Swift
קַלStrong’s H7031qal
Appears in 13 verses of the Old Testament
In short
Qal is the Hebrew word usually translated “swift” and “from a swift”. It appears in 13 verses of the Old Testament.
“And there were three sons of Zeruiah there, Joab, and Abishai, and Asahel: and Asahel was as light of foot as a wild roe.”
Meaning
- Swift, light, fleetswift · one who is swift
How it's translated
- swift 9
- to the swift 1
- the swift 1
- from a swift 1
- and a swift 1
Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.
Where it's used most
- Isaiah 4
- Jeremiah 2
- Amos 2
- 2 Samuel 1
- Job 1
- Ecclesiastes 1
8 books in all.
Explore in Scripture
- Job 24:18He is swift as the waters; their portion is cursed in the earth: he beholdeth not the way of the vineyards.
- Ecclesiastes 9:11I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
- Isaiah 5:26And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth: and, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly:
- Isaiah 18:2That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!
- Isaiah 19:1The burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.
- Isaiah 30:16But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee: and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift.
Hebrew dictionary
קַל qal · swift
1) swift, light, fleet 1a) swift 1b) one who is swift
From STEPBible’s Hebrew lexicon (based on Brown-Driver-Briggs).
Webster's 1828 Dictionary
How the English word “swift” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.
SWIFT, adjective
- Moving a great distance or over a large space in a short time; moving with celerity or velocity; fleet; rapid; quick; speedy.
- Ready; prompt.“Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath” James 1:19
- Speedy; that comes without delay.“There shall be false teachers among you, who shall privily bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction” 2 Peter 2:1
All definitions and other forms of “swift”
SWIFT, noun
The current of a stream. [Little used.]
- In domestic affairs, a reel or turning instrument for winding yarn. [This is a sense directly from the Saxon verb.]
- A bird, a species of swallow, so called from the rapidity of its flight.
- The common newt or eft, a species of lizard.
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.