מַלְבֵּן
brick mold
also: brick kiln, quadrangle 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
- Common
- A common noun — a general class of person, place, or thing (“king,” “city,” “water”), not a specific name.
State
- Absolute
- The independent form of a noun, not bound to a following word.
Gender
- Masculine
- Grammatically masculine.
Number
- Singular
- One.
Every verse where H4404 appears — 3 distinct verses across 3 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.
2 Samuel 1 verse
Jeremiah 1 verse
Nahum 1 verse
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.
מלבן (malbên) is a Hebrew noun most often rendered “brick mold.” A scarce word — 3 verses in all of the Hebrew Bible. It concentrates in 2 Samuel, which alone accounts for 33% of its uses. It first appears in 2 Samuel 12:31. Ranging over 3 senses, its meaning includes “brick kiln” and “quadrangle”. For the data behind this summary, explore the sense tree and the renderings breakdown below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H4404 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 →
- 3
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 3 distinct verses.
- 3 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 3 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #3,696
- by frequency
- Top 5000 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 3,696 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 3 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 3 distinct verses.
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 3 verses · 100%
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: Brickkiln 2×
- American Standard Version: Brickkiln 1×, Brickwork 1×, Through the brickkiln 1×
- Berean Standard Bible: Brick 1×, Brick kilns 1×, Brick pavement 1×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: Brick kiln 1×, Brick mold 1×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H4404 across 3 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 H4404 across 3 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
Renders H4404 across 3 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H4404 across 2 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Senses in BDB
The 3 senses BDB distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency or importance). The full entry — with sub-senses — is in the Lexicon Entry tab.
- brick mold, brick kiln, quadrangle
- brick mould, brick kiln
- quadrangle
Word origin
Derived from לבן (lâban) (H3835) — to be white.
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.
לָבַן I
- to make or pile bricks. B. Mets. X, 5 (118ᵇ) ואין לוֹבְנִין לבנים but you are not permitted to pile up bricks (on the public road). Ib. גובלין טיט … אבל לא לובנין Ms. M. (v. Rabb. D. S. a. l. note; ed. לבנים; Y. ed. ללבינים) you may knead clay on the public road (for immediate use), but you are not permitted to form bricks; (Y. ed.: but not for making bricks). Tosef. Kel. B. Kam. III, 7; ib. Ohol. XVII, 7.
לָבַן II
- (cmp. לָבָה) to glisten.
- 1. to polish, brighten; to finish. Sabb. VII, 2 הגוזז … והמְלַבְּנוֹ he who clips wool and he who cleanses it (by washing, removing clods &c.); Y. ib. 10ᶜ top המלבנו ההן דמגפר וכ׳ under m’labben of the Mishnah is implied (any preparation for improving raw material, e. g.) he who pitches wood &c., v. אֶלִּיקָה. Ib. המיינטון חייב משום מְלַבֵּן he who cleanses amiant (v. אַמְיַינְטוֹן) comes under the law forbidding polishing (on the Sabbath). Tosef. Ber. VII (VI), 2; Ber. 58ᵃ; Y. ib. IX, 13ᶜ top גזז ול׳ וכ׳ he (Adam) clipped (wool) and cleansed &c. Ab. Zar. V, 12 את שדרכו … לְלַבֵּן באור יְלַבֵּן וכ׳ such utensils as are ordinarily cleansed by being put in the fire (metal spits &c.) he must cleanse by fire.—Gen. R. s. 70 (play on לָבָן, Gen. XXIX, 5) do you know Him שהוא עתיד ללַבֵּן וכ׳ who will cleanse your sins to make them appear like snow (Is. I, 18)?; a. fr.—Part. pass. מְלוּבָּן finished, polished, refined. Nidd. 31ᵃ (of an embryo) מל׳ ומזורז well-formed and of strong vitality; Snh. 70ᵇ; Num. R. s. 10.—Ib. מל׳ ברשע finished (refined) in wickedness, v. אפדכסיס; Gen. R. s. 60; Ruth R. to II, 1; Yalk. Gen. 109.—Esp. a) to glaze tiles; to heat tiles. Bets. IV, 7 (33ᵃ) אין מְלַבְּנִין את וכ׳ you must not heat (new) tiles (on Holy Days) for roasting on them; Y. ib. IV, end, 62ᵈ מאן דאמר מלבנין בבדוקים he who says that you may heat tiles &c., refers to such as have been tested (to be sound under fire).—b) (of metal utensils, v. supra) to glow. Ḥull. 8ᵃ ל׳ סכין וכ׳ if one made a knife glowing hot and cut with it; a. fr.—Part. pass. מְלוּבָּן, f. מְלוּבֶּנֶת. Y. Yeb. XVI, 15ᶜ bot. e.g. Genesis 29:5
- 1. to grow white, glossy, be cleansed. Ex. R. s. 23 (play on שְׁלמ̇ה̇ a. שַׂלְמָה) מה השלמה הזאת מתלכלכת וחוזרת ומִתְלַבֶּנֶת as the garment gets soiled and is cleansed again &c.; (Yalk. Cant. 982 מתכבסת). Ib.; Cant. R. to I, 6 נ׳ גופו his tanned skin became white again, v. כִּרְכֵּם.
- 2. to be glowed, heated. Sabb. 27ᵇ והאונין … משיִתְלַבְּנוּ bundles of flax are considered finished after they are baked; Sifra Thazr., Neg., Par. 5, ch. XIII.
- 1. to grow white. Neg. I, 6 היו … והִלְבִּינוּ if the hair was black and turned white. Ib. IV, 4 עיקרן … וראשן מַלְבִּין if their roots are black and their tops white. Yoma VI, 8; a. fr.
- 2. to whiten, cleanse. Cant. R. to V, 11 להַלְבִּין כנף וכ׳ to make white one wing of a raven. Yoma. 39ᵇ the Temple is called Lebanon שמַלְבִּין וכ׳ because it cleanses the sins &c.—Keth. 59ᵇ הרוצה שיַלְבִּין את בתו he who desires to make his daughter white-complexioned (handsome); a. e.—Transf. (with פנים) to put to shame, expose. Ab. III, 11 המַלְבִּין פני וכ׳ he who exposes his fellowman to shame in public. B. Mets. 59ᵃ נוח לו לאדם שיפיל … ואל יַלְבִּין וכ׳ man should rather have himself thrown into a furnace than put his neighbor to shame. Yalk. Deut. 938 אני מלבין פניהם I should put them to shame; (Pirké d’R. El. ch. XLIV מגלה, v. גָּלָה). B. Mets. 58ᵇ כל המלבין … כאילו שופך דמים he who puts his neighbor to public shame is considered as if he shed blood; a. fr.—Y. Succ. V, 55ᶜ bot. (play on נ̇ב̇ל̇) שמל̇ב̇ין כמה מיני זמר it shames (excels) many a musical instrument.
לְבַן
- (denom. of לִבְנָא, cmp. אֲרִיחַ) to have a strong rest; to be well balanced. Sabb. 104ᵃ מ"ט שקר אחידא כרעיה ואמת מִלְבַּן לַבְנֵי Ms. M. why has the word שקר one single foot (in the letter ק), while the letters of אמת have a level foundation?; (ed. שיקרא אחדא כרעא קאי ואמת מְלַבַּן לִבּוּנֵיה falsehood (שקר) stands on one leg, while the foundation of truth (אמת) is level).
- to found, rest. Erub. 14ᵃ מְלַבֵּין ליה בטינא וכ׳ you may form a level rest for it by plastering, partly on this, partly on the other side, so that it will be firm.—Part. pass. מְלַבַּן, v. supra.
לָבָן I
- (b. h.) pr. n. m. Laban, son of Bethuel, freq. ל׳ הארמי L. the Aramaean. Snh. 105ᵃ. Ab. Zar. 3ᵃ יבוא ל׳ וכ׳ let L. come and give testimony for Jacob &c. Gen. R. s. 60, v. אפדכסיס. Koh. R. to II, 26; a. fr.
לָבָן II
- v. לָבַן) white; white color, white substance. Gen. R. s. 73 בן ל׳ a white child, opp. כּוּשִׁי. Men. IV, 1 התכלת … את הל׳ the absence of the blue fringe is no obstacle to using the white one &c. Bekh. 45ᵇ, v. בָּהַק. Lev. R. s. 31 אין אדם רואה מתוך הל׳ וכ׳ man does not see through the white (of the eye). Yoma 75ᵃ ל׳ כמרגלית, v. גַּד II. Ib. VII, 4, a. fr. בגדי ל׳ garments of white stuff. Ib. 1, v. אִסְטַלִּית; a. v. fr.—שְׂדֵה (ה)ל׳ a bright, shadeless field, vegetable or grain field, opp. שדה אילן orchard. Shebi. II, 1; M. Kat. I, 4ᶜ; a. fr.—Pl. לְבָנִים, לְבָנִין. Mikv. VIII, 2 (מים) ל׳ נמשכים white and cohesive matter (urin). Tosef. Sabb. I, 22 הל׳ white garments, opp. צבועין colored; a. fr.—Fem. לְבָנָה. Y. Shek. VI, 49ᵈ bot.; Cant. R. to V, 11 אש ל׳ white fire. Sifra Thazr., Neg., Par. 5, ch. XIII מה פשתים ל׳ אף צמר ל׳ as ‘linen’ means ‘of natural white color’, so does ‘wool’ &c. Gen. R. s. 73 שחורה או ל׳ is it the portrait of a black or of a white person?; a. fr.—Pl. לְבָנוֹת. Macc. 20ᵇ במלקט ל׳ וכ׳ when he plucks the gray hair from among the black. B. Kam. 60ᵇ; a. fr.
לָבָן
- 1. same. Targ. Y. Gen. XXX, 37, v. next w.—*2) = לִבְנָא, brick. Targ. Y. II, Ex. XXIV, 10 (Y. I, a. O. אבן; h. text לבנת).
לְבָן
- , white poplar. Targ. O. Gen. XXX, 37 (Y. דפרח לבן, v. פְּרַח). Targ. Hos. IV, 13.
לֹבֶן
- , v. לוֹבֶן
מַלְבֵּן
- , v. לְבֵנָה)
- 1. press, frame, mould. Sot. 11ᵃ (ref. to Ex. I, 11) הביאו מ׳ וכ׳ they brought a brick mould and suspended it from Pharaoh’s neck; Ex. R. s. 1. Zeb. 54ᵃ מ׳ שהוא שלשים וכ׳ a frame of thirty-two by thirty-two cubits (which was filled with stones, cement &c.). Y. Sabb. XII, beg. 13ᶜ כנוטל מ׳ וכ׳ like taking a frame and putting it over the piled up bricks (which cannot be called building). Tosef. Sabb. XIII (XIV), 15 מ׳ של מיטה the frame (bottom) of a bedstead. Tosef. Erub. XI (VIII), 17 מ׳ של ספקלריא a window frame. Tosef. B. Bath. II, 14 מ׳ או צורת וכ׳ a window frame or the shape of a door; B. Bath. III, 6. Tosef. Kel. B. Mets. V, 9 מ׳ להיות נותנו וכ׳ a bedstead bottom intended to be moved from one bed to another, opp. intended for one particular bed. Tosef. Ohol. XIII, 5 [read:] מ׳ שהוא מלובש וכ׳, v. לָבַשׁ. Tosef. Kel. B. Bath. I, 8 מ׳ של מסר הגדול the frame of a large saw. Neg. XIII, 3 מ׳ הבנוי וכ׳ a casing to protect that portion of the beam which rests on the wall.—Gen. R. s. 38; Yalk. Prov. 961 (ref. to Prov. XXVII, 22) כזה שהוא … במ׳ like one undertaking to crush barley in a frame; a. fr.—Pl. מַלְבֵּנִים, מַלְבֵּנִין, מַלְבֵּנוֹת, מַלְבֵּי׳. Neg. l. c. B. Bath. 69ᵃ מ׳ של פתחים door frames; מ׳ של חלונות window frames; מ׳ של כרעי המטה sockets for the legs of a bedstead. Kel. XVIII, 3 מֵלְבְּנֵי בני לוי stands for the musical instruments of the Levites; Tosef. Kel. B. Mets. V, 9 מ׳ לוי ed. Zuck. (corr. acc.); a. e.—2) (from its shape) a small garden-bed, a plot (of three hand-breadths in width).—Pl. as ab. Peah III, 1. Ib. 4 מ׳ הבצלים שבין הירק plots of onions between vegetables. Ib. VII, 2 ג׳ שורות של שני מ׳ three rows at a distance of two malbenim (six hand-breadths) from one another; Tosef. ib. III, 10. Ter. IV, 8 המ׳ (sub. דבלי) figs pressed in quadrangular moulds, opp. עגולים. e.g. Exodus 1:11
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 3 distinct written forms H4404 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| בַּ/מַּלְבֵּ֔ן | Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | 2 Samuel 12:31 | 2 |
| ב/מלכן | Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | 2 Samuel 12:31 | 1 |
| מַלְבֵּֽן | Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | Nahum 3:14 | 1 |
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H4404, 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
- לבן lâbân H3836 white
- לבנה libneh H3839 poplar
- לבנה libnâh H3840 tile
- לבנה lᵉbânâh H3842 moon
- לבנה lᵉbênâh H3843 brick
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 → Showing 4 of 9 — not the complete family. 2 of the same-root words are proper names (people or places). They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 3 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 3 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.
