To pray
פָּלַלStrong’s H6419palal (pa-lal)
Appears in 82 verses of the Old Testament
In short
Palal is the Hebrew word usually translated “prayed”, “pray” and “praying”. It appears in 82 verses of the Old Testament.
“And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments;”
Meaning
- To intervene, interpose, pray(Piel) to mediate, judge · (Hithpael)
How it's translated
- and he prayed 16
- and they will pray 9
- to pray 8
- and i prayed 5
- pray 4
- and pray 4
- praying 3
- he will pray 3
Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.
Where it's used most
- 2 Chronicles 14
- 1 Samuel 10
- 1 Kings 10
- Jeremiah 10
- Isaiah 7
- 2 Kings 6
18 books in all.
Explore in Scripture
- Daniel 9:20In contextAnd whiles I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God;
- Genesis 20:7Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine.
- Genesis 20:17So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children.
- Genesis 48:11And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face: and, lo, God hath shewed me also thy seed.
- Numbers 11:2And the people cried unto Moses; and when Moses prayed unto the LORD, the fire was quenched.
- Numbers 21:7Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
All 82 verses, by book
Hebrew dictionary
פָּלַל palal · to pray
1) to intervene, interpose, pray 1a) (Piel) to mediate, judge 1b)(Hithpael) 1b1) to intercede 1b2) to pray
From STEPBible’s Hebrew lexicon (based on Brown-Driver-Briggs).
Webster's 1828 Dictionary
How the English word “pray” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.
PRAY, verb intransitive
[Latin precor; proco; this word belongs to the same family as preach and reproach; Heb. to bless, to reproach; rendered in, to curse; properly, to reproach, to rail at or upbraid. In Latin the word precor signifies to supplicate good or evil, and precis signifies a prayer and a curse. See Imprecate.]
- To ask with earnestness or zeal, as for a favor, or for something desirable; to entreat; to supplicate.“PRAY for them who despitefully use you and persecute you” Matthew 5:44
- To petition; to ask, as for a favor; as in application to a legislative body.
- In worship, to address the Supreme Being with solemnity and reverence, with adoration, confession of sins, supplication for mercy, and thanksgiving for blessings received.“When thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father who is in secret, and thy Father who seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly” Matthew 6:6
- I pray that is, I pray you tell me, or let me know, is a common mode of introducing a question.
All definitions and other forms of “pray”
PRAY, verb transitive
To supplicate; to entreat; to urge.
- “We pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God” 2 Corinthians 5:20
- In worship, to supplicate; to implore; to ask with reverence and humility.“Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thy heart may be forgiven thee” Acts 8:22
- To petition.
- To ask or intreat in ceremony or form.
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.