StrongerBible

goral

גּוֹרָל

HebrewH1486lot, inheritance, ...

Appears 78 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Lev 16:8 (3×)Lev 16:9Lev 16:10Num 26:55Num 26:56Num 33:54 (2×)Num 34:13Num 36:2Num 36:3Jos 14:2Jos 15:1Jos 16:1Jos 17:1Jos 17:14Jos 17:17Jos 18:6Jos 18:8Jos 18:10Jos 18:11 (2×)Jos 19:1Jos 19:10Jos 19:17Jos 19:24Jos 19:32Jos 19:51Jos 21:4Jos 21:5Jos 21:6Jos 21:8Jos 21:20Jos 21:40Jdg 1:3 (2×)Jdg 20:91Ch 6:61(46)1Ch 6:63(48)1Ch 6:65(50)1Ch 24:51Ch 24:311Ch 25:81Ch 26:131Ch 26:14 (2×)Neh 10:34(35)Neh 11:1Est 3:7Psa 16:5Psa 22:18(19)Psa 125:3Pro 1:14Isa 17:14Isa 34:17
Word studygoh-RAHLnoun

What goral means

lot: the object cast to let a decision fall outside human control, and the share or destiny that falls to a person by it

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintySettled

A goral was a small object, probably a pebble or marked stone, that people drew or shook out to settle a question no one could decide on their own. Casting the lot handed the choice to God: the outcome was random to human eyes but understood as His verdict, so it could divide land, assign duties, pick a person, or set a date without anyone being able to argue the result was rigged.

From the object itself the word stretches naturally to what the object produces. Because the lot decided who got which field, goral came to mean the very portion a person received, especially the stretch of land a tribe or family inherited. The thing cast and the thing won by casting it are named by the same word.

In its furthest reach the word leaves the physical lot behind and names the share life itself deals a person: their appointed place, their future, their fate. Here it is no longer a stone in a hand but the whole portion God has measured out, whether a secure inheritance or a coming ruin.

These are not separate words but one idea followed to its end: the lot, the verdict it gives, the portion that verdict assigns, and finally the destiny that portion amounts to.

Nuances

1athe physical lot that is cast or drawn to settle a decision, and the casting itself as a means of letting God decide
Lev 16:8 (3×)Lev 16:9Lev 16:10Jos 18:6Jos 18:8Jos 18:10Jdg 20:91Ch 24:51Ch 24:71Ch 24:311Ch 25:81Ch 25:9
1bthe share assigned by lot, especially the portion of land a tribe or family received as its inheritance
Num 26:55Num 26:56Num 33:54 (2×)Num 34:13Num 36:2Num 36:3Jos 14:2Jos 15:1Jos 16:1Jos 17:1Jos 17:14Jos 17:17
1cthe portion life deals a person: their appointed destiny or fate, whether secure or ruinous
Psa 16:5Psa 125:3Isa 17:14Isa 34:17Isa 57:6Jer 13:25Dan 12:13

What scholars say about goral

The standard lexica (BDB, HALOT, DCH) treat goral as a single word with a developed range that moves by natural metonymy from the physical lot, to the casting of lots as a means of decision, to the portion (especially land) assigned by it, to a person's appointed destiny. TDOT and TWOT trace the same path and stress that in Israel the lot was a sanctioned means of seeking God's decision rather than a magical or chance device, reflected in Proverbs 16:33. The land-allotment language of Numbers and Joshua is the hinge between the procedure and the resulting share; the Psalms and prophets carry the word into the realm of destiny.

Sources

  • BDB, s.v. גּוֹרָלlexicon
  • HALOT, s.v. גּוֹרָלlexicon
  • DCH, s.v. גּוֹרָלlexicon
  • Dommershausen, "גּוֹרָל gôral," TDOT 2:450-456theological-dictionary
  • TWOT, s.v. גּוֹרָל (entry 381a)theological-dictionary

All attested forms of גּוֹרָל

m s absolute

הַגּוֹרָל, גּוֹרָל, בְּגוֹרָל, בַּגּוֹרָל, וְגוֹרָל

Lev 16:9, Lev 16:10, Num 26:56, Num 33:54, Jos 15:1, Jos 16:1, Jos 17:1, Jos 19:1

f p absolute

גּוֹרָלוֹת, בְּגוֹרָלוֹת, וְהַגּוֹרָלוֹת

Lev 16:8, 1Ch 24:31, 1Ch 26:13, 1Ch 26:14, Neh 11:1, Jon 1:7, Jon 1:7, 1Ch 24:5

m s construct

גּוֹרַל, בְּגוֹרַל, גֹּרַל

Jos 18:11, Psa 125:3, Jos 14:2, Num 36:3

m s construct

בְּגוֹרָלֶךָ, גּוֹרָלְךָ, גֹרָלְךָ

Jdg 1:3, Pro 1:14, Dan 12:13

m s construct

גּוֹרָלָם

Jos 18:11, Jos 21:20, Jos 21:40

m s construct

בְגוֹרָלִי, גּוֹרָלִי

Jdg 1:3, Psa 16:5

m s construct

גּוֹרָלֵךְ

Isa 57:6, Jer 13:25

c s absolute

הַגּוֹרָל

Est 3:7

f p construct

גּוֹרָלוֹת

1Ch 25:8

m s construct

גוֹרָלוֹ

1Ch 26:14