gadol · great

What it means

gadol (גָּדוֹל) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “great”.

In size, number, age or importance; also "the elder" of two; "high priest" is "great priest".

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. Of great size, amount or importance: a river, a city, a king.
2. Very intense: a mighty cry, great fear.
3. Born first: the firstborn son.
4. Literally "the great priest": the chief of all priests.
5. The powerful, "the great".

From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)

Word study

Great, in any sense: size, number, age or importance. BDB notes that it is also used of age: “older”. It is the adjective of גָּדַל, “grow, become great” (H1431).

• Great in size: “the two great lights” Genesis 1:16
• Great in importance or number: “a great nation” Genesis 12:2
• The older of the sons Genesis 27:1
• “The high priest”, literally “the great priest” Numbers 35:25
• Rich 1 Samuel 25:2

Historical and cultural background

According to Numbers 35:25-28, one who had killed without intent lived in the city of refuge until the death of the high priest; afterward he could return to his land.

How we translate it

“Great” 431 times, “high” 22, “loud” 20 (of a voice), “greater” 18, “large” 12, “older” 7. For the chief priest the fixed English term is used, “high priest”. In 1 Samuel 25:2 it is translated “rich”, with the literal word in a note.

How it is translated

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

• great ×431
• high ×22
• loud ×20
• greater ×18
• large ×12
• older ×7
• greatest ×6
• oldest ×4
• elder ×3
• rich ×2
• others ×4

Where it appears

• Genesis×33
• Exodus×15
• Leviticus×2
• Numbers×8
• Deuteronomy×44
• Joshua×26
• Judges×12
• 1 Samuel×35
• 2 Samuel×19
• 1 Kings×22
• 2 Kings×29
• 1 Chronicles×12
• 2 Chronicles×27
• Ezra×6
• Nehemiah×28
• Esther×9
• Job×6
• Psalms×30
• Proverbs×4
• Ecclesiastes×4
• Isaiah×14
• Jeremiah×48
• Lamentations×1
• Ezekiel×36
• Daniel×15
• Hosea×1
• Joel×3
• Amos×1
• Jonah×14
• Micah×1
• Nahum×2
• Zephaniah×2
• Haggai×6
• Zechariah×10
• Malachi×4

• Genesis 1:16

  And Elohim made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night, and the stars.

• Genesis 1:21

  And Elohim created the great sea monsters and every living being that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And Elohim saw that it was good.

• Genesis 4:13

  And Cain said to YHWH, “My iniquity is too great to bear.

• Genesis 10:12

  and Resen between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city.

• Genesis 10:21

  And to Shem also, to him, sons were born, the father of all the sons of Eber, the elder brother of Japheth.

• Genesis 12:2

  I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, and I will make great your name; and be a blessing.

• Genesis 12:17

  But YHWH struck Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.

• Genesis 15:12

  As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram; and look, a terror, a great darkness, was falling on him.

• Genesis 15:14

  But also the nation that they serve I will judge, and afterward they will come out with great possessions.

• Genesis 15:18

  On that day YHWH made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates:

• Genesis 17:20

  As for Ishmael, I have heard you; look, I will bless him and make him fruitful and multiply him exceedingly. He will father twelve chiefs, and I will make him into a great nation.

• Genesis 18:18

  since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed?

• Genesis 19:11

  And the men who were at the entrance of the house they struck with blindness, from small to great, so that they wore themselves out trying to find the entrance.

• Genesis 20:9

  Then Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? And how have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? Deeds that ought not to be done you have done to me.”

• Genesis 21:8

  The child grew and was weaned, and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.

• Genesis 21:18

  Get up, lift up the boy, and hold him with your hand, for I will make him a great nation.”

• Genesis 27:1

  When Isaac was old and his eyes were too dim to see, he called Esau his older son and said to him, “My son.” And he said to him, “Here I am.”

• Genesis 27:15

  Then Rebekah took the best garments of Esau her older son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son.

• Genesis 27:33

  Isaac trembled with a great trembling, exceedingly, and said, “Who then was he who hunted game and brought it to me, and I ate of all before you came, and I blessed him? Indeed, he will be blessed.”

• Genesis 27:34

  When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with a great and exceedingly bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me, me too, my father!”

• Genesis 27:42

  The words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah, and she sent and called Jacob her younger son and said to him, “Look, Esau your brother is consoling himself about you by planning to kill you.

• Genesis 29:2

  He looked, and look, a well in the field, and look, there three flocks of sheep were lying beside it, for from that well they watered the flocks. The stone on the mouth of the well was large.

• Genesis 29:7

  He said, “Look, it is still high day; it is not time for the livestock to be gathered. Water the sheep and go, pasture them.”

• Genesis 29:16

  Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel.

• Genesis 39:9

  He is not greater in this house than I, and he has not withheld from me anything except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil and sin against Elohim?”

• Genesis 39:14

  she called to the men of her household and spoke to them, saying, “See, he has brought us a Hebrew man to mock us. He came to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice.

• Genesis 41:29

  Look, seven years are coming of great abundance in all the land of Egypt.

• Genesis 44:12

  He searched, beginning with the oldest and finishing with the youngest, and the cup was found in Benjamin’s bag.

• Genesis 45:7

  Elohim sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance.

• Genesis 46:3

  He said, “I am El, the Elohim of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you a great nation there.

• Genesis 50:10

  They came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, and they lamented there with a great and very solemn lamentation; and he observed a mourning of seven days for his father.

• Exodus 3:3

  And Moses said, “Let me turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn up.”

• Exodus 6:6

  Therefore say to the sons of Israel, ‘I am YHWH, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of Egypt, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments.

• Exodus 7:4

  Pharaoh will not listen to you, and I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring out my armies, my people, the sons of Israel, from the land of Egypt by great judgments.

• Exodus 11:3

  YHWH gave the people favor in the eyes of the Egyptians. Moreover, the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the eyes of Pharaoh’s servants and in the eyes of the people.

• Exodus 11:6

  There will be a great outcry in all the land of Egypt, such as there has never been and such as there will never be again.

• Exodus 12:30

  Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants and all Egypt; and there was a great outcry in Egypt, for there was no house where there was not one dead.

• Exodus 14:31

  Israel saw the great hand that YHWH had shown against Egypt; and the people feared YHWH, and they believed in YHWH and in Moses his servant.

• Exodus 15:16

  Terror and dread fell upon them; by the greatness of your arm they were as still as a stone, until your people, YHWH, passed by, until the people whom you acquired passed by.

• Exodus 18:11

  Now I know that YHWH is greater than all the gods, for he proved it in the matter in which they acted arrogantly against them.”

And 489 more times.