gadal · grow up, become great

What it means

gadal (גָּדַל) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “grow up, become great”.

In the causative form, make great, magnify; also be proud.

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. To get bigger, become an adult; to bring up a child.
2. To give someone importance; do wonderful deeds.
3. To praise YHWH, acknowledge how vast he is.
4. To exalt oneself proudly.

From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)

Word study

To grow, to become great; in the causative forms, to bring up, to make great or to magnify. BDB: to be or become large in body, mind, estate or honor, and also in pride. From the same root is גָּדוֹל, “great” (H1419).

• A child grows up Genesis 21:81 Samuel 2:211 Samuel 3:19
• God makes someone or his name great Genesis 12:2Joshua 3:7
• Magnifying YHWH; “may your name be great” Psalms 34:32 Samuel 7:26
• “What great things he has done” 1 Samuel 12:24
• Doing more than another: David “{wept} more” 1 Samuel 20:41

How we translate it

“Great” 39 times, “Magnify” 11, “grew up” 9, “be great” 8, “had grown up” 6, “grew” 5, “has done great things” 4… The form depends on what grows: “grow” or “grow up” for persons and plants, “make great”, “magnify” or “be great” for a name or an honored person, and “bring up” when someone raises children (2 Kings 10:6).

How it is translated

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

• great ×39
• Magnify ×11
• grew up ×9
• be great ×8
• had grown up ×6
• grew ×5
• has done great things ×4
• Magnified be ×3
• magnified ×3
• may he make greater ×2
• others ×24

Related words

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

Where it appears

• Genesis×14
• Exodus×2
• Numbers×2
• Joshua×2
• Judges×2
• Ruth×1
• 1 Samuel×6
• 2 Samuel×3
• 1 Kings×5
• 2 Kings×2
• 1 Chronicles×4
• 2 Chronicles×4
• Ezra×1
• Esther×3
• Job×4
• Psalms×16
• Ecclesiastes×3
• Isaiah×9
• Jeremiah×3
• Lamentations×2
• Ezekiel×5
• Daniel×9
• Hosea×1
• Joel×2
• Amos×1
• Obadiah×1
• Jonah×1
• Micah×1
• Zephaniah×2
• Zechariah×2
• Malachi×1

• 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 19:13

  for we are about to destroy this place, because their outcry has become great before YHWH, and YHWH has sent us to destroy it.”

• Genesis 19:19

  Look, your servant has found favor in your eyes, and you have made great your loyal love that you have shown me by keeping me alive; but I cannot escape to the mountain, lest the evil overtake me and I die.

• Genesis 21:8

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

• Genesis 21:20

  Elohim was with the boy, and he grew up and lived in the wilderness and became an archer.

• Genesis 24:35

  YHWH has blessed my lord greatly, and he has become great. He has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male slaves and female slaves, camels and donkeys.

• Genesis 25:27

  The boys grew up, and Esau became a man skilled in hunting, a man of the field, while Jacob was a man of integrity, living in tents.

• Genesis 26:13

  The man became great and went on growing greater until he became very great.

• Genesis 38:11

  Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, “Remain a widow in your father’s house until Shelah my son grows up”; for he said to himself, “Lest he too die like his brothers.” So Tamar went and remained in her father’s house.

• Genesis 38:14

  She removed her widow’s garments from her, covered herself with a veil, wrapped herself, and sat at the entrance of Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah had grown up, and she had not been given to him as a wife.

• Genesis 41:40

  You will be over my house, and all my people will obey your command; only in the throne will I be greater than you.”

• Genesis 48:19

  But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know; he too will become a people, and he too will be great; but his younger brother will be greater than he, and his offspring will become the fullness of the nations.”

• Exodus 2:10

  When the child grew up, she brought him to the daughter of Pharaoh, and he became her son. She named him Moses, and said, “Because I drew him out of the water.”

• Exodus 2:11

  In those days, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his brothers and saw their burdens. He saw an Egyptian striking a Hebrew, one of his brothers.

• Numbers 6:5

  All the days of his vow of consecration no razor shall pass over his head; until the days are fulfilled for which he separates himself to YHWH, he shall be holy; he shall let grow loose the hair of his head.

• Numbers 14:17

  And now, please let the power of Adonai be great, just as you have spoken, saying,

• Joshua 3:7

  YHWH said to Joshua, “This day I will begin to make you great in the eyes of all Israel, so that they may know that just as I was with Moses, I will be with you.

• Joshua 4:14

  On that day YHWH made Joshua great in the eyes of all Israel, and they feared him just as they had feared Moses, all the days of his life.

• Judges 11:2

  The wife of Gilead bore him sons; and the sons of the wife grew up and drove out Jephthah and said to him, “You shall not inherit in the house of our father, for you are the son of another woman.”

• Judges 13:24

  And the woman bore a son and called his name Samson. And the boy grew, and YHWH blessed him.

• Ruth 1:13

  would you therefore wait until they grew up? Would you therefore shut yourselves up, not belonging to a husband? No, my daughters, for it is much more bitter for me than for you, because the hand of YHWH has gone out against me.”

• 1 Samuel 2:21

  Indeed, YHWH attended to Hannah, and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. And the boy Samuel grew up with YHWH.

• 1 Samuel 3:19

  And Samuel grew up, and YHWH was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground.

• 1 Samuel 12:24

  Only fear YHWH and serve him in truth with all your heart, for see what great things he has done with you.

• 1 Samuel 20:41

  The boy went, and David rose from beside the south, and fell on his face to the ground and bowed down three times. And they kissed one another, and wept one with another, until David wept more.

• 1 Samuel 26:24

  And look, as your life was great this day in my eyes, so may my life be great in the eyes of YHWH, and may he rescue me from all distress.”

• 2 Samuel 7:22

  Therefore you are great, Adonai YHWH; for there is none like you, and there is no Elohim besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

• 2 Samuel 7:26

  And may your name be great forever, so that it is said, ‘YHWH Tsevaot is Elohim over Israel’; and may the house of your servant David be established before you.

• 2 Samuel 12:3

  but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb that he had acquired. He raised it, and it grew up with him and with his sons together; from his morsel it would eat, and from his cup it would drink, and in his bosom it would lie; and it was to him like a daughter.

• 1 Kings 1:37

  As YHWH has been with my lord the king, so may he be with Solomon, and may he make greater his throne than the throne of my lord King David!”

• 1 Kings 1:47

  Moreover, the king’s servants have come to bless our lord King David, saying, ‘May Elohim make the name of Solomon better than your name, and may he make greater his throne than your throne.’ And the king bowed down on the bed.

• 1 Kings 10:23

  And King Solomon became greater than all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom.

• 1 Kings 12:8

  But he abandoned the counsel of the elders that they had counseled him, and sought counsel from the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before him.

• 1 Kings 12:10

  The young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, “Thus you shall say to this people who spoke to you, saying, ‘Your father made heavy our yoke, but you, lighten it from on us’; thus you shall speak to them: ‘My little finger is thicker than the waist of my father.

• 2 Kings 4:18

  The child grew, and it happened one day that he went out to his father, to the reapers.

• 2 Kings 10:6

  He wrote to them a letter a second time, saying, “If you are for me, and you are listening to my voice, take the heads of the men, the sons of your master, and come to me about this time tomorrow at Jezreel.” Now the king’s sons, seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, who were bringing up them.

• 1 Chronicles 17:24

  Let it stand firm, and let your name be great forever, so that it is said, ‘YHWH Tsevaot, the Elohim of Israel, is Elohim for Israel’; and may the house of David your servant be established before you.

• 1 Chronicles 22:5

  David said, “Solomon my son is a youth and tender, and the house that is to be built for YHWH must be made great exceedingly, for renown and for beauty in all the lands. Let me now prepare it for him.” So David prepared in abundance before his death.

• 1 Chronicles 29:12

  Riches and glory come from before you, and you rule over all; in your hand are strength and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to strengthen all.

• 1 Chronicles 29:25

  YHWH magnified Solomon exceedingly in the sight of all Israel, and put on him a splendor of kingship such as had not been on any king before him over Israel.

And 74 more times.