פֶּ֫לֶא
wonder
‘wonder’ 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 Absolute-state word in the Hebrew Bible →
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.
- Construct
- A noun bound to a following noun in a possessive / “of” relationship (the construct chain).
Gender
- Masculine
- Grammatically masculine.
Number
- Singular
- One.
- Plural
- More than one (in Hebrew, generally three or more).
Grammatical forms
- Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute 6 times (46%)
- Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct 4 times (31%)
- Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute 3 times (23%)
Parsed forms decoded from the imported morphology (morphhb / Westminster Leningrad Codex — WLC text public domain, morphhb tagging CC BY 4.0), counted across 13 parsed occurrences — not distinct verses.
Every verse where H6382 appears — 13 distinct verses across 5 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.
Exodus 1 verse
Psalms 7 verses
- Psalms 77:11 פִּלְאֶֽ/ךָ n c ms cs + sfx pers 2ms I will remember Yah's deeds; For I will remember your wonders of old.
- Psalms 77:14 פֶ֑לֶא n c ms You are the God who does wonders. You have made your strength known among the peoples.
- Psalms 78:12 פֶ֑לֶא n c ms He did marvelous things in the sight of their fathers, In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
- Psalms 88:10 פֶּ֑לֶא n c ms Do you show wonders to the dead? Do the dead rise up and praise you? Selah.
- Psalms 88:12 פִּלְאֶ֑/ךָ n c ms cs + sfx pers 2ms Are your wonders made known in the dark? Or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
- Psalms 89:5 פִּלְאֲ/ךָ֣ n c ms cs + sfx pers 2ms The heavens will praise your wonders, Yahweh; Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones.
- Psalms 119:129 פְּלָא֥וֹת n c mp Your testimonies are wonderful, Therefore my soul keeps them.
Isaiah 3 verses
- Isaiah 9:6 פֶּ֠לֶא n c ms cs For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be on his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
- Isaiah 25:1 פֶּ֑לֶא n c ms Yahweh, you are my God; I will exalt you, I will praise your name; for you have done wonderful things, [even] counsels of old, in faithfulness [and] truth.
- Isaiah 29:14 וָ/פֶ֑לֶא conj + n c ms 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.
Lamentations 1 verse
Daniel 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.
פלא (peleʼ) is a Hebrew noun most often rendered “wonder.” Psalms dominates its distribution — 7 of 13 verses. Spanning 13 verses in 5 books, it ranks among the uncommon words of the Hebrew Bible. It is not a single-sense word — see its full sense range. Its English rendering has broadened — “wonders” classically, “wonder” (unfoldingWord Literal Text) in modern versions; see the renderings breakdown. 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 H6382 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 →
- 13
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 13 distinct verses.
- 5 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 5 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #2,001
- by frequency
- Top 2500 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 2,001 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 13 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 13 distinct verses.
- Writings (Ketuvim) 9 verses · 69%
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 3 verses · 23%
- Torah (Pentateuch) 1 verse · 8%
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 6×, Wonderful 2×
- American Standard Version: Wonders 6×, Wonderful 2×
- Berean Standard Bible: Wonders 8×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: Wonder 6×, Wonders 3×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H6382 across 13 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 5 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 H6382 across 13 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 5 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 H6382 across 13 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 5 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 H6382 across 13 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 4 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 2 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.
- 1. wonder: extraordinary, hard to be understood, God’s dealings with His people Is 29:14; the testimonies of the Law ψ 119:129; פֶּלֶא יוֹעֵץ Is 9:5 marvel of a counsellor (Baer פֵּלֶא), wonderful counsellor (of Mess. king); pl. as adv. acc. וַתֵּרֶד פ׳ La 1:9 she (Jerus.) hath come down marvellously. e.g. Isaiah 29:14
- 2. wonder: of God’s acts of judgment and redemption ψ 77:12; 88:13; 89:6; עשׂה פ׳ Ex 15:11; Is 25:1 ψ 77:15; 78:12; 88:11; of extraord. trials קֵץ הפ׳ Dn 12:6. e.g. Psalms 77:12
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.m. wonder (NH id.; as unusual, extraordinary);—פ׳ Ex 15:11 + 6 times; sf. פִּלְאֲךָ ψ 89:6; פִּלְאֶ֑ךָ 77:12; 88:13; pl. פְּלָאִים La 1:9; fpl. פְּלָאוֹת ψ 119:129 Dn 12:6;—
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Derived from פלא (pâlâʼ) (H6381) — to be wonderful.
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 11 distinct written forms H6382 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| פֶ֑לֶא | Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | Psalms 77:14 | 2 |
| פֶּ֑לֶא | Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | Isaiah 25:1 | 2 |
| הַ/פְּלָאֽוֹת | Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute | Daniel 12:6 | 1 |
| וָ/פֶ֑לֶא | Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | Isaiah 29:14 | 1 |
| פֶֽלֶא | Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | Exodus 15:11 | 1 |
| פְּלָא֥וֹת | Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute | Psalms 119:129 | 1 |
| פְּלָאִ֔ים | Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute | Lamentations 1:9 | 1 |
| פִּלְאֲ/ךָ֣ | Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct | Psalms 89:5 | 1 |
| פִּלְאֶ֑/ךָ | Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct | Psalms 88:12 | 1 |
| פִּלְאֶֽ/ךָ | Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct | Psalms 77:11 | 1 |
| פֶּ֠לֶא | Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct | Isaiah 9:6 | 1 |
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H6382, 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
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 12 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 13 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.
