יָחַל
to wait
also: hope, expect fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
See every Piel verb in the Hebrew Bible →
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Verb
- An action or state-of-being word.
Stem
- Piel
- An intensive or resultative active stem. Here: ‘wait’
- Hiphil
- The causative active stem (“he caused / brought about”).
- Niphal
- Usually the simple passive or reflexive of the Qal (“he was written”).
Form
- Perfect
- A completed action or state — Hebrew marks aspect (completeness) more than strict tense (“he wrote”).
- Imperfect
- An incomplete, ongoing, or future action (“he will / would write”).
- Imperative
- A direct command (“write!”).
- Sequential Imperfect
- An imperfect with prefixed waw — the standard past-narrative form (waw-consecutive imperfect).
- Participle Active
- A verbal adjective expressing ongoing or characteristic action (“writing / one who writes”).
- Cohortative
- A first-person volitional form expressing wish or resolve (“let me / let us write”).
- Sequential Perfect
- A perfect with prefixed waw continuing a preceding imperfect or command (waw-consecutive perfect).
- Jussive
- A third- or second-person volitional form expressing wish or command (“let him write”).
State
- Absolute
- The independent form of a noun, not bound to a following word.
Person
- 1st Person
- The speaker (“I / we”).
- 2nd Person
- The one addressed (“you”).
- 3rd Person
- The one spoken about (“he / she / it / they”).
Gender
- Common
- Either gender — not distinguished for this form.
- Feminine
- Grammatically feminine.
- Masculine
- Grammatically masculine.
Number
- Singular
- One.
- Plural
- More than one (in Hebrew, generally three or more).
Grammatical forms 21 distinct
- Verb, Piel, Perfect, 1st Person, Common, Singular 5 times (12%)
- Verb, Hiphil, Imperfect, 1st Person, Common, Singular 4 times (10%)
- Verb, Piel, Imperfect, 1st Person, Common, Singular 4 times (10%)
- Verb, Hiphil, Perfect, 1st Person, Common, Singular 3 times (7%)
- Verb, Hiphil, Imperative, 2nd Person, Feminine, Singular 3 times (7%)
- Verb, Piel, Participle Active, Masculine, Plural, Absolute 3 times (7%)
- Verb, Niphal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular 2 times (5%)
- Verb, Piel, Perfect, 3rd Person, Common, Plural 2 times (5%)
+13 more forms (16 occurrences)
Parsed forms decoded from the imported morphology (morphhb / Westminster Leningrad Codex — WLC text public domain, morphhb tagging CC BY 4.0), counted across 42 parsed occurrences — not distinct verses.
Every verse where H3176 appears — 41 distinct verses across 11 books. 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.
Genesis 1 verse
1 Samuel 2 verses
- 1 Samuel 10:8 תּוֹחֵל֙ Hiphil juss 2ms You shall go down before me to Gilgal; and, behold, I will come down to you, to offer burnt offerings, and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace-offerings: seven days shall you wait, until I come to you, and show you what you shall do.
- 1 Samuel 13:8 ו/ייחל וַ/יּ֣וֹחֶל conj + Niphal wimpf 3ms conj + Hiphil wimpf 3ms He stayed seven days, according to the set time that Samuel [had appointed]: but Samuel didn't come to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him.
2 Samuel 1 verse
2 Kings 1 verse
Job 8 verses
- Job 6:11 אֲיַחֵ֑ל Piel impf 1cs What is my strength, that I should wait? What is my end, that I should be patient?
- Job 13:15 אֲיַחֵ֑ל Piel impf 1cs Behold, he will kill me; I have no hope. Nevertheless, I will maintain my ways before him.
- Job 14:14 אֲיַחֵ֑ל Piel impf 1cs If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my warfare would I wait, Until my release should come.
- Job 29:21 וְ/יִחֵ֑לּוּ conj + Piel pf 3cp "Men listened to me, waited, And kept silence for my counsel.
- Job 29:23 וְ/יִֽחֲל֣וּ conj + Piel pf 3cp They waited for me as for the rain. Their mouths drank as with the spring rain.
- Job 30:26 וַֽ/אֲיַחֲלָ֥ה conj + Piel coh 1cs When I looked for good, then evil came; When I waited for light, there came darkness.
- Job 32:11 הוֹחַ֨לְתִּי Hiphil pf 1cs "Behold, I waited for your words, And I listened for your reasoning, While you searched out what to say.
- Job 32:16 וְ֭/הוֹחַלְתִּי conj + Hiphil wpf 1cs Shall I wait, because they don't speak, Because they stand still, and answer no more?
Psalms 19 verses
- Psalms 31:24 הַ֝/מְיַחֲלִ֗ים ptcl def.art + Piel ptcp.act mp Be strong, and let your heart take courage, All you who hope in Yahweh.
- Psalms 33:18 לַֽ/מְיַחֲלִ֥ים prep det + Piel ptcp.act mp Behold, Yahweh's eye is on those who fear him, On those who hope in his loving kindness;
- Psalms 33:22 יִחַ֥לְנוּ Piel pf 1cp Let your loving kindness be on us, Yahweh, Since we have hoped in you.
- Psalms 38:15 הוֹחָ֑לְתִּי Hiphil pf 1cs For in you, Yahweh, do I hope. You will answer, Lord my God.
- Psalms 42:5 הוֹחִ֣ילִי Hiphil impv 2fs Why are you in despair, my soul? Why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God! For I shall still praise him for the saving help of his presence.
- Psalms 42:11 הוֹחִ֣ילִי Hiphil impv 2fs Why are you in despair, my soul? Why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God! For I shall still praise him, The saving help of my countenance, and my God.
- Psalms 43:5 הוֹחִ֣ילִי Hiphil impv 2fs Why are you in despair, my soul? Why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God! For I shall still praise him: My Savior, my helper, and my God.
- Psalms 69:3 מְ֝יַחֵ֗ל Piel ptcp.act ms I am weary with my crying. My throat is dry. My eyes fail, looking for my God.
- Psalms 71:14 אֲיַחֵ֑ל Piel impf 1cs But I will always hope, And will add to all of your praise.
- Psalms 119:43 יִחָֽלְתִּי Piel pf 1cs Don't snatch the word of truth out of my mouth, For I put my hope in your ordinances.
- Psalms 119:49 יִֽחַלְתָּֽ/נִי Piel pf 2ms + sfx pers 1cs Remember your word to your servant, Because you gave me hope.
- Psalms 119:74 יִחָֽלְתִּי Piel pf 1cs Those who fear you will see me and be glad, Because I have put my hope in your word.
- Psalms 119:81 יִחָֽלְתִּי Piel pf 1cs My soul faints for your salvation. I hope in your word.
- Psalms 119:114 יִחָֽלְתִּי Piel pf 1cs You are my hiding place and my shield. I hope in your word.
- Psalms 119:147 יִחָֽלְתִּי Piel pf 1cs I rise before dawn and cry for help. I put my hope in your words.
- Psalms 130:5 הוֹחָֽלְתִּי Hiphil pf 1cs I wait for Yahweh. My soul waits. I hope in his word.
- Psalms 130:7 יַחֵ֥ל Piel impv 2ms Israel, hope in Yahweh, For with Yahweh there is loving kindness. With him is abundant redemption.
- Psalms 131:3 יַחֵ֣ל Piel impv 2ms Israel, hope in Yahweh, From this time forth and forevermore.
- Psalms 147:11 הַֽ/מְיַחֲלִ֥ים ptcl def.art + Piel ptcp.act mp Yahweh takes pleasure in those who fear him, In those who hope in his loving kindness.
Isaiah 2 verses
- Isaiah 42:4 יְיַחֵֽילוּ Piel impf 3mp He will not fail nor be discouraged, until he have set justice in the earth; and the isles shall wait for his law.
- Isaiah 51:5 יְיַחֵלֽוּ/ן Piel impf 3mp + sfx n My righteousness is near, my salvation is gone forth, and my arms shall judge the peoples; the isles shall wait for me, and on my arm shall they trust.
Jeremiah 1 verse
Lamentations 2 verses
Ezekiel 2 verses
- Ezekiel 13:6 וְ/יִֽחֲל֖וּ conj + Piel wpf 3cp They have seen falsehood and lying divination, who say, Yahweh says; but Yahweh has not sent them: and they have made men to hope that the word would be confirmed.
- Ezekiel 19:5 נֽוֹחֲלָ֔ה Niphal pf 3fs Now when she saw that she had waited, and her hope was lost, then she took another of her cubs, and made him a young lion.
Micah 2 verses
- Micah 5:7 יְיַחֵ֖ל Piel impf 3ms The remnant of Jacob will be in the midst of many peoples, Like dew from Yahweh, Like showers on the grass, That don't wait for man, Nor wait for the sons of men.
- Micah 7:7 אוֹחִ֖ילָה Hiphil coh 1cs But as for me, I will look to Yahweh. I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me.
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 verb יחל centers on the idea of “to wait.” Where the King James Version says “hope,” newer translations reach for “put your hope” (Berean Standard Bible); the renderings breakdown has the detail. It appears 41 verses across 11 books of the Hebrew Bible, among its moderately common vocabulary. The word gravitates to Psalms (46%), then Job and 1 Samuel. Different stems carry different senses — BDB groups them under 3 stems, among them Niphal and Piel. Dig into 41-verse concordance and the renderings breakdown below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H3176 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 →
- 41
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 41 distinct verses.
- 11 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 11 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #864
- by frequency
- Top 1000 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 864 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 41 occurrences in the concordance →
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 41 distinct verses.
- Writings (Ketuvim) 29 verses · 71%
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 11 verses · 27%
- Torah (Pentateuch) 1 verse · 2%
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).
- King James Version: Hope 5×, Do i hope 2×, I have hoped 2×
- American Standard Version: Within me 3×, Him 2×, Hope 2×
- Berean Standard Bible: Put your hope 5×, Hope 3×, I put my hope 2×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: I wait 4×, I will hope 4×, Wait 4×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H3176 across 40 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 27 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.
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H3176 across 40 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 29 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 H3176 across 40 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 26 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H3176 across 40 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 20 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
Hebrew verbs can shift meaning by stem (binyan): Qal is the basic action, Niphal is often passive or reflexive, Piel often intensifies or makes it factitive, and Hiphil is typically causative. The senses below are grouped under the stem BDB assigns to each.
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.
Niphal
- Pf. 3 fs. נוֹחֲלָה Ez 19:5 (yet v. infr.); Impf. וַיִּיָּ֫חֶל Gn 8:12 + 1 S 13:18 Kt (v. Dr; Qr Hiph. וַיּוֹחֶל);—wait: Gn 8:12 and he waited yet seven days; so 1 S 13:8 Kt; of Isr. under fig. of lioness, וַתֵּרֶא כִּי נוֹחֲלָה אָֽבְדָה תִּקְוָתָהּ Ez 19:5 when she saw that her hope tarried, was lost (but dub.; Sm comp. Aramaic ܐܘܚܠ be weak, whence perhaps sink down; Hi (perhaps after 𝔊) כִּי נִדַּח לָהּ that he was thrust away from her; Co plausibly נוֹאֲלָה that she had acted foolishly). e.g. Ezekiel 19:5
Piel
- Pf. 2 ms. sf. יִחַלִתָּ֑נִי ψ 119:49; 1 s. יִחָ֑לְתִּי v 43 + 4 times ψ 119; 3 mpl. יִחֲלוּ Jb 29:23 Ez 13:6; יִחֵ֑לּוּ Jb 29:21; 1 pl. יִחַלְנוּ ψ 33:22; Impf. יְיַחֵל Mi 5:6; אֲיַחֵל Jb 6:11; 13:15 + 2 times; אֲיַחֲלָה 30:26; יְיַחֵ֑לוּ Is 42:4; יְיַחֵלֽוּן 51:5; Imv. יַחֵל ψ 130:7; 131:3; Pt. מְיחֵל 69:4; מְיַחֲלִים 31:25 + 2 times;— e.g. Psalms 119:49
- 1. wait, tarry for, sq. לְ Mi 5:6 (of rain, ‖ יְקֵוֶּה); so 1:12 according to We, who reads יִחֲלָה (Pf.) for חָלָה; abs. wait Jb 6:11; 14:14. e.g. Micah 5:6
- 2. wait for = hope for, sq. לִ Is 42:4 Jb 29:21, 23; 30:26 (‖ קִוֵּיתִי), ψ 31:25; 33:18, 22; 69:4; 119:43, 74, 81, 114, 147; sq. ל inf. ויח׳ לְקַיֵּם דָּבָר Ez 13:6; sq. אֶל Is 51:5 ψ 130:7; 131:3; abs. hope, ψ 71:14. e.g. Isaiah 42:4
- 3. caus. make to hope ψ 147:11 (sf. pers.), e.g. Psalms 147:11
Hiphil
- Pf. הוֹחַ֫לְתִּי Jb 32:11, etc.; וְהוֹחַ֫לְתִּי (consec., v. Hi De2 Dr§§ 106, 119 γ) Jb 32:16; Impf. וַיּ֫וֹחֶל 1 S 13:8 Qr; 2 ms. תּוֹחֵל 10:8; אוֹחִיל 2 K 6:33 La 3:21, 24; אוֹחִ֫ילָה Je 4:19 Qr (Kt אָחוּלָה), Mi 7:7; אֹחִילָה 2 S 18:14;—wait, tarry, abs. (proposes shew a waiting attitude): 1 S 10:8 (sq. עַד בּוֹאִי), 13:8 (Qr; cf. Niph.); 2 S 18:14 Jb 32:16 Je 4:19 (v. I. חול 3); wait for, hope for (as Pi.), sq. לְ 2 K 6:33 Mi 7:7 La 3:24 Jb 32:11 ψ 38:16; 42:6, 12; 43:5; 130:5 (‖ קִוִּיתִי); abs. hope, La 3:21. e.g. Job 32:11
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
vb.Niph. wait; Pi. await (cf. NH יִחוּלexpectation);—
— 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
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.
יָחַל
- v. חוּל) to hover around, rest on.
- 1. (with (with על) to cause to rest upon. Pesik. R. s. 47 מְיַיחֵל אני … כשם שיִיחַלְתִּי וכ׳ I shall cause my Name to rest upon him (Job) as I did upon &c.
- 2. (b. h.; to wait for the turn, to wait, trust; to inspire trust; v. יִחוּל.
- to be made to rest. Sifré Deut. 31, v. יוֹתֵר.
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 32 distinct written forms H3176 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.
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H3176, 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
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.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 28 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 41 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
- Genesis 8:12
- 1 Samuel 10:8
- 2 Samuel 18:14
- 2 Kings 6:33
- Job 6:11
- Psalms 33:18
- Isaiah 42:4
- Jeremiah 4:19
- Lamentations 3:21
- Ezekiel 13:6
- Micah 5:7
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.
