StrongerBible

ma'al

מַעַל

HebrewH4604“trespass, unfaithfulness, ...”

Appears 28 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Lev 5:15Lev 6:2(5:21)Lev 26:40Num 5:6Num 5:12Num 5:27Num 31:16Jos 7:1Jos 22:16Jos 22:20Jos 22:22Jos 22:311Ch 9:11Ch 10:132Ch 29:192Ch 33:192Ch 36:14Ezr 9:2Ezr 9:4Ezr 10:6Job 21:34Ezk 14:13Ezk 15:8Ezk 17:20Ezk 18:24Ezk 20:27Ezk 39:26Dan 9:7
Root family
Word studyMAH-alnoun

What ma'al means

a treacherous breach of faith: a betrayal of a bond one was trusted to keep, toward God or toward another person

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintyStrong

This word names an act of treachery. Not just any wrong, but the specific wrong of betraying a trust that someone was counted on to keep. A person commits it by breaking faith with God, by laying hands on what is holy, or by deceiving a neighbor who trusted them. The common thread is the broken bond, which is why English Bibles reach for words like trespass, unfaithfulness, treachery, and transgression to translate it.

Most often the betrayed party is God. Israel's covenant is treated as a bond of loyalty, so idolatry, rebellion, and abandoning the LORD are all called this kind of treachery. A striking sub-use is sacrilege: taking or misusing something set apart for God, whether the devoted spoils of a captured city or the vessels of the temple, counts as a breach of faith because those things belonged to him.

The same word also covers betrayal between people. Cheating a neighbor by swearing a false oath over a deposit, or a wife being unfaithful to her husband, are each this treachery on a human scale. In one poetic case the word describes faithless, unreliable speech. Across all of these the core holds steady: a trust was given, and it was broken.

Nuances

1abreaking faith with God: covenant treachery, idolatry, and rebellion against the LORD
Lev 26:40Num 31:16Jos 22:16Jos 22:22Jos 22:311Ch 9:11Ch 10:132Ch 33:192Ch 36:14Ezr 9:2Ezr 9:4Ezr 10:6
1bsacrilege: seizing or misusing what is holy or set apart for God
Lev 5:15Jos 7:1Jos 22:202Ch 29:19
1cbetraying a fellow person's trust: cheating a neighbor by a false oath, or a wife's unfaithfulness to her husband
Lev 6:2(5:21)Num 5:6Num 5:12Num 5:27
1dfaithless falsehood: treacherous, unreliable words
Job 21:34

What scholars say about ma'al

The lexica (HALOT, BDB) gloss מַעַל as an unfaithful or treacherous act, a breach of faith, occurring most often in the cognate accusative construction with the verb מָעַל. BDB organizes the noun by the party wronged: against God (including the appropriation of devoted or sacred things, i.e. sacrilege), against a husband, and, in Job 21:34, faithlessness in speech. Jacob Milgrom's influential study argues that the term's primary and unifying sense is sacrilege, the desecration or encroachment on what belongs to another party, extended from the cultic sphere to covenant and to sworn interpersonal obligations; TDOT and the Priestly and Chronicler usage support the strong sacral coloring, especially in Leviticus and Chronicles. The concept is prominent in the guilt-offering legislation (Leviticus 5) and in the Chronicler's theology of exile as the consequence of accumulated מַעַל.

Where scholars disagree about ma'al

Whether the core sense of maʿal is specifically sacrilege (encroachment on what belongs to another, chiefly God's sacred sphere) or the broader notion of a treacherous breach of faith, from which the cultic use is one application.

  • majorityThe word denotes a breach of faith or treachery generally, with sacrilege being the special case when the trust violated is God's holy things.; BDB, s.v. מַעַל; HALOT, s.v. מַעַל
  • minorityThe word's primary and unifying meaning is sacrilege, the desecration of or encroachment on what belongs to another, extended from the cultic realm to covenant and sworn obligations.; Jacob Milgrom, 'The Concept of Maʿal in the Bible and the Ancient Near East,' Journal of the American Oriental Society 96 (1976): 236-247

Sources

  • HALOT, s.v. מַעַלlexicon
  • BDB, s.v. מַעַלlexicon
  • Jacob Milgrom, 'The Concept of Maʿal in the Bible and the Ancient Near East,' Journal of the American Oriental Society 96 (1976): 236-247article
  • Jacob Milgrom, Leviticus 1-16 (Anchor Bible 3), 345-356commentary
  • TDOT, s.v. מעל (maʿal)lexicon

AI-generated word study · claude-opus-4-8

All attested forms of מַעַל

m s absolute

מַעַל, מַּעַל, מָעַל

Lev 5:15, Lev 6:2, Num 5:6, Num 5:27, Num 31:16, Jos 7:1, Jos 22:20, Jos 22:22

m s construct

מַעֲלוֹ, מַעְלוֹ

1Ch 10:13, 2Ch 29:19, Ezk 17:20, Ezk 18:24, 2Ch 33:19

m s construct

מַעֲלָם

Lev 26:40, 1Ch 9:1, Ezk 39:26, Dan 9:7

m s construct

מַעַל

Ezr 9:4, Ezr 10:6