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gadol

גָּדוֹל

HebrewH1419great, large, ...

Appears 526 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Gen 1:16 (2×)Gen 1:21Gen 4:13Gen 10:12Gen 10:21Gen 12:2Gen 12:17Gen 15:12Gen 15:14Gen 15:18Gen 17:20Gen 18:18Gen 19:11Gen 20:9Gen 21:8Gen 21:18Gen 27:1Gen 27:15Gen 27:33Gen 27:34Gen 27:42Gen 29:2Gen 29:7Gen 29:16Gen 39:9 (2×)Gen 39:14Gen 45:7Exo 3:3Exo 6:6Exo 7:4Exo 11:6Exo 12:30Exo 14:31Exo 15:16Exo 18:22Num 13:28Num 22:18Num 34:7Num 35:25Num 35:28 (2×)Deu 1:7Deu 1:28Deu 4:34Deu 4:36Deu 4:38Deu 6:10Deu 6:22Deu 7:19Deu 9:1 (2×)Deu 10:21
Root family
Word studyga-DOLEadjective

What gadol means

great: large in size, high in degree, or high in rank, depending on what it describes

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintySettled

This is the ordinary word for "great" in Hebrew, and it stretches the way "great" and "big" stretch in English. Its core idea is that something far exceeds the normal measure, and what kind of measure it exceeds is decided by the thing it is attached to. A river or a stone is great in size. A fear, a cry, or a sin is great in degree. A person or a nation is great in standing. A voice is great in volume. The word itself does not change meaning across these; the noun it modifies tells you which scale is in view.

The senses below are these different scales, not different words. Hebrew leans on this one adjective where English reaches for a fistful of options (large, loud, mighty, intense, important, elder). That is why it is worth laying the senses out: a translator must choose, but the Hebrew left them fused.

Two of the senses are worth singling out because English does not reuse "great" for them at all. When the word describes a voice or a sound it means loud, and when it contrasts with the word for "small" applied to people it usually means older or more senior rather than physically big. Both are still the same claim, that this one ranks high on its own scale.

When the word is applied to God, it carries the full weight of every scale at once and becomes a confession rather than a measurement: the great God is the one who outstrips all comparison.

Nuances

1alarge: great in physical size or extent
Gen 1:16 (2×)Gen 1:21Gen 15:14Gen 15:18Gen 21:8Gen 29:7Num 34:6Num 34:7Deu 25:13Deu 25:14Jos 24:261Ki 7:10
1bintense: great in degree or force, as a fear, a cry, an evil, or an act
Gen 4:13Gen 15:12Gen 20:9Gen 27:33Gen 27:34Gen 39:9 (2×)Exo 11:6Exo 32:11Exo 32:21Exo 32:30Deu 4:34Deu 7:19
1cloud: great in volume, of a voice, shout, or sound
Gen 39:14Deu 5:22Jos 6:51Sa 4:51Sa 7:101Sa 28:122Sa 15:232Sa 19:41Ki 8:551Ki 18:271Ki 18:282Ki 18:28
1dimportant: great in rank, power, or standing, of a person or a nation
Gen 12:2Gen 18:18Gen 39:9 (2×)Exo 11:3Lev 19:15Num 14:122Sa 7:92Ki 10:62Ki 10:11Jer 5:5Jon 3:5Jon 3:7
1eolder or more senior: the elder of two
Gen 10:21Gen 27:1Gen 27:15Gen 27:42Gen 29:16Gen 44:121Sa 17:281Ki 2:22
1fgreat as a confession of God: surpassing all comparison
Exo 18:11Deu 7:21Deu 10:171Sa 12:221Ki 8:421Ch 16:252Ch 2:52Ch 6:32Psa 86:10Psa 95:3Psa 96:4Psa 145:3

Uncategorized

Awaiting AI sense categorization.

12 verses
Gen 10:12Gen 12:17Gen 29:2Gen 45:7Exo 6:6Exo 7:4Exo 12:30Exo 14:31Exo 15:16Exo 32:31Num 13:28Num 22:18

What scholars say about gadol

Standard lexica (BDB, HALOT, DCH) treat gadol as a single common adjective "great" whose force is set by the noun it modifies, ranging over size, degree or intensity, volume (loud), and rank or standing, with a regular idiom for the elder or senior member of a group (set against qaton/qatan, "small/younger"). It is the adjective built on the root g-d-l, "to be great," and is closely tied to the verb gadal and the abstract noun gedullah "greatness." Theological dictionaries (TDOT, TWOT) note its prominent use in confessing the greatness of God and in the formula "a great nation" within the promises to the patriarchs. The proper-noun fragments in some parsing schemes ("the Great Sea," the personal names Haggedolim and Gedaliah-like forms) are this same adjective absorbed into names, not separate words.

Sources

  • Brown, Driver, Briggs, Hebrew and English Lexicon, s.v. גָּדוֹלlexicon
  • Koehler, Baumgartner, HALOT, s.v. גָּדוֹלlexicon
  • Clines (ed.), Dictionary of Classical Hebrew, s.v. גָּדוֹלlexicon
  • Botterweck, Ringgren (eds.), TDOT, vol. 2, article on gādal / gādôltheological-dictionary
  • Harris, Archer, Waltke (eds.), TWOT, entry on gādaltheological-dictionary

All attested forms of גָּדוֹל

m s absolute

גָּדוֹל, גָּדֹל

Gen 4:13, Gen 10:21, Gen 12:2, Gen 15:14, Gen 17:20, Gen 18:18, Gen 19:11, Gen 21:8

f s absolute

גְּדוֹלָה, גְּדֹלָה

Num 22:18, Deu 4:36, Deu 25:13, Deu 25:14, Jos 6:5, Jos 6:20, Jos 10:2, Jos 10:2

f p absolute

גְּדֹלוֹת, גְּדֹלֹת, גְּדוֹלֹת

Deu 27:2, Deu 28:59, Jos 10:11, Jos 10:18, Jos 10:27, Jos 14:12, Jos 24:17, 1Ki 4:13

m p absolute

גְּדֹלִים, גְּדוֹלִים

Gen 1:16, Gen 1:21, Gen 12:17, Exo 6:6, Exo 7:4, Deu 4:34, Deu 4:38, Deu 6:22

m s construct

גְּדָל, גְּדוֹל, גְּדֹל

Psa 145:8, Pro 19:19, Nam 1:3, Ezk 17:3, Ezk 17:7, Exo 15:16, Jer 32:19

m s construct

גְּדוֹלָם

Jer 6:13, Jer 31:34, Jon 3:5

m p construct

גְּדֹלָיו

2Ki 10:11, Jon 3:7

c s absolute

גָּדוֹל

2Ch 2:9

m p construct

גְּדֹלֵי

2Ki 10:6

m p construct

גְּדוֹלֶיהָ

Nam 3:10

noun

הַגְּדוֹלִים

Neh 11:14