StrongerBible

pala

פָּלָא

HebrewH6381“too hard, wonderful, ...”

Appears 71 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Gen 18:14Exo 3:20Exo 34:10Lev 22:21Lev 27:2Num 6:2Num 15:3Num 15:8Deu 17:8Deu 28:59Deu 30:11Jos 3:5Jdg 6:13Jdg 13:192Sa 1:262Sa 13:21Ch 16:91Ch 16:121Ch 16:242Ch 2:9(8)2Ch 26:15Neh 9:17Job 5:9Job 9:10Job 10:16Job 37:5Job 37:14Job 42:3Psa 9:1(2)Psa 26:7Psa 31:21(22)Psa 40:5(6)Psa 71:17Psa 72:18Psa 75:1(2)Psa 78:4Psa 78:11Psa 78:32Psa 86:10Psa 96:3Psa 98:1Psa 105:2Psa 105:5Psa 106:7Psa 106:22Psa 107:8Psa 107:15Psa 107:21Psa 107:24Psa 107:31
Root family
Names & words formed with this
Word studyResearch-gradepa-LAHverb

What pala means

to surpass the ordinary: what is too hard for a person and what is wondrous from God are two perspectives on the same crossing of a normal limit

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintyStrong

This word marks the line between the ordinary and what lies past it. Something is pala when it exceeds what a person can normally do, decide, or comprehend; the same word, from the same root, names the result when God crosses that same line going the other direction. Rainer Albertz's formulation has become standard: the apparent tension between "be too difficult" and "be wonderful" is one phenomenon viewed from two angles. What exceeds human capacity appears as impossibility to the observer below it; when God brings it about, it appears as wonder.

The plural form (roughly, "things that surpass") became Israel's fixed liturgical title for God's saving deeds, above all the exodus events. The great Psalms of recital (78, 105, 106, 136) build Israel's communal identity on rehearsing these deeds; Psalm 78:11 marks the opposite act, forgetting the wonders, as the cardinal failing of the people in the wilderness. The question asked at Genesis 18:14 ("Is anything too hard for the LORD?") later becomes what William Holladay calls a fixed liturgical formula, which Jeremiah 32:17 and 32:27 quote verbatim to anchor God's promise of restoration during the Babylonian siege.

The active forms mean to perform such an act, to do something marvelous. Isaiah 28:29 uses this verb to say that YHWH makes his counsel wonderfully great; Isaiah 29:14 then inverts it: God will do "wonder upon wonder" as a judgment that confounds the wise, not as salvation. This points to what scholars call the moral polyvalence of the root. The same word describes:

  • redemption in the Psalter
  • inscrutable suffering in Job 10:16
  • monstrous human arrogance in Daniel 8:24 and 11:36
  • eschatological climax in Daniel 12:6

What ties these together is not the moral character of the actor but the crossing of the ordinary limit: the deed surpasses the observer's capacity to do it, to understand it, or to remain unmoved.

Nuances

1ato be too hard, too difficult, or beyond reach: more than a person can do, decide, or understand
Gen 18:14Deu 17:8Deu 30:112Sa 13:2Job 42:3Psa 131:1Pro 30:18Jer 32:17Jer 32:27Zec 8:6 (2×)
1bto be extraordinary or surpassing: standing out as far above the ordinary, whether for good or ill
2Sa 1:26Psa 118:23Psa 139:14Dan 8:24Dan 11:36
1cwonders, wondrous works: God's surpassing deeds named by the plural form, which became Israel's fixed liturgical title for his saving acts
Exo 3:20Exo 34:10Jos 3:5Jdg 6:131Ch 16:91Ch 16:121Ch 16:24Neh 9:17Job 5:9Job 9:10Job 37:5Job 37:14
1dto do something marvelous, to act wonderfully: to perform a deed that surpasses what is normally possible
Deu 28:59Jdg 13:192Ch 2:9(8)2Ch 26:15Psa 31:21(22)Isa 28:29Isa 29:14 (2×)Jol 2:26
1eto make a special vow: to set a vow apart for the LORD as something out of the ordinary
Lev 22:21Lev 27:2Num 6:2Num 15:3Num 15:8
1fto show oneself surpassing against someone: to display overwhelming, terrifying power over a person
Job 10:16

What scholars say about pala

All major lexica (BDB, HALOT, DCH) treat פלא as a single root whose basic idea is being surpassing or extraordinary, beyond ordinary human capacity, rather than two unrelated homonyms. The authoritative modern treatment is Rainer Albertz's TLOT entry, which formulates the apparent tension between "be too difficult" and "be wonderful" as one phenomenon viewed from two angles: what exceeds human capacity appears as impossibility to the person below it and as wonder when God is the agent. Joachim Conrad's TDOT entry agrees and adds a form-critical argument: the plural participle originates in individual thanksgiving as the language of recital before expanding into hymnic praise. A notable hermeneutical debate concerns the modern concept "miracle": Moberly, Albertz, and Brueggemann all insist that פלא does not name a class of supernatural events (violations of natural law) but a vocabulary of theological recognition, and that this conceptual gap between biblical and modern usage is the dominant framework in current scholarship. The Psalter is the canonical heartland: Hans-Joachim Kraus, Frank-Lothar Hossfeld, Erich Zenger, John Goldingay, Marvin Tate, and Walter Brueggemann converge on the view that recital of wondrous deeds is the credal core of Israelite praise. The votive Piel use (Lev 22:21; Num 6:2) is noted by Baruch Levine and Jacob Milgrom as a technical term for consecrating a special offering. Daniel's morally inverted use (8:24; 11:36) is read by John Collins as a deliberate parody of the doxological vocabulary, applying wonder-language to human arrogance.

Where scholars disagree about pala

Whether the root's primitive meaning is "to separate, set apart" or "to be extraordinary, amazing," and whether an etymological "separation" sense is hermeneutically operative in the biblical corpus.

  • minorityThe root derives from a biconsonantal base meaning "to separate, divide" (compare פלה, Arabic falā); "wonderful" is derived from being set apart from the ordinary. This position, held by Gesenius and inherited by BDB, makes the votive Piel formula (setting a vow apart) the clearest reflex of the original sense.; Brown, Driver, and Briggs, Hebrew and English Lexicon (BDB), s.v. פלא
  • majorityThe etymological link with פלה "set apart" is plausible but is not hermeneutically operative in the theological corpus; the working sense across all stems is "extraordinary, surpassing normal capacity," and the votive use is better read as a separate homonym (פלא II) or as belonging to the wonder-field. Agnosticism on etymology is warranted.; Koehler and Baumgartner, Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (HALOT), s.v. פלא; Conrad, "פלא pālāʾ," in Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament (TDOT), vol. 11; Albertz, "פלא plʾ to be wonderful," in Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament (TLOT)
In-depth research

This is a research paper, so it may be hard to read without scholarly background. It is useful if you want to dig even deeper into this word.

Sources

  • Brown, Driver, and Briggs, Hebrew and English Lexicon (BDB), s.v. פלאlexicon
  • Koehler and Baumgartner, Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (HALOT), s.v. פלאlexicon
  • Clines, ed., Dictionary of Classical Hebrew (DCH), s.v. פלאlexicon
  • Conrad, "פלא pālāʾ," in Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament (TDOT), vol. 11theological-dictionary
  • Albertz, "פלא plʾ to be wonderful," in Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament (TLOT)theological-dictionary
  • Moberly, "Miracles in the Hebrew Bible," in Twelftree, ed., Cambridge Companion to Miraclesmonograph
  • Collins, Daniel: A Commentary on the Book of Daniel (Hermeneia)commentary
  • Childs, The Book of Exodus (OTL)commentary
  • Hossfeld and Zenger, Psalms 2 and Psalms 3 (Hermeneia)commentary
  • Clines, Job 1-20 and Job 21-37 (WBC)commentary
  • Holladay, Jeremiah 1 and Jeremiah 2 (Hermeneia)commentary

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

All attested forms of פָּלָא

niphal participle f p construct

נִפְלְאוֹתָי, נִפְלְאוֹתֶי, נִפְלְאֹתָי, נִפְלְאֹתֶי, נִפְלְאוֹת, נִפְלְאֹתַ

Psa 78:4, Psa 78:11, Psa 78:32, Psa 96:3, Psa 105:2, Psa 105:5, Psa 107:8, Psa 107:15

niphal participle f p absolute

נִפְלָאוֹת, נִפְלָאֹת

Jos 3:5, Job 5:9, Job 9:10, Job 37:5, Job 42:3, Psa 72:18, Psa 86:10, Psa 98:1

niphal imperfect 3ms

יִפָּלֵא

Gen 18:14, Deu 17:8, Jer 32:17, Jer 32:27, Zec 8:6, Zec 8:6

hiphil perfect 3ms

הִפְלִיא

2Ch 26:15, Psa 31:21, Isa 28:29

piel infinitive-construct construct

פַלֵּא

Lev 22:21, Num 15:3, Num 15:8

hiphil imperfect 3ms

יַפְלִא

Lev 27:2, Num 6:2

hiphil infinitive-absolute absolute

הַפְלֵא

2Ch 2:9, Isa 29:14

hiphil infinitive-construct construct

הַפְלִיא

Isa 29:14, Jol 2:26

niphal perfect 3fs

נִפְלֵאת, נִפְלְאַתָה

Deu 30:11, 2Sa 1:26

hiphil consecutive-perfect 3ms

וְהִפְלָא

Deu 28:59

hiphil participle m s absolute

מַפְלִא

Jdg 13:19

hithpael imperfect 2ms

תִּתְפַּלָּא

Job 10:16

niphal consecutive-imperfect 3ms

וַיִּפָּלֵא

2Sa 13:2

niphal participle f s absolute

נִפְלָאת

Psa 118:23

niphal participle m p absolute

נִפְלָאִים

Psa 139:14

niphal perfect 3cp

נִפְלְאוּ

Pro 30:18