To roll
גָּלַלStrong’s H1556galal (ga-lal)
Appears in 18 verses of the Old Testament
In short
Galal is the Hebrew word usually translated “roll”, “rolled” and “people will roll”. It appears in 18 verses of the Old Testament.
“And thither were all the flocks gathered: and they rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the sheep, and put the stone again upon the well’s mouth in his place.”
Meaning
- To roll, roll away, roll down, roll together(Qal) to roll · (Niphal) · (Pilpel) to roll · (Poal) to be rolled · (Hithpoel) to roll oneself · (Hithpalpel) to roll oneself · (Hiphil) to roll away
How it's translated
- roll 5
- and they rolled 1
- and people will roll 1
- and he rolled 1
- to roll himself 1
- i have rolled away 1
- wallowing 1
- they have rolled themselves 1
Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.
Where it's used most
- Genesis 4
- Psalms 3
- Joshua 2
- Proverbs 2
- Isaiah 2
- 1 Samuel 1
10 books in all.
Related words
Explore in Scripture
- Genesis 29:8And they said, We cannot, until all the flocks be gathered together, and till they roll the stone from the well’s mouth; then we water the sheep.
- Genesis 29:10And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, that Jacob went near, and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother.
- Genesis 43:18And the men were afraid, because they were brought into Joseph’s house; and they said, Because of the money that was returned in our sacks at the first time are we brought in; that he may seek occasion against us, and fall upon us, and take us for bondmen, and our asses.
- Joshua 5:9And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you. Wherefore the name of the place is called Gilgal unto this day.
- Joshua 10:18And Joshua said, Roll great stones upon the mouth of the cave, and set men by it for to keep them:
- 1 Samuel 14:33Then they told Saul, saying, Behold, the people sin against the LORD, in that they eat with the blood. And he said, Ye have transgressed: roll a great stone unto me this day.
Hebrew dictionary
גָּלַל galal · to roll
1) to roll, roll away, roll down, roll together 1a) (Qal) to roll 1b) (Niphal) 1b1) to roll up 1b2) to flow down 1c) (Pilpel) to roll 1d) (Poal) to be rolled 1e) (Hithpoel) to roll oneself 1f) (Hithpalpel) to roll oneself 1g) (Hiphil) to roll away Aramaic equivalent: ge.lal (גְּלָל "great" H1560)
From STEPBible’s Hebrew lexicon (based on Brown-Driver-Briggs).
Webster's 1828 Dictionary
How the English word “roll” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.
ROLL, verb transitive
[It is usual to consider this word as formed by contraction from the Latin rotula, a little wheel, from rota.]
- To move by turning on the surface, or with a circular motion in which all parts of the surface are successively applied to a plane; as, to roll a barrel or puncheon; to roll a stone or ball.
- To revolve; to turn on its axis; as, to roll a wheel or a planet.
- To move in a circular direction.
- To wrap round on itself; to form into a circular or cylindrical body; as, to roll a piece of cloth; to roll a sheet of paper; to roll parchment; to roll tobacco.
All definitions and other forms of “roll”
- To enwrap; to bind or involve in a bandage or the like.
- To form by rolling into round masses.
- To drive or impel any body with a circular motion, or to drive forward with violence or in a stream.
- To spread with a roller or rolling pin; as, to roll paste.
- To produce a periodical revolution.
- To press or level with a roller; as, to roll a field.
ROLL, verb intransitive
- To move by turning on the surface, or with the successive application of all parts of the surface to a plane; as, a ball or a wheel rolls on the earth; a body rolls on an inclined plane.
- To move, turn or run on an axis; as a wheel. [In this sense, revolve is more generally used.
- To run on wheels.
- To revolve; to perform a periodical revolution; as the rolling year.
- To turn; to move circularly.
- To float in rough water; to be tossed about.
- To move, as waves or billows, with alternate swells and depressions.
- To fluctuate; to move tumultuously.
- To be moved with violence; to be hurled.
- To be formed into a cylinder or ball; as, the cloth rolls well.
- To spread under a roller or rolling pin.
- To wallow; to tumble; as, a horse rolls.
- To rock or move from side; as, a ship rolls in a calm.
- To beat a drum with strokes so rapid that they can scarcely be distinguished by the ear.
ROLL, noun
- The act of rolling, or state of being rolled; as the roll of a ball.
- The thing rolling.
- A mass made round; something like a ball or cylinder; as a roll of fat; a roll of wool.
- A roller; a cylinder of wood, iron or stone; as a roll to break clods.
- A quantity of cloth wound into a cylindrical form; as a roll of woolen or satin; a roll of lace.
- A cylindrical twist of tobacco.
- An official writing; a list; a register; a catalogue; as a muster-roll; a court roll
- The beating of a drum with strokes so rapid as scarcely to be distinguished by the ear.
- Rolls of court, of parliament, or of any public body, are the parchments on which are engrossed, by the proper officer, the acts and proceedings of that body, and which being kept in rolls, constitute the records of such public body.
- In antiquity, a volume; a book consisting of leaf, bark, paper, skin or other material on which the ancients wrote, and which being kept rolled or folded, was called in Latin volume, from volvo, to roll Hence.
- A chronicle; history; annals.
- Part; office; that is, round of duty, like turn. obsolete
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.