פָּלָא
to be wonderful
‘to be wonderful’ is one of 3 main senses fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
See every Niphal verb in the Hebrew Bible →
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Verb
- An action or state-of-being word.
Stem
- Niphal
- Usually the simple passive or reflexive of the Qal (“he was written”). Here: ‘be beyond one's power’
- Piel
- An intensive or resultative active stem.
- Hiphil
- The causative active stem (“he caused / brought about”). Here: ‘do a hard or difficult thing’
- Hithpael
- The reflexive or reciprocal stem (the subject acts on itself).
Form
- Participle Active
- A verbal adjective expressing ongoing or characteristic action (“writing / one who writes”).
- Imperfect
- An incomplete, ongoing, or future action (“he will / would write”).
- Infinitive Construct
- A bound verbal noun, frequently with prepositions (“to write / in writing”).
- Perfect
- A completed action or state — Hebrew marks aspect (completeness) more than strict tense (“he wrote”).
- Sequential Imperfect
- An imperfect with prefixed waw — the standard past-narrative form (waw-consecutive imperfect).
- Infinitive Absolute
- An unbound verbal noun, often intensifying or standing in for a finite verb.
- Sequential Perfect
- A perfect with prefixed waw continuing a preceding imperfect or command (waw-consecutive perfect).
State
- Absolute
- The independent form of a noun, not bound to a following word.
- Construct
- A noun bound to a following noun in a possessive / “of” relationship (the construct chain).
Person
- 3rd Person
- The one spoken about (“he / she / it / they”).
- 2nd Person
- The one addressed (“you”).
Gender
- Feminine
- Grammatically feminine.
- Masculine
- Grammatically masculine.
- Common
- Either gender — not distinguished for this form.
Number
- Plural
- More than one (in Hebrew, generally three or more).
- Singular
- One.
Grammatical forms 16 distinct
- Verb, Niphal, Participle Active, Feminine, Plural, Construct 28 times (39%)
- Verb, Niphal, Participle Active, Feminine, Plural, Absolute 16 times (23%)
- Verb, Niphal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular 6 times (8%)
- Verb, Piel, Infinitive Construct 3 times (4%)
- Verb, Hiphil, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular 3 times (4%)
- Verb, Hiphil, Infinitive Construct 2 times (3%)
- Verb, Niphal, Participle Active, Feminine, Singular, Absolute 2 times (3%)
- Verb, Hiphil, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular 2 times (3%)
+8 more forms (9 occurrences)
Parsed forms decoded from the imported morphology (morphhb / Westminster Leningrad Codex — WLC text public domain, morphhb tagging CC BY 4.0), counted across 71 parsed occurrences — not distinct verses.
Every verse where H6381 appears — 69 distinct verses across 20 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
Exodus 2 verses
- Exodus 3:20 נִפְלְאֹתַ֔/י Niphal ptcp.act fp cs + sfx pers 1cs I will put forth my hand and strike Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst of it, and after that he will let you go.
- Exodus 34:10 נִפְלָאֹ֔ת Niphal ptcp.act fp He said, "Behold, I make a covenant: before all your people I will do marvels, such as have not been worked in all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the people among which you are shall see the work of Yahweh; for it is an awesome thing that I do with you.
Leviticus 2 verses
- Leviticus 22:21 לְ/פַלֵּא prep + Piel inf.cs Whoever offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to Yahweh to accomplish a vow, or for a freewill offering, of the herd or of the flock, it shall be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no blemish therein.
- Leviticus 27:2 יַפְלִ֖א Hiphil impf 3ms "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, 'When a man makes a vow, the persons shall be for Yahweh by your valuation.
Numbers 3 verses
- Numbers 6:2 יַפְלִא֙ Hiphil impf 3ms "Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them: When either man or woman shall make a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to Yahweh,
- Numbers 15:3 לְ/פַלֵּא prep + Piel inf.cs and will make an offering by fire to Yahweh, a burnt offering, or a sacrifice, to accomplish a vow, or as a freewill-offering, or in your set feasts, to make a sweet savor to Yahweh, of the herd, or of the flock;
- Numbers 15:8 לְ/פַלֵּא prep + Piel inf.cs When you prepare a bull for a burnt offering, or for a sacrifice, to accomplish a vow, or for peace-offerings to Yahweh;
Deuteronomy 3 verses
- Deuteronomy 17:8 יִפָּלֵא֩ Niphal impf 3ms If there arise a matter too hard for you in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within your gates; then shall you arise, and go up to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose;
- Deuteronomy 28:59 וְ/הִפְלָ֤א conj + Hiphil wpf 3ms then Yahweh will make your plagues wonderful, and the plagues of your seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance.
- Deuteronomy 30:11 נִפְלֵ֥את Niphal ptcp.act fs For this commandment which I command you this day, it is not too hard for you, neither is it far off.
Joshua 1 verse
Judges 2 verses
- Judges 6:13 נִפְלְאֹתָ֡י/ו Niphal ptcp.act fp cs + sfx pers 3ms Gideon said to him, Oh, my lord, if Yahweh is with us, why then has all this happened to us? and where are all his wondrous works which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not Yahweh bring us up from Egypt? but now Yahweh has cast us off, and delivered us into the hand of Midian.
- Judges 13:19 וּ/מַפְלִ֣א conj + Hiphil ptcp.act ms So Manoah took the kid with the meal-offering, and offered it on the rock to Yahweh: and [the angel] did wondrously, and Manoah and his wife looked on.
2 Samuel 2 verses
- 2 Samuel 1:26 נִפְלְאַ֤תָה Niphal pf 3fs I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan: Very pleasant have you been to me: Your love to me was wonderful, Passing the love of women.
- 2 Samuel 13:2 וַ/יִּפָּלֵא֙ conj + Niphal wimpf 3ms Amnon was so vexed that he fell sick because of his sister Tamar; for she was a virgin; and it seemed hard to Amnon to do anything to her.
1 Chronicles 3 verses
- 1 Chronicles 16:9 נִפְלְאֹתָֽי/ו Niphal ptcp.act fp cs + sfx pers 3ms Sing to him, sing praises to him; Talk you of all his marvelous works.
- 1 Chronicles 16:12 נִפְלְאֹתָי/ו֙ Niphal ptcp.act fp cs + sfx pers 3ms Remember his marvelous works that he has done, His wonders, and the judgments of his mouth,
- 1 Chronicles 16:24 נִפְלְאֹתָֽי/ו Niphal ptcp.act fp cs + sfx pers 3ms Declare his glory among the nations, His marvelous works among all the peoples.
2 Chronicles 2 verses
- 2 Chronicles 2:9 וְ/הַפְלֵֽא conj + Hiphil inf.abs even to prepare me timber in abundance; for the house which I am about to build shall be great and wonderful.
- 2 Chronicles 26:15 הִפְלִ֥יא Hiphil pf 3ms He made in Jerusalem engines, invented by skillful men, to be on the towers and on the battlements, with which to shoot arrows and great stones. His name spread far abroad; for he was marvelously helped, until he was strong.
Nehemiah 1 verse
Job 6 verses
- Job 5:9 נִ֝פְלָא֗וֹת Niphal ptcp.act fp Who does great things that can't be fathomed, Marvelous things without number;
- Job 9:10 וְ/נִפְלָא֗וֹת conj + Niphal ptcp.act fp Who does great things past finding out, Yes, marvelous things without number.
- Job 10:16 תִּתְפַּלָּא Hithpael impf 2ms If my head is held high, you hunt me like a lion. Again you show yourself powerful to me.
- Job 37:5 נִפְלָא֑וֹת Niphal ptcp.act fp God thunders marvelously with his voice. He does great things, which we can't comprehend.
- Job 37:14 נִפְלְא֬וֹת Niphal ptcp.act fp cs "Listen to this, Job: Stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God.
- Job 42:3 נִפְלָא֥וֹת Niphal ptcp.act fp You asked, 'Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?' Therefore I have uttered that which I did not understand, Things too wonderful for me, which I didn't know.
Psalms 30 verses
- Psalms 9:1 נִפְלְאוֹתֶֽי/ךָ Niphal ptcp.act fp cs + sfx pers 2ms I will give thanks to Yahweh with my whole heart. I will tell of all your marvelous works.
- Psalms 26:7 נִפְלְאוֹתֶֽי/ךָ Niphal ptcp.act fp cs + sfx pers 2ms That I may make the voice of thanksgiving to be heard, And tell of all your wondrous works.
- Psalms 31:21 הִפְלִ֘יא Hiphil pf 3ms Praise be to Yahweh, For he has shown me his marvelous loving kindness in a strong city.
- Psalms 40:5 נִֽפְלְאֹתֶ֥י/ךָ Niphal ptcp.act fp cs + sfx pers 2ms Many, Yahweh, my God, are the wonderful works which you have done, And your thoughts which are toward us. They can't be set in order to you; If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.
- Psalms 71:17 נִפְלְאוֹתֶֽי/ךָ Niphal ptcp.act fp cs + sfx pers 2ms God, you have taught me from my youth. Until now, I have declared your wondrous works.
- Psalms 72:18 נִפְלָא֣וֹת Niphal ptcp.act fp Praise be to Yahweh God, the God of Israel, Who alone does marvelous deeds.
- Psalms 75:1 נִפְלְאוֹתֶֽי/ךָ Niphal ptcp.act fp cs + sfx pers 2ms We give thanks to you, God, We give thanks, for your Name is near. Men tell about your wondrous works.
- Psalms 78:4 וְ֝/נִפְלְאוֹתָ֗י/ו conj + Niphal ptcp.act fp cs + sfx pers 3ms We will not hide them from their children, Telling to the generation to come the praises of Yahweh, His strength, and his wondrous works that he has done.
- Psalms 78:11 וְ֝/נִפְלְאוֹתָ֗י/ו conj + Niphal ptcp.act fp cs + sfx pers 3ms They forgot his doings, His wondrous works that he had shown them.
- Psalms 78:32 בְּ/נִפְלְאוֹתָֽי/ו prep + Niphal ptcp.act fp cs + sfx pers 3ms For all this they still sinned, And didn't believe in his wondrous works.
- Psalms 86:10 נִפְלָא֑וֹת Niphal ptcp.act fp For you are great, and do wondrous things. You are God alone.
- Psalms 96:3 נִפְלְאוֹתָֽי/ו Niphal ptcp.act fp cs + sfx pers 3ms Declare his glory among the nations, His marvelous works among all the peoples.
- Psalms 98:1 נִפְלָא֣וֹת Niphal ptcp.act fp Sing to Yahweh a new song, For he has done marvelous things! His right hand, and his holy arm, have worked salvation for him.
- Psalms 105:2 נִפְלְאוֹתָֽי/ו Niphal ptcp.act fp cs + sfx pers 3ms Sing to him, sing praises to him! Tell of all his marvelous works.
- Psalms 105:5 נִפְלְאוֹתָ֥י/ו Niphal ptcp.act fp cs + sfx pers 3ms Remember his marvelous works that he has done; His wonders, and the judgments of his mouth,
- Psalms 106:7 נִפְלְאוֹתֶ֗י/ךָ Niphal ptcp.act fp cs + sfx pers 2ms Our fathers didn't understand your wonders in Egypt. They didn't remember the multitude of your loving kindnesses, But were rebellious at the sea, even at the Red Sea.
- Psalms 106:22 נִ֭פְלָאוֹת Niphal ptcp.act fp Wondrous works in the land of Ham, And awesome things by the Red Sea.
- Psalms 107:8 וְ֝/נִפְלְאוֹתָ֗י/ו conj + Niphal ptcp.act fp cs + sfx pers 3ms Let them praise Yahweh for his loving kindness, For his wonderful works to the children of men!
- Psalms 107:15 וְ֝/נִפְלְאוֹתָ֗י/ו conj + Niphal ptcp.act fp cs + sfx pers 3ms Let them praise Yahweh for his loving kindness, For his wonderful works to the children of men!
- Psalms 107:21 וְ֝/נִפְלְאוֹתָ֗י/ו conj + Niphal ptcp.act fp cs + sfx pers 3ms Let them praise Yahweh for his loving kindness, For his wonderful works to the children of men!
- Psalms 107:24 וְ֝/נִפְלְאוֹתָ֗י/ו conj + Niphal ptcp.act fp cs + sfx pers 3ms These see Yahweh's works, And his wonders in the deep.
- Psalms 107:31 וְ֝/נִפְלְאוֹתָ֗י/ו conj + Niphal ptcp.act fp cs + sfx pers 3ms Let them praise Yahweh for his loving kindness, For his wonderful works for the children of men!
- Psalms 111:4 לְ/נִפְלְאֹתָ֑י/ו prep + Niphal ptcp.act fp cs + sfx pers 3ms He has caused his wonderful works to be remembered. Yahweh is gracious and merciful.
- Psalms 118:23 נִפְלָ֣את Niphal ptcp.act fs This is Yahweh's doing. It is marvelous in our eyes.
- Psalms 119:18 נִ֝פְלָא֗וֹת Niphal ptcp.act fp Open my eyes, That I may see wondrous things out of your law.
- Psalms 119:27 בְּ/נִפְלְאוֹתֶֽי/ךָ prep + Niphal ptcp.act fp cs + sfx pers 2ms Let me understand the teaching of your precepts! Then I will meditate on your wondrous works.
- Psalms 131:1 וּ/בְ/נִפְלָא֣וֹת conj + prep + Niphal ptcp.act fp Yahweh, my heart isn't haughty, nor my eyes lofty; Nor do I concern myself with great matters, Or things too wonderful for me.
- Psalms 136:4 נִפְלָא֣וֹת Niphal ptcp.act fp To him who alone does great wonders; For his loving kindness endures forever:
- Psalms 139:14 נִפְלָאִ֥ים Niphal ptcp.act mp I will give thanks to you, For I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful. My soul knows that very well.
- Psalms 145:5 נִפְלְאוֹתֶ֣י/ךָ Niphal ptcp.act fp cs + sfx pers 2ms Of the glorious majesty of your honor, Of your wondrous works, I will meditate.
Proverbs 1 verse
Isaiah 2 verses
- Isaiah 28:29 הִפְלִ֣יא Hiphil pf 3ms This also comes forth from Yahweh of Hosts, who is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in wisdom.
- Isaiah 29:14 לְ/הַפְלִ֥יא הַפְלֵ֣א prep + Hiphil inf.cs Hiphil inf.abs therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.
Jeremiah 3 verses
- Jeremiah 21:2 נִפְלְאֹתָ֔י/ו Niphal ptcp.act fp cs + sfx pers 3ms Please inquire of Yahweh for us; for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon makes war against us: peradventure Yahweh will deal with us according to all his wondrous works, that he may go up from us.
- Jeremiah 32:17 יִפָּלֵ֥א Niphal impf 3ms Ah Lord Yahweh! behold, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm; there is nothing too hard for you,
- Jeremiah 32:27 יִפָּלֵ֖א Niphal impf 3ms Behold, I am Yahweh, the God of all flesh: is there anything too hard for me?
Daniel 2 verses
- Daniel 8:24 וְ/נִפְלָא֥וֹת conj + Niphal ptcp.act fp His power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper and do [his pleasure]; and he shall destroy the mighty ones and the holy people.
- Daniel 11:36 נִפְלָא֑וֹת Niphal ptcp.act fp The king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvelous things against the God of gods; and he shall prosper until the indignation be accomplished; for that which is determined shall be done.
Joel 1 verse
Micah 1 verse
Zechariah 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.
“to be wonderful” is the headline sense of the Hebrew verb פלא (pâlâʼ). Different stems carry different senses — BDB groups them under 4 stems, among them Niphal and Piel. It appears 69 verses across 20 books of the Hebrew Bible, among its moderately common vocabulary. More than a third of its appearances fall in Psalms. First canonically at Genesis 18:14, it enters the text early. See the sense tree, 69-verse concordance, and the renderings breakdown below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H6381 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 →
- 69
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 69 distinct verses.
- 20 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 20 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #558
- by frequency
- Top 1000 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 558 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 69 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 69 distinct verses.
- Writings (Ketuvim) 45 verses · 65%
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 13 verses · 19%
- Torah (Pentateuch) 11 verses · 16%
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: Wonders 7×, Wonderful works 6×, Wondrous works 5×
- American Standard Version: Wonderful works 5×, Wonders 5×, Wondrous works 5×
- Berean Standard Bible: Wonders 30×, Too difficult 3×, Fulfill 2×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: Wonders 16×, Amazing deeds 4×, Marvelous 4×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H6381 across 73 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 34 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 H6381 across 71 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 33 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 H6381 across 70 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 23 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 1 further occurrence.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H6381 across 76 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 30 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
10 senses and sub-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. This entry also uses Hithpael (reflexive or reciprocal).
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 10 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
- 1. be beyond one's power, difficult to do
- 2. be difficult to understand
- 3.
- a. be extraordinary, wonderful
- b. as subst., marvellous things
- 4. = wonderful acts of י׳ in judgement and redemption
Piel
- . make a special votive offering
Hiphil
- 1. do a hard or difficult thing
- 2. make wonderful, do wondrously
- 3. of God working wonders in doing
Hithpael
- . thou dost shew thyself marvellous (act inexplicably) against me
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
[ פָּלָא ] 71 vb. denom. Niph. etc., be surpassing, extraordinary
— 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.
פָּלָא
- , v. פלי
פֶּלֶא
- preced.) strange thing, wonder, miracle. Mekh. B’shall., Shir., s. 8 (ref. to Ex. XV, 11) עשה עמנו פ׳ וכ׳ he has done wonders for us, and he will do &c.; a. e.—Pl. פְּלָאִים, פְּלָאִין, פְּלָאוֹת. Midr. Till. to Ps. CVI, beg. (ref. to Ps. CXXXVI, 4; 13; 25) מה הפרנסה … בלא ניסין ובלא פ׳ as the world cannot exist without sustenance (which the Lord provides), so it cannot exist without (daily) signs and wonders. Ib. ואינו יודע כמה פ׳ עשה וכ׳ ed. Bub. (ed. מה פלאי, corr. acc.) and man knows not how many miraculous salvations the Lord works for him. Gen. R. s. 20 (ref. to Ps. CXXXVI, 24 sq.) מה גאולה פ׳ אף פרנסה פ׳ as the redemption was miraculous, so man’s sustenance is miraculous. Ex. R. s. 12, end (expl. אפילת, Ex. IX, 32) פ׳ עשה הק"בה בהם the Lord showed wonders by them. Snh. 109ᵇ (play on פלת, Num. XVI, 1) שנעשו לו פ׳ wonderful things (delivery from destruction with Korah) happened to him (On); Num. R. s. 18; (Tanḥ. Kor. 10 נפלאות). Midr. Till. To Ps. CXIX, 18 פ׳ היא התורה the Law is full of strange (obscure) things. Ib. 129; a. fr.—[Yalk. Gen. 47 ומקרע בפלאות, read: בכִילָאוֹת, v. כִּילָה.] e.g. Exodus 15:11
פֶּלֶא ²
- —Pl. פִּלְאִין, פְּלָאִין. Targ. Y. Ex. VIII, 18. Targ. Y. II ib. XV, 18.
פלי
- (b. h.) to split, separate; to remove; to search; v. פֶּלֶא, פְּלִיאָה.
- to be remote, hidden, obscure. Midr. Till. to Ps. CXIX, 18 א־נה נִפְלֵאת וכ׳ it (the Law) is not hidden, as it is said (Deut. XXX, 11) &c.; לא נִפְלֵאת אלא ממך וכ׳ it is hidden from thee only (through thy own fault), who didst not take pains to study it. V. נִפְלָא III e.g. Deuteronomy 30:11
- (cmp. פרֹש)
- 1. to distinguish, speak distinctly, clearly; esp. (sub. נֶדֶר) to utter a distinct vow (with ref. to Num. VI, 2). Naz. 62ᵃ; Num. R. s. 10 יודע להַפְלוֹת, לַפְלוֹת (from פָּלָה) who knows how to express a vow (is conscious of its bearings); Sifré Num. 22. e.g. Numbers 6:2
- 2. (denom. of פֶּלֶא) to do strange, wonderful things. Ber. 60ᵇ מַפְלִיא לעשות who does wonderful things.—[Tosef. Ab. Zar. III (IV), 19 מפליא ויצא ed. Zuck., missing in ed., a corrupt gloss for מפליא ליצנותא, v. לֵיצָנוּתָא.]
- 3. to search, question. Midr. Till. to Ps. III ואין מי שיַפְלִיא אחריהן and none questions the correctness of their decision; Yalk. Sam. 151.
- 4. to be too difficult to decide. Num. R. s. 21 וה׳ ממנו and he (Moses) could not decide it. Ib. שה׳ מן משה שיש צדיקים וכ׳ Moses was unable to decide, because many a righteous man prides himself …, and the Lord weakens his power (as a punishment).—Part. pass. מוּפְלָא q. v.
- to search, v. next w.
פְּלֵי
- (v. preced. wds.) to split, cut open. B. Bath. 160ᵇ; 164ᵇ פּלְיֵיה וחזייה he ripped open the tied-up document and saw it (that the signature was in the folds). Ḥull. 11ᵃ דילמא דפ׳ ליה וכ׳ may it not be that he (the priest) opened the skull and examined it? Yoma 87ᵃ הוה יתיב וקא פָלֵי רישא was sitting and chopping (an animal’s) head. Snh. 108ᵇ קא פָאלֵי וכ׳ was opening pomegranates; a. e.
- 1. to search (garments). Y. M. Kat. III, 82ᵃ top מְפַלֵּא מאנוי searching his garments.
- 2. to search after, glean; to remove. Targ. O. Deut. XXIV, 20 (h. text תפאר). Ib. XXVI, 13 (h. text בערתי). Targ. I Kings XVI, 3. Targ. Zeph. III, 15 (h. text פנה); a. fr.—[Targ. I Sam. II, 25, v. infra.]
- 1. to do strange, wonderful things; to go to the extreme of. Targ. Is. IX, 5 מַפְלֵי ed. Lag. (ed. Wil. מַפְלְיָא; oth. ed. מַפְלִיא Hebraism).—Ab. Zar. 44ᵃ מַפְלְיָא, v. לֵיצָנוּתָא.
- 2. to decide, arbitrate. Targ. I Sam. II, 25 (Bxt. וִיפַלֵּי, Pa.; h. text פלל).
- 3. (with ב; cmp. Is. XXIX, 14) to mystify, perplex, outwit, fool. Lam. R. to I, 1 רבתי (חד מאת׳ 8) חד … והוה מַפְלֵי … סגי an Athenian used to come to Jerusalem and outwit the Jerusalemites frequently. Ib. מכאן ולהבא לא תַפְלֵי וכ׳ henceforth thou shalt not again attempt to outwit &c. Gen. R. s. 42, v. מְרֵי. Gen. R. s. 91 למה אַפְלְיַית בי why didst thou mystify (deceive) me?; לא אַפְלְיִית בך I did not deceive thee; Koh. R. to VII, 11 אַפְלְיַת, אַפְלִית; Y. Naz. V, end, 54ᵇ אַפְלֵיתָה, אַפְלֵיתִי; Y. Ber. VII, 11ᵇ bot.; Yalk. Gen. 148. Ib. 62 מה את מַפְלֵי בי (Gen. R. s. 38 מה את מַפְלֶה בי) why wilt thou fool me? Y. Shebi. IX, 38ᵈ, v. לֵי; a. e. e.g. Isaiah 29:14
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 52 distinct written forms H6381 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 H6381, 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 → Showing 4 of 5 — not the complete family. 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 57 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 69 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 18:14
- Exodus 3:20
- Leviticus 22:21
- Numbers 6:2
- Deuteronomy 17:8
- Joshua 3:5
- Judges 6:13
- 2 Samuel 1:26
- 1 Chronicles 16:9
- 2 Chronicles 2:9
- Job 5:9
- Psalms 9:1
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.
