard Bible: Rejoice 21×, Will rejoice 6×, I will rejoice 2×
  • unfoldingWord Literal Text: Rejoice 11×, Be glad 7×, Let 6×

King James Version Public Domain

Renders H1523 across 44 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Rejoice” 9×
  • “Be glad” 6×
  • “Shall rejoice” 6×
  • “Be joyful” 2×
  • “I will rejoice” 2×
  • “Shall be joyful” 2×
  • “We will be glad” 2×

Plus 15 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 H1523 across 46 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Rejoice” 11×
  • “Be glad” 5×
  • “Shall rejoice” 3×
  • “Be joyful” 2×
  • “I will rejoice” 2×
  • “Shall be joyful” 2×

Plus 21 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 H1523 across 43 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Rejoice” 21×
  • “Will rejoice” 6×
  • “I will rejoice” 2×
  • “We will rejoice” 2×

Plus 12 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 H1523 across 60 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Rejoice” 11×
  • “Be glad” 7×
  • “Let” 6×
  • “Will be glad” 6×
  • “And” 3×
  • “I will be glad” 2×
  • “Let us be glad” 2×
  • “They rejoice” 2×
  • “Will rejoice” 2×

Plus 19 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.


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 6 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.

גיל I rejoice (NöZMG 1883, 537

Qal

  • Pf. גַּלְתִּי Is 65:19; Impf. יָגִיל, תָּגִיל ψ 21:2 + 4 times (ψ 21:2 Kt יגיל, Qr יָ֫גֶל with retracted tone); יָגֵל, תָּגֵל ψ 13:6 + 11 times, וַיָּגֶל ψ 16:9, אָגִילָה, נָגִילָה ψ 9:15 + 5 times, יָגִילוּ ψ 13:5 + 5 times, יְגִילוּן ψ 89:17, תָּגֵלְנָה ψ 48:12 + 2 times; יָגִו֯ל Pr 23:24; Imv. גִּילוּ ψ 2:11 + 4 times, גִּילִי Is 49:13 + 2 times; e.g. Isaiah 65:19
  • 1. rejoice,
    • a. abs. ψ 13:5; 51:10 Is 49:13 Zc 9:9; ‖ שׂמח ψ 14:7; 16:9; 32:11; 48:12; 53:7; 96:11; 97:1, 8 Pr 23:24, 25 1 Ch 16:31 Hb 1:15; ‖ שׂושׂ, שׂישׂ Is 35:1; 65:18. e.g. Psalms 13:5
    • b. c. בְּ ψ 149:2 Pr 2:14; 24:17 Is 9:2; בירושׁלם Is 65:19; 66:10; בישׁועתך ψ 9:15; 13:6; 21:2; ביהוה ψ 35:9 Is 41:16 Zc 10:7; באלהים Is 61:10 Hb 3:18; בשׁם י׳ ψ 89:17; בקדושׁ ישׂראל Is 29:19; גיל ושׂמח ב׳ ψ 31:8; 118:24 Ct 1:4 Is 25:9 Jo 2:23; גילי ושׂמחי כי Jo 2:21. e.g. Psalms 149:2
    • c. with עַל Zp 3:17. Besides persons the subj. is לֵב ψ 13:6 Pr 24:17 Zc 10:7; נפשׁ ψ 35:9 Is 61:10, כבוד (= נפשׁ) ψ 16:9, ארץ 1 Ch 16:31 ψ 96:11; 97:1 Is 49:13, ערבה Is 35:1, 2. e.g. Zephaniah 3:17
  • 2. tremble (cf. Arabic وَجِلَ) ψ 2:11 ‖ עבד (Thes Ew Hi Che, but 𝔊 Hu De Pe AV RV rejoice), Ho 10:5 ‖ אבל (Thes and most mod., but AV RV that rejoiced over it), possibly error for חיל Ew Gr Che. e.g. Psalms 2:11

גיל II [m.] rejoicing

גיל III [m.] circle, age, מן הילדים אשׁר כְּגִלְכֶם of the youths which are of your age Dn 1

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

I. vb. rejoice (NöZMG 1883, 537; cf. Arabic جَالَ go round or about, be excited to levity, etc.)—

II. n.[m.] rejoicing—Jb 3:22 + 6times, גִּו֯ל Pr 23:24; sf. גִּילִי ψ 43:4;—rejoicing ψ 65:13 Pr 23:24; ‖ שׂמחה ψ 45:16 Is 16:10 Je 48:33 Jo 1:16, שִׂמְחַת גִילִי ψ 43:4, שׂמח אל גיל glad unto rejoicing Ho 9:1 Jb 3:22.

III. n.[m.] circle, age, מן הילדים אשׁר כְּגִלְכֶם of the youths which are of your age Dn 1:10 (cf. Arabic جِيلٌ, Sam. גיל = Heb. דור = γενεά, Talm בן גילו one born at the same time, a contemporary).

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

Origin: a primitive root

Part of speech: Verb TWOT: 346


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.

גִּיל I

  • v. גיל) to form a circle, to gather; to rejoice. Y. Ber. V, 8ᵈ bot. (ref. to Ps. II, 11) לכשיבוא יום רעדה תָּגִילוּ when the time of trembling comes (in a disposition of reverence) shall ye assemble (for prayer); cmp. גִּילָה. e.g. Psalms 2:11

גִּיל II

  • preced.) circle, association of coevals. B. Mets. 27ᵇ; Yeb. 120ᵃ the same mark מצויה בבן גִּילוֹ is frequently found with those born at the same hour (under the same planetary influences, cmp. גַּלְגַּל). Meg. 11ᵃ בן גילו וכ׳ of the same character. Ned. 39ᵇ בן גילו (Ar. בני) of the same age; B. Bets. 30ᵇ. Ruth R. to I, 3 מת אחד מן הג׳ ידאג כל הג׳ if one of the circle (of the coevals) died, the whole circle must take it to heart.—Pl. גִּילִין. Ib.—v. גִּילָאֵי. [Y. Orl. II, 61ᵈ bot. גיל השבט, v. גָּזֵל.]

גִּיל III

  • (גול) ball, clapper of a bell. Lev. R. s. 27, beg.; Tanḥ. Emor 5 גול; ed. Bub. ib. 7 גיל.

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 40 distinct written forms H1523 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that stem’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
יָגֵ֥ל Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular Psalms 14:7 4
וְ/תָגֵ֣ל Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular Psalms 96:11 2
תָּגִ֣יל Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular Isaiah 41:16 2
יָ֝גִ֗ילוּ Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural Proverbs 2:14 2
אָ֝גִ֗ילָה Verb, Qal, Cohortative, 1st Person, Common, Singular Psalms 9:14 1
אָגִ֖ילָה Verb, Qal, Cohortative, 1st Person, Common, Singular Habakkuk 3:18 1
אָגִ֥ילָה Verb, Qal, Cohortative, 1st Person, Common, Singular Psalms 31:7 1
גִּ֣ילִי Verb, Qal, Imperative, 2nd Person, Feminine, Singular Joel 2:21 1
גִּ֤ילוּ Verb, Qal, Imperative, 2nd Person, Masculine, Plural Joel 2:23 1
גִּילִ֨י Verb, Qal, Imperative, 2nd Person, Feminine, Singular Zechariah 9:9 1
וְ/גִ֣ילִי Verb, Qal, Imperative, 2nd Person, Feminine, Singular Isaiah 49:13 1
וְ/גִ֥ילוּ Verb, Qal, Imperative, 2nd Person, Masculine, Plural Isaiah 66:10 1
וְ/גִ֨ילוּ֙ Verb, Qal, Imperative, 2nd Person, Masculine, Plural Isaiah 65:18 1
וְ/גַלְתִּ֥י Verb, Qal, Sequential Perfect, 1st Person, Common, Singular Isaiah 65:19 1
וְ/יָגִֽיל Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular Habakkuk 1:15 1
וְ/תָגֵ֗ל Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular Isaiah 35:2 1
וְ/תָגֵ֧ל Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular Isaiah 35:1 1
וְ֝/גִ֗ילוּ Verb, Qal, Imperative, 2nd Person, Masculine, Plural Psalms 2:11 1
וְ֝/תָגֵ֗ל Verb, Qal, Jussive, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular Proverbs 23:25 1
וְ֭/גִילוּ Verb, Qal, Imperative, 2nd Person, Masculine, Plural Psalms 32:11 1
וַ/יָּ֣גֶל Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular Psalms 16:9 1
וַ֭/תָּגֵלְנָה Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Feminine, Plural Psalms 97:8 1
יְגִיל֣וּ/ן Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural Psalms 89:16 1
יָ֤גֵ֥ל Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular Psalms 13:5 1
יָ֭גִיל Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular Proverbs 23:24 1
יָגִ֔ילוּ Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural Hosea 10:5 1
יָגִ֖ילוּ Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural Isaiah 9:3 1
יָגִ֥יל Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular Zephaniah 3:17 1
יָגִ֥ילוּ Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural Psalms 149:2 1
יָגִֽילוּ Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural Isaiah 29:19 1
יָּ֥גֶל Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular Psalms 21:1 1
יגול Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular Proverbs 23:24 1
יגיל Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular Psalms 21:1 1
נָגִ֖ילָה Verb, Qal, Cohortative, 1st Person, Common, Plural Psalms 118:24 1
נָגִ֤ילָה Verb, Qal, Cohortative, 1st Person, Common, Plural Song of Solomon 1:4 1
נָגִ֥ילָה Verb, Qal, Cohortative, 1st Person, Common, Plural Isaiah 25:9 1
תָּ֝גֵ֗לְנָה Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Feminine, Plural Psalms 51:8 1
תָּ֭גֵלְנָה Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Feminine, Plural Psalms 48:11 1
תָּגֵ֣ל Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular Psalms 97:1 1
תָּגֵ֤ל Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular Isaiah 61:10 1

Same root — word family

Other BDB entries built from the same root as H1523, 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.

Derived from this word

Compare all same-root words → They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.


Septuagint verse parallels

This word appears in 43 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 44 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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