dal · poor, weak

What it means

dal (דַּל) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “poor, weak”.

One who has little and little strength to defend himself.

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. Someone without means and too feeble to defend himself.

From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)

Word study

Poor, weak: one who has little and little strength. It comes from the verb דָּלַל, ‘become poor, become weak’. It often goes together with אֶבְיוֹן, ‘needy’ (H34).

• YHWH raises the poor 1 Samuel 2:8Psalms 113:7
• Doing justice to the poor Psalms 82:3Isaiah 11:4Proverbs 22:22
• The one who oppresses or favors the poor Proverbs 14:31Proverbs 19:17Amos 4:1
• Not favoring the poor in judgment Exodus 23:3Leviticus 19:15
• Weak, downcast 2 Samuel 3:12 Samuel 13:4Judges 6:15

Historical and cultural background

The law asks for equal judgment for all: neither favoring the poor nor honoring the great (Leviticus 19:15; Exodus 23:3). For the expiation, “the rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel” (Exodus 30:15).

How we translate it

“Poor” 44 times: דַּל is ‘poor’ and אֶבְיוֹן ‘needy’ when they go together (“He raises the poor from the dust; from the ash heap he lifts the needy”, 1 Samuel 2:8). When a house or a person has no strength, “weaker” (2 Samuel 3:1) or “weak” (13:4); in Judges 6:15, “the poorest”.

How it is translated

The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.

• poor ×44
• poorest ×1
• weak ×1
• weaker ×1

Related words

Words of the same family, by Strong’s numbering.

Where it appears

• Exodus×2
• Leviticus×2
• Judges×1
• Ruth×1
• 1 Samuel×1
• 2 Samuel×2
• Job×6
• Psalms×5
• Proverbs×15
• Isaiah×5
• Jeremiah×2
• Amos×4
• Zephaniah×1

• Exodus 23:3

  Nor shall you favor a poor man in his dispute.

• Exodus 30:15

  The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when giving the contribution of YHWH to make expiation for your lives.

• Leviticus 14:21

  But if he is poor and his means do not reach, he shall take one lamb as a guilt offering for a wave offering to make expiation for him, and one tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering, and a log of oil,

• Leviticus 19:15

  You shall not do injustice in judgment: you shall not show favor to the poor and you shall not honor the great; in righteousness you shall judge your neighbor.

• Judges 6:15

  He said to him, “Pardon, Adonai, with what shall I save Israel? Look, my thousand is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in the house of my father.”

• Ruth 3:10

  And he said, “Blessed be you by YHWH, my daughter. You have made your last loyal love better than the first, by not going after the young men, whether poor or rich.

• 1 Samuel 2:8

  He raises the poor from the dust; from the ash heap he lifts the needy, to make them sit with nobles, and he makes them inherit a throne of glory. For the pillars of the earth are YHWH’s, and on them he has set the world.

• 2 Samuel 3:1

  The war between the house of Saul and the house of David was long; and David grew steadily stronger, while the house of Saul grew steadily weaker.

• 2 Samuel 13:4

  He said to him, “Why are you so weak, son of the king, morning after morning? Will you not tell me?” Amnon said to him, “Tamar, the sister of Absalom my brother, I love.”

• Job 5:16

  So there is hope for the poor, and injustice shuts its mouth.

• Job 20:10

  His sons will seek the favor of the poor, and his hands will give back his wealth.

• Job 20:19

  For he crushed and abandoned the poor; a house he seized, and did not build it.

• Job 31:16

  If I withheld the poor from their desire, or wore out the eyes of the widow,

• Job 34:19

  To him who does not show partiality to princes nor regard the rich above the poor, for the work of his hands are they all.

• Job 34:28

  so as to bring to him the cry of the poor, and the cry of the afflicted he hears.

• Psalms 41:1

  For the director. A psalm of David. Happy is the one who considers the poor; in the day of evil YHWH will let him escape.

• Psalms 72:13

  He will have pity on the poor and the needy, and the souls of the needy he will save.

• Psalms 82:3

  Judge the poor and the orphan; do justice to the afflicted and the destitute.

• Psalms 82:4

  Bring to safety the poor and the needy; from the hand of the wicked deliver them.

• Psalms 113:7

  He raises the poor from the dust; from the dunghill he lifts up the needy,

• Proverbs 10:15

  The wealth of the rich man is his strong city; the ruin of the poor is their poverty.

• Proverbs 14:31

  Whoever oppresses the poor reproaches his Maker, but whoever shows favor to the needy honors him.

• Proverbs 19:4

  Wealth adds many companions, but the poor man is separated from his companion.

• Proverbs 19:17

  Whoever shows favor to the poor lends to YHWH, and his good deed he will repay him.

• Proverbs 21:13

  Whoever shuts his ear to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and will not be answered.

• Proverbs 22:9

  The good of eye, he will be blessed, for he gives of his bread to the poor.

• Proverbs 22:16

  Whoever oppresses the poor to increase what is his, and whoever gives to the rich, comes only to want.

• Proverbs 22:22

  Do not rob the poor because he is poor, and do not crush the afflicted in the gate;

• Proverbs 28:3

  A poor man who oppresses the poor is a rain that sweeps away, and there is no bread.

• Proverbs 28:8

  Whoever increases his wealth by interest and usury gathers it for one who is gracious to the poor.

• Proverbs 28:11

  A rich man is wise in his own eyes, but a poor man who understands searches him out.

• Proverbs 28:15

  A roaring lion and a hungry bear is a wicked ruler over a poor people.

• Proverbs 29:7

  The righteous knows the cause of the poor; the wicked does not understand knowledge.

• Proverbs 29:14

  A king who judges the poor in truth, his throne will be established forever.

• Isaiah 10:2

  to turn aside the poor from judgment, and to rob the afflicted of my people of justice, so that widows become their spoil, and that they may plunder the orphans!

• Isaiah 11:4

  but he will judge the poor with righteousness, and decide with uprightness for the humble of the earth; and he will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he will put to death the wicked.

• Isaiah 14:30

  And the firstborn of the poor will graze, and the needy will lie down in safety; but I will kill your root with famine, and it will kill your remnant.

• Isaiah 25:4

  For you have been a stronghold for the poor, a stronghold for the needy in his distress, a refuge from the downpour, a shade from the heat; for the blast of the tyrants is like a downpour against a wall.

• Isaiah 26:6

  The foot tramples it, the feet of the afflicted, the steps of the poor.”

• Jeremiah 5:4

  And I said, “Surely these are poor; they act foolishly, for they do not know the way of YHWH, the justice of their Elohim.

And 7 more times.