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קַלַּי

Kallai

BDB lists 2 entries for ‘Kallai’ fuller range ↓

H7040 Strong's Hebrew
Qallay Transliteration
/kal-lah'-ee/ Pronunciation
Usage in the Hebrew Bible 1 appearance

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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 name קלי centers on the idea of “Kallai.” It is rare — just 1 verse in the entire Hebrew Bible. Nehemiah dominates its distribution — 1 of 1 verses. Scripture uses it exactly once, at Nehemiah 12:20. Dig into 1-verse concordance and the renderings breakdown below.

Gloss history

Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship

Strong's · 1890
Kallai
Modern gloss
Kallai
Strong's 1890 agrees
Strong's 1890 and current BDB scholarship align on this entry's primary sense — a good signal that the gloss above is unambiguous and stable. Download share card

About this word

Strong's H7040 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 →

1
distinct verses
The word appears in 1 distinct verse.
1 / 39
OT books
The word appears in 1 of 39 Old Testament books.
Nehemiah 12:20
only appearance
This word occurs only once, in Nehemiah 12:20.
#6,101
by frequency
Rank #6,101 (rank 6,101 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).

View all 1 occurrence in the concordance →


Most concentrated in

By section of the Old Testament

  • Pentateuch 0 · 0%
  • Historical 1 · 100%
  • Wisdom 0 · 0%
  • Prophets 0 · 0%

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 1 distinct verse.

  • Writings (Ketuvim) 1 verse · 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: Kallai 1×
  • American Standard Version: Kallai 1×
  • Berean Standard Bible: Kallai 1×
  • unfoldingWord Literal Text: Kallai 1×

King James Version Public Domain

Renders H7040 across 1 tagged occurrence — most commonly:

  • “Kallai” 1×

American Standard Version Public Domain

Renders H7040 across 1 tagged occurrence — most commonly:

  • “Kallai” 1×

Berean Standard Bible Public Domain

Renders H7040 across 1 tagged occurrence — most commonly:

  • “Kallai” 1×

unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0

Renders H7040 across 1 tagged occurrence — most commonly:

  • “Kallai” 1×

Senses in BDB

The 2 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.

  1. Kallai = "swift"
  2. a priest of the family of Sallai in the time of Nehemiah

Word origin

קַלַּי n.pr.m. priest Ne 12:20

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

Derived from קלל (qâlal) (H7043) — to be light.

Part of speech: Proper Name Masculine


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.

קַל III

  • c. = h. קוֹל, voice, sound; rumor. Targ. Ez. XI, 13. Targ. Gen. XXVII, 22. Targ. Ps. XCII, 12; a. fr.—M. Kat. 18ᵇ ק׳ דלא פסיק, v. פְּסַק. B. Bath. 5ᵃ רמא ביה ק׳ raised his voice against him (rebuked him). Y. Kil. IX, 32ᵇ top [read:] ואזל ק׳ דקרעין לגופפתה and the sound of (the lamentations at) the rending of garments went as far as Gof’fatha; Y. Keth. XII, 35ᵃ ואזיל קָלָה לקרעין וכ׳ (corr. acc.); a. fr.—בת ק׳, ברת ק׳ = h. בת קול (v. בַּת I) divine voice. Targ. Y. Gen. XXXVIII, 26; a. e.—Snh. 96ᵇ נפקת בת ק׳ (not נפקא ק׳) a divine voice came forth; a. fr.—Pl. קָלַיָּא, קָלִין, קָלֵי. Targ. Ex. IX, 23. Ib. 29; a. fr.—Targ. Ps. XCIII, 4 קָלָן.—B. Mets. 85ᵃ מעבר ליה קָלֵיה לקָלַיְהוּ the sound of his cry (in pain) drowned their (the beasts’) voices. R. Hash. 27ᵃ תרי ק׳ two simultaneous (or immediately consecutive) sounds; a. e.

קַלֵּי

  • (καλή) handsome. Ex. R. s. 52, end, a. e., v. נִינְפֵי.

קַלִּי

  • adv. (apocop. of קליל), ק׳ ק׳ little by little, slowly. Erub. 51ᵃ כי מסגי ק׳ ק׳ when he walks step by step, opp. רהט. Sabb. 153ᵇ דוקא רץ אבל ק׳ ק׳ לא only when one runs (is it permitted), but when one walks leisurely is it not?

קלי

  • (b. h.) to be light, disregarded.
    • (by ref. to ונקלה, Deut. XXV, 3) to disgrace (one’s self), to have loose bowels; to collapse under the lashes. Macc. 23ᵃ ק׳ בין בראשונה וכ׳ if he collapses either at the first or at the second lash, he must be released. Tosef. ib. V (IV), 14 אם קי׳ באחד מהן if he collapsed at one of them. Ib. ק׳ עד שלא לקה if he collapsed (from fear) before receiving lashes. Ib. אמדוהו שאם ילקה וקי׳ (Var. יקלקל) if the experts opine that he will collapse, when he is lashed; שאם יוצא מב"ד קי׳ (Var. וקלקל) that he will collapse on leaving the court; Macc. l. c. יְקַלֶּה Ms. M. (or יִקָּלֶה; ed. קלה). Ib. והכהו … ולא שיקלה כבר וכ׳ Ms. M. (ed. שלקה, corr. acc.; Var. שנִקְלָה) we read, ‘lest if he should exceed …, thy brother be disgraced’, but he must not be beaten at all, if he has collapsed in court ere this; Yalk. Deut. 937 שנקלה וכ׳; a. e. e.g. Deuteronomy 25:3
    • to be disgraced. Ib. כפתוהו … מ"ט ונקלה והא נ׳ if he runs away from court after they have tied him, he is released; why? The text says, v’niḳlah, and he has been disgraced; Macc. l. c. Ms. M. (not in ed.), v. supra; a. e.

קְלֵי

  • , to be disgraced. Targ. O. Deut. XXV, 3 ויִקְלֵי Ms. III (ed. Berl. ויִקַּל, oth. ed. ויֵקַל, fr. קְלַל).
    • to hold in light esteem, revile. Targ. O. Deut. XXVII, 16 דִּיקַלֵּי ed. Berl. (oth. ed. דיַקְלֵי; ed. Vien. דיִקְלֵי, corr. acc.; Regia דיֵקַל fr. קְלל; v. Berl. Targ. O. II, p. 57).

קלי ²

  • to consume, burn; to roast, parch. Sifra Vayikra, N’dab., ch. XIV, Par. 13 אפשר יִקְלֶנּוּ גרש the text might have meant that one must parch it as grit; יקלנו אביב one must parch it in the ear. Pes. 75ᵃ ונִקְלֶהָ, v. next w.—Part. pass. קָלוּי. Sifra l. c., v. קָלִי. Men. 66ᵇ אם אביב ק׳ אם גרש ק׳ whether parched in the ear or as grit; a. e.
    • to consume one’s self in longing. Cant. R. to III, 11 מִתְקַלְהָא, v. קָהָה.

קְלֵי ²

  • Targ. Jer. XXIX, 22. Targ. O. Num. XXI, 6 חיוין קָלָן (h. text הנחשים השרפים); a. fr.—[Targ. Hos. IX, 16 דקלא, read as ed. Lag. דילְקָא.]—Part. pass. קְלֵי, קָלִי; קַלְיָא. Targ. Lev. II, 14. Targ. I Sam. XXX, 3; a. e.—Pes. 75ᵃ נקיף … ונִיקַלְיָיהּ Ms. M. (ed. ונקלה) (may we not understand the text so) that we put bundles of twigs around her and burn her to death? B. Mets. 74ᵃ הא מחוסר מִקְלֵי ואפוקי וכ׳ (some ed. מִקְלֵה) but it (the lime) lacks burning and taking out of the kiln and crushing! Snh. 31ᵃ, sq. אי בעיא קלְתֵיה if she wanted, she might have burned it (the document). Ḥull. 52ᵇ לא קָלֵי זיהריה, v. זִיהֲרָא II. Ab. Zar. 28ᵃ קְלַנְהִי אמרא וכ׳ roast them on a new shovel. Snh. 96ᵇ היכלא קליא קְלִית a burnt temple thou didst burn (v. טְחַן); a. fr.—Trnsf. to expose to the evil eye or to the covetousness of thieves. B. Mets. 30ᵃ דמִקְלָא קָלֵי לה וכ׳ (by exhibiting the found object) he exposes it to loss through the evil eye or through thieves.
    • to be burnt. Snh. l. c. מטא … היכלא מִיקְּלֵי the time has arrived for the sanctuary to be destroyed and the Temple to be burnt.

קָלִי

  • preced.) parched ears. Men. X, 4 (66ᵃ) כדי לקיים בו מצות ק׳ in order to comply with the law requiring it to be parched (Lev. II, 14); Sifra Vayikra, N’dab., ch. XIV, Par. 13 קָלוּי (v. קָלָה II). Men. 66ᵇ אין לשון ק׳ אלא דבר אחר Ms. M. (v. Rabb. D. S. a. l. note, a. Yalk. Lev. 456) by ḳoli (parched) we understand the intercession of something else between the fire and the object to be affected by it; קליל וכ׳ (דבר) ל"א אין לשון ק׳ אלא another version reads: by ḳoli we understand, parched in a vessel (in something hollow); how is this? A tube for parching grain was there &c. Sifra Emor ch. XI, Par. 10 קמח ק׳ flour made of parched grain; Men. X, 5 קמח וק׳ (Bab. ed. 67ᵇ קמח ק׳); Pes. 10ᵇ bot. קמח וק׳ (corr. acc.). Ib. 11ᵃ מק׳ ואילך from the time the grain is parched and onward (when the soft grain is unfit for immediate consumption); עד ק׳ up to the time when grain can be parched; Men. 68ᵃ. Sabb. 155ᵇ אין גובלין את הק׳ you must not mix flour of parched grains (with oil &c., on the Sabbath). Tosef. Pes. II (III), 4 ק׳ שירד לתוכו דלף (not לתוכה) parched grain on which drippings have fallen; a. fr.—Pl. קְלָיוֹת, קְלָאִים, קְלָאִין. Men. 66ᵇ אבוב של ק׳ (not אביב); Kel. II, 3; Sifra Vayikra, l. c.; Yalk. Lev. 456, v. אַבּוּב. Keth. II, 1 חלוק ק׳, v. חִילּוּק. Y. ib. 28ᵇ top בתולה … אין לה חילוק ק׳ at the wedding of a virgin that had been married before, no distribution of roasted ears takes place; a. fr. e.g. Leviticus 2:14

קָלִי ²

  • Targ. Lev. XXIII, 14 (Y. ed. Amst. קְלִי). Targ. Ruth II, 14. Targ. I Sam. XVII, 17 (some ed. קָלְיָא). Ib. XXV, 18 (ed. Wil. קָלַיָּא pl.).—V. קוּלְיָא I.

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.


Same root — word family

Other BDB entries built from the same root as H7040, 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

Compare all same-root words → Showing 4 of 6 — not the complete family. They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.


Bible dictionary

Public-domain dictionary articles matched to this entry by name (Kallai). A biblical name can be shared by more than one person or place, so an article may treat several.

Smith's Bible Dictionary · William Smith, 1863

(swift servant of Jehovah), a priest in the days of Joiakim the son of Jeshua. He represented the family of Sallai. (Nehemiah 12:20) (B.C. after 536.)

Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary · Roswell D. Hitchcock, 1869

light; resting by fire; my voice

Classic public-domain reference works; full attribution on Sources.

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