StrongerBible

ma'al

מָעַל

HebrewH4603act unfaithfully, commit a trespass, ...

Appears 36 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Lev 5:15Lev 6:2(5:21)Lev 26:40Num 5:6Num 5:12Num 5:27Deu 32:51Jos 7:1Jos 22:16Jos 22:20Jos 22:311Ch 2:71Ch 5:251Ch 10:132Ch 12:22Ch 26:162Ch 26:182Ch 28:19 (2×)2Ch 28:222Ch 29:62Ch 30:72Ch 36:14Ezr 10:2Ezr 10:10Neh 1:8Neh 13:27Pro 16:10Ezk 14:13Ezk 15:8Ezk 17:20Ezk 18:24Ezk 20:27Ezk 39:23Ezk 39:26Dan 9:7
Root family
Word studyma-ALverb

What ma'al means

to break faith: to betray a trust one is bound to keep, acting treacherously against the party owed loyalty

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintySettled

This verb is the language of betrayal. It does not name an ordinary sin or mistake; it names the breaking of a bond that one was obligated to honor, so the wrong is felt as treachery by the party who trusted. In the Bible that party is almost always God, and the act is breaking covenant with him: turning to other gods, defying his word, defiling his sanctuary, or holding back what is his.

The word travels in a tight circle of settings. It is the priestly term for sacrilege, the wrong of laying hands on what has been set apart as holy or devoted to God, as when Achan took plunder under a ban. It is the prophets' and the Chronicler's verdict on a nation that abandoned the LORD, the charge that explains why the land was laid waste and the people carried off. And in one striking case it describes a wife who is unfaithful to her husband, treating the most intimate human bond the way Israel treated its bond with God.

Underneath every use is the same idea: a relationship carried a real claim, and that claim was violated by the one bound to it. English splits this across several words, and the matching noun from the same root often stands right beside it, so the phrase reads literally as breaking faith with a breach of faith. The senses below are shades of one act, not separate words.

Nuances

1ato break faith with God: to be unfaithful to the LORD by abandoning, defying, or betraying the covenant bond with him
Lev 6:2(5:21)Lev 26:40Num 5:6Deu 32:51Jos 22:16Jos 22:311Ch 5:251Ch 10:132Ch 12:22Ch 28:19 (2×)2Ch 28:222Ch 29:6
1bto violate something holy: to commit sacrilege by taking, withholding, or misusing what has been set apart as devoted or sacred to God
CertaintyStrong
Lev 5:15Jos 7:1Jos 22:201Ch 2:72Ch 26:162Ch 26:18
1cto be unfaithful to a spouse: for a wife to break faith with her husband
Num 5:12Num 5:27

What scholars say about ma'al

The standard lexica (BDB, HALOT, DCH) treat מעל as a single root meaning to act unfaithfully or treacherously, denominative from or cognate with the noun מַעַל, and the two regularly pair in the cognate-accusative idiom מָעַל מַעַל. Usage clusters heavily in the priestly material, Chronicles, Ezra-Nehemiah, and Ezekiel, where it functions as a near-technical term for breach of covenant with Yahweh and, in the priestly law, specifically for sacrilege against the sancta or devoted things (the Achan narrative; Lev 5:15). Numbers 5:12, 27 extends it to marital infidelity, the wife breaking faith with her husband, widely read as an analogue to Israel's covenant unfaithfulness. Proverbs 16:10, the only clearly non-cultic instance and lacking a divine object, is debated; some take it as the king's mouth not dealing falsely in judgment. TDOT (Ringgren) develops the term's role in the theology of guilt and sancta-trespass.

Sources

  • HALOT, s.v. מעלlexicon
  • BDB, s.v. מעלlexicon
  • DCH, s.v. מעלlexicon
  • J. Milgrom, Cult and Conscience: The Asham and the Priestly Doctrine of Repentance (Leiden: Brill, 1976)monograph
  • TDOT, s.v. מעל (māʿal)theological-dictionary

All attested forms of מָעַל

qal perfect 3cp

מָעֲלוּ

Lev 26:40, 2Ch 12:2, 2Ch 29:6, 2Ch 30:7, Ezk 15:8, Ezk 39:23, Ezk 39:26, Dan 9:7

qal infinitive-construct construct

מְעָל, מְעֹל, מְעוֹל, מַעֲלָ

2Ch 36:14, Ezk 14:13, Num 5:6, Neh 13:27, 2Ch 28:22, Ezk 20:27

qal perfect 3ms

מָעַל, מַעַל

Jos 22:20, 1Ch 2:7, 1Ch 10:13, Ezk 17:20, Ezk 18:24, 2Ch 28:19

qal perfect 2mp

מְעַלְתֶּם

Deu 32:51, Jos 22:16, Jos 22:31, Ezr 10:10

qal consecutive-imperfect 3mp

וַיִּמְעֲלוּ

Jos 7:1, 1Ch 5:25

qal consecutive-perfect 3fs

וּמָעֲלָה

Lev 6:2, Num 5:12

qal consecutive-imperfect 3fs

וַתִּמְעֹל

Num 5:27

qal consecutive-imperfect 3ms

וַיִּמְעַל

2Ch 26:16

qal imperfect 2mp

תִּמְעָלוּ

Neh 1:8

qal imperfect 3fs

תִמְעֹל

Lev 5:15

qal imperfect 3ms

יִמְעַל

Pro 16:10

qal infinitive-absolute absolute

מָעוֹל

2Ch 28:19

qal perfect 1cp

מָעַלְנוּ

Ezr 10:2

qal perfect 2ms

מָעַלְתָּ

2Ch 26:18