To swallow up
בָּלַעStrong’s H1104bala (ba-la)
Appears in 48 verses of the Old Testament
In short
Bala is the Hebrew word usually translated “has swallowed up”, “swallowed” and “it swallowed up”. It appears in 48 verses of the Old Testament.
“And the seven thin ears devoured the seven rank and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and, behold, it was a dream.”
Meaning
- To swallow down, swallow up, engulf, eat up(Qal) · (Niphal) to be swallowed up · (Piel) · (Pual) to be swallowed up · (Hithpael) to be ended
How it's translated
- he has swallowed up 3
- and they swallowed 2
- and it swallowed up 2
- and it swallowed 2
- he swallows 2
- it swallowed up them 1
- as a swallowing 1
- and it will swallow 1
Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.
Where it's used most
- Isaiah 8
- Job 7
- Psalms 7
- Numbers 5
- Lamentations 4
- 2 Samuel 3
15 books in all.
Explore in Scripture
- Genesis 41:24And the thin ears devoured the seven good ears: and I told this unto the magicians; but there was none that could declare it to me.
- Exodus 7:12For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.
- Exodus 15:12Thou stretchedst out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them.
- Numbers 4:20But they shall not go in to see when the holy things are covered, lest they die.
- Numbers 16:30But if the LORD make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD.
- Numbers 16:32And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods.
All 48 verses, by book
Hebrew dictionary
בָּלַע bala · to swallow up
1) to swallow down, swallow up, engulf, eat up 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to swallow down 1a2) to swallow up, engulf 1b) (Niphal) to be swallowed up 1c) (Piel) 1c1) to swallow 1c2) to swallow up, engulf 1c3) squandering (fig.) 1d) (Pual) to be swallowed up 1e) (Hithpael) to be ended
From STEPBible’s Hebrew lexicon (based on Brown-Driver-Briggs).
Webster's 1828 Dictionary
How the English word “swallowed” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.
SWAL'LOWED, participle passive
Taken into the stomach; absorbed; received without scruple; engrossed; wasted; exhausted.
Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). Verse references are checked against the KJV. Read the full entry.
Verses are from the King James Version. Word meanings come from the original Hebrew, not from any one translation.