halal · praise; boast

What it means

halal (הָלַל) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “praise; boast”.

Praise, extol. "Hallelujah" comes from this verb. In other forms, boast; also act like a madman.

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 celebrate someone's greatness with voice and song, above all YHWH's.
2. To speak proudly of oneself or what one has, to make oneself important.
3. To lose one's reason and behave without control, like a madman.
4. To give off light, to shine, like a lamp or a star.

From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)

Word study

To praise, to commend; in the reflexive form, to boast. BDB also records a sense of shining, and another of acting like a madman. From this verb come תְּהִלָּה, “praise” (H8416), and the exclamation “Hallelujah”.

• “Praise Yah” Psalms 113:1Psalms 150:1
• “Great {is} YHWH and greatly to be praised” Psalms 48:1
• Praising a person Genesis 12:15
• Boasting: “let the one who boasts boast” Jeremiah 9:24
• Pretending to be mad 1 Samuel 21:13

How we translate it

“Praise” 94 times, “praised” 18, “boast” 12, “praising” 8, “will glory” 5, “boasts” 4, “go mad” 4… הַלְלוּ יָהּ is always translated “Praise Yah”, and the name of God as the Hebrew has it: YHWH where it says יהוה, Yah where it says יָהּ.

How it is translated

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

• Praise ×94
• praised ×18
• boast ×12
• praising ×8
• will glory ×5
• boasts ×4
• go mad ×4
• Glory ×3
• boastful ×3
• Rage ×2
• others ×12

Related words

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

Where it appears

• Genesis×1
• Judges×1
• 1 Samuel×1
• 2 Samuel×2
• 1 Kings×1
• 1 Chronicles×9
• 2 Chronicles×12
• Ezra×3
• Nehemiah×2
• Job×4
• Psalms×94
• Proverbs×9
• Ecclesiastes×2
• Song of Songs×1
• Isaiah×7
• Jeremiah×13
• Ezekiel×1
• Joel×1
• Nahum×1

• Genesis 12:15

  Pharaoh’s princes saw her and praised her to Pharaoh, and the woman was taken into the house of Pharaoh.

• Judges 16:24

  And the people saw him and praised their god, for they said, “Our god has given into our hand our enemy, and the one who laid waste our land and who multiplied our dead.”

• 1 Samuel 21:13

  So he changed his behavior before their eyes and pretended to be mad in their hands, and made marks on the doors of the gate, and let his saliva run down onto his beard.

• 2 Samuel 14:25

  In all Israel there was no man as handsome as Absalom, to be praised so greatly; from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head there was no defect in him.

• 2 Samuel 22:4

  I call on YHWH, worthy of praise, and from my enemies I am saved.

• 1 Kings 20:11

  The king of Israel answered and said, “Tell him, ‘Let not the one who girds on his armor boast like the one who takes it off.’”

• 1 Chronicles 16:4

  He appointed before the ark of YHWH some of the Levites as ministers, to make remembrance and to give thanks and to praise YHWH, the Elohim of Israel:

• 1 Chronicles 16:10

  Glory in his holy name; let the heart of those who seek YHWH be glad.

• 1 Chronicles 16:25

  For great is YHWH and greatly to be praised, and awesome is he above all gods.

• 1 Chronicles 16:36

  Blessed be YHWH, the Elohim of Israel, from eternity to eternity.” And all the people said, “Amen,” and praised YHWH.

• 1 Chronicles 23:5

  and four thousand gatekeepers, and four thousand praising YHWH with the instruments that I made for praising.

• 1 Chronicles 23:30

  and to stand every morning to give thanks and to praise YHWH, and likewise in the evening;

• 1 Chronicles 25:3

  Of Jeduthun: the sons of Jeduthun, Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Hashabiah, and Mattithiah, six, under the direction of their father Jeduthun, who prophesied with the lyre in giving thanks and praising YHWH.

• 1 Chronicles 29:13

  And now, our Elohim, we give thanks to you and praise the name of your beauty.

• 2 Chronicles 5:13

  and it happened, as one, that the trumpeters and the singers were to make one voice heard to praise and to give thanks to YHWH; and when they raised their voice with the trumpets and with cymbals and with instruments of song, and praised YHWH, “For he is good, for his loyal love is forever,” then the house was filled with a cloud, the house of YHWH,

• 2 Chronicles 7:6

  The priests were standing at their posts, and the Levites with the instruments of song of YHWH that David the king had made for giving thanks to YHWH, “For his loyal love is forever,” when David praised by their hand; and the priests were sounding the trumpets opposite them, and all Israel was standing.

• 2 Chronicles 8:14

  According to the rule of David his father he appointed the divisions of the priests for their service, and the Levites for their posts, to praise and to minister in front of the priests according to what was due each day, and the gatekeepers in their divisions for gate by gate, for so was the commandment of David, the man of Elohim.

• 2 Chronicles 20:19

  The Levites, of the sons of the Kohathites and of the sons of the Korahites, stood up to praise YHWH, Elohim of Israel, with a voice exceedingly loud.

• 2 Chronicles 20:21

  He took counsel with the people and appointed singers to YHWH and men praising in the splendor of holiness, as they went out before the equipped troops, and saying, “Give thanks to YHWH, for his loyal love is forever.”

• 2 Chronicles 23:12

  Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, and she came to the people in the house of YHWH.

• 2 Chronicles 23:13

  She looked, and there was the king standing by his pillar at the entrance, and the commanders and the trumpets beside the king, and all the people of the land rejoicing and blowing the trumpets, and the singers with instruments of song leading the praise. Athaliah tore her clothes and said, “Conspiracy! Conspiracy!”

• 2 Chronicles 29:30

  Hezekiah the king and the officials ordered the Levites to praise YHWH with the words of David and of Asaph the seer; and they praised with great joy, and they bowed and bowed down.

• 2 Chronicles 30:21

  The sons of Israel who were present in Jerusalem celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with great joy, and the Levites and the priests were praising YHWH day by day, with instruments of strength to YHWH.

• 2 Chronicles 31:2

  Hezekiah set the divisions of the priests and the Levites by their divisions, each according to his service, the priests and the Levites, for burnt offering and for peace offerings, to minister and to give thanks and to praise in the gates of the camps of YHWH.

• Ezra 3:10

  And when the builders founded the temple of YHWH, they set the priests in their vestments with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise YHWH under the direction of David king of Israel.

• Ezra 3:11

  And they answered one another praising and giving thanks to YHWH: “For he is good, for his loyal love is forever over Israel.” And all the people shouted with a great shout, praising YHWH, because the house of YHWH had been founded.

• Nehemiah 5:13

  I also shook out my lap and said, “So may Elohim shake out every man who does not fulfill this word, from his house and from his labor; and so may he be shaken out and empty.” And all the assembly said, “Amen.” And they praised YHWH. And the people did according to this word.

• Nehemiah 12:24

  And the heads of the Levites: Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua son of Kadmiel, and their brothers opposite them, to praise and to give thanks, according to the commandment of David the man of Elohim, watch opposite watch.

• Job 12:17

  He makes counselors walk barefoot, and judges he drives mad.

• Job 29:3

  when he made shine his lamp over my head, and by his light I walked through darkness;

• Job 31:26

  if I looked at the light when it shone, and the moon moving in splendor,

• Job 41:18

  Its sneezings make shine light, and its eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn.

• Psalms 5:5

  The boastful will not take their stand before your eyes; you hate all who work wickedness.

• Psalms 10:3

  For the wicked boasts of the desire of his soul, and the greedy one curses, spurns YHWH.

• Psalms 18:3

  I call on YHWH, worthy of praise, and from my enemies I am saved.

• Psalms 22:22

  I will recount your name to my brothers; in the midst of the assembly I will praise you.

• Psalms 22:23

  You who fear YHWH, praise him; all the offspring of Jacob, honor him; and be afraid of him, all the offspring of Israel.

• Psalms 22:26

  The humble will eat and be satisfied; those who seek him will praise YHWH. May your heart live forever.

• Psalms 34:2

  In YHWH my soul will boast; the humble will hear and be glad.

• Psalms 35:18

  I will give you thanks in the great assembly; among a numerous people I will praise you.

And 125 more times.