StrongerBible

mishqal

מִשְׁקָל

HebrewH4948weight

Appears 49 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Gen 24:22 (2×)Gen 43:21Lev 19:35Lev 26:26Num 7:13Num 7:19Num 7:25Num 7:31Num 7:37Num 7:43Num 7:49Num 7:55Num 7:61Num 7:67Num 7:73Num 7:79Jos 7:21Jdg 8:261Sa 17:52Sa 21:16 (2×)1Ki 7:471Ki 10:142Ki 25:161Ch 20:21Ch 21:251Ch 22:31Ch 22:141Ch 28:14 (2×)1Ch 28:15 (3×)1Ch 28:161Ch 28:17 (2×)1Ch 28:182Ch 3:92Ch 4:182Ch 9:13Ezr 8:30Ezr 8:34 (2×)
Root family
Names & words formed with this
Word studymish-KAWLnoun

What mishqal means

weight: how heavy something is, the amount measured out on a scale

TranslatabilityDirectCertaintySettled

This word answers the question "how much does it weigh?" It names the heaviness of a thing as something you could put on a balance and measure, almost always reported in the standard units of the day (shekels and talents of gold, silver, or bronze). When the Bible weighs out the gold for a bride's jewelry, the bronze for the temple, a king's crown, a giant's armor, or a man's yearly tribute, this is the word it reaches for.

A second, closely related use turns from the weight of an object to the act of measuring by weight. To give something out "by weight" is to hand it over carefully measured rather than freely, which is why the same word can carry a note of honest dealing when the law forbids cheating with weights, and a note of scarcity when bread is doled out by weight in a famine. These are not separate words but two angles on one idea: the first names the heaviness itself, the second names the careful weighing of it.

Because biblical economies ran on weighed metal long before stamped coins, weight here is rarely a dry physical fact. It is tied to value, to fairness, and to the worth of precious things, so the word sits at the meeting point of measurement, money, and justice.

Nuances

1athe weight of a particular object, usually given in shekels or talents
Gen 24:22 (2×)Gen 43:21Jos 7:21Jdg 8:261Sa 17:52Sa 12:302Sa 21:16 (2×)1Ki 7:471Ki 10:141Ch 20:21Ch 21:251Ch 28:14 (2×)
1bthe measuring of something by weight, whether for honest dealing or for careful rationing
Lev 19:35Lev 26:261Ch 22:31Ch 22:14Job 28:25Ezk 4:16Ezk 5:1

What scholars say about mishqal

Standard lexica treat mishqal as a deverbal noun from the root shaqal "to weigh," with the unified sense "weight," and note the secondary nuance "act of weighing." BDB glosses it "weight" and groups the metallurgical and economic occurrences together; HALOT lists "weight" and "weighing," with the bulk of attestations specifying weights of gold, silver, and bronze in temple, tribute, and trade contexts (the Numbers 7 dedication offerings, Chronicles' temple inventories, Goliath's armor in 1 Samuel 17:5). The word presupposes the pre-coinage economy in which value was reckoned by weighed metal, so its semantic field overlaps measurement, money, and the legal demand for honest balances (Leviticus 19:35). It is not regarded as polysemous in the strong sense; the lexica record one meaning with contextual shading.

Sources

  • BDB, s.v. מִשְׁקָלlexicon
  • HALOT, s.v. מִשְׁקָלlexicon

All attested forms of מִשְׁקָל

m s absolute

מִשְׁקָל, מִּשְׁקָל

2Ki 25:16, 1Ch 21:25, 1Ch 22:3, 1Ch 22:14, 1Ch 28:14, 1Ch 28:15, 1Ch 28:15, 1Ch 28:16

m s construct

מִשְׁקָלָהּ

Num 7:13, Num 7:19, Num 7:25, Num 7:31, Num 7:37, Num 7:43, Num 7:49, Num 7:55

m s construct

מִשְׁקַל

Jdg 8:26, 1Sa 17:5, 2Sa 21:16, 2Sa 21:16, 1Ki 7:47, 1Ki 10:14, 1Ch 20:2, 1Ch 28:15

m s construct

מִשְׁקָלוֹ

Gen 24:22, Gen 43:21, Jos 7:21

m s construct

מִשְׁקָלָם

Gen 24:22