yalad · bear, father

What it means

yalad (יָלַד) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “bear, father”.

Give birth, bear children; said of the father, "father" or "beget". In some forms, help at a birth (midwife) or be born.

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 bring a child into the world, giving birth after pregnancy.
2. For a man to have a child.
3. To come into the world, to begin to live.
4. To help give birth: the midwife.
5. To declare one's family line.

From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)

Word study

Give birth, bear children; said of the father, “father” (beget). BDB adds the sense of helping at a birth (midwife) and, in genealogies, showing descent. From this verb comes יֶלֶד, “child” (H3206).

• To give birth (the mother) Genesis 4:1Genesis 21:2
• To father (the father), in genealogies Genesis 5:3Genesis 11:27
• To be born Genesis 4:26
• The midwives Exodus 1:15
• Figuratively: “today I have begotten you” Psalms 2:7

Historical and cultural background

From the same root is תּוֹלְדוֹת, “generations”, the word that heads the lists of descendants in Genesis (“these are the generations of Terah. Terah fathered Abram”, Genesis 11:27).

How we translate it

“Fathered” 180 times, “bore” 99, “born” 40, “were born” 32, “give birth” 21, “gave birth” 18. It is translated “gave birth” or “bore” when the subject is the mother and “fathered” when it is the father; the passive form, “be born”. In Psalm 2:7, “I have begotten you”.

How it is translated

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

• fathered ×180
• bore ×99
• born ×40
• were born ×32
• give birth ×21
• gave birth ×18
• bear ×11
• giving birth ×11
• gives birth ×7
• had borne ×6
• others ×72

Related words

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

Where it appears

• Genesis×170
• Exodus×15
• Leviticus×5
• Numbers×7
• Deuteronomy×8
• Judges×11
• Ruth×14
• 1 Samuel×6
• 2 Samuel×11
• 1 Kings×9
• 2 Kings×3
• 1 Chronicles×117
• 2 Chronicles×5
• Ezra×1
• Nehemiah×4
• Job×15
• Psalms×9
• Proverbs×7
• Ecclesiastes×5
• Song of Songs×2
• Isaiah×24
• Jeremiah×24
• Ezekiel×9
• Daniel×1
• Hosea×8
• Micah×4
• Zephaniah×1
• Zechariah×2

• Genesis 3:16

  To the woman he said, “I will greatly multiply your toil and your pregnancies; with pain you will give birth to children; and toward your husband will be your desire, and he will rule over you.”

• Genesis 4:1

  Now the man knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, “I have acquired a man with YHWH.”

• Genesis 4:2

  And again she gave birth to his brother Abel. And Abel became a keeper of flocks, and Cain was a worker of the ground.

• Genesis 4:17

  And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch. And he was building a city, and he called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch.

• Genesis 4:18

  And to Enoch was born Irad; and Irad fathered Mehujael; and Mehujael fathered Methushael; and Methushael fathered Lamech.

• Genesis 4:20

  And Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and have livestock.

• Genesis 4:22

  And Zillah, she also, gave birth to Tubal-cain, the forger of every tool of bronze and iron. And the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.

• Genesis 4:25

  And Adam knew his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and called his name Seth, “for Elohim has granted me another offspring in place of Abel, because Cain killed him.”

• Genesis 4:26

  And to Seth, to him also, a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. Then people began to call on the name of YHWH.

• Genesis 5:3

  And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years and fathered a son in his likeness, according to his image, and called his name Seth.

• Genesis 5:4

  And the days of Adam after he fathered Seth were eight hundred years; and he fathered sons and daughters.

• Genesis 5:6

  And Seth lived one hundred and five years and fathered Enosh.

• Genesis 5:7

  And Seth lived after he fathered Enosh eight hundred and seven years and fathered sons and daughters.

• Genesis 5:9

  And Enosh lived ninety years and fathered Kenan.

• Genesis 5:10

  And Enosh lived after he fathered Kenan eight hundred and fifteen years and fathered sons and daughters.

• Genesis 5:12

  And Kenan lived seventy years and fathered Mahalalel.

• Genesis 5:13

  And Kenan lived after he fathered Mahalalel eight hundred and forty years and fathered sons and daughters.

• Genesis 5:15

  And Mahalalel lived sixty-five years and fathered Jared.

• Genesis 5:16

  And Mahalalel lived after he fathered Jared eight hundred and thirty years and fathered sons and daughters.

• Genesis 5:18

  And Jared lived one hundred and sixty-two years and fathered Enoch.

• Genesis 5:19

  And Jared lived after he fathered Enoch eight hundred years and fathered sons and daughters.

• Genesis 5:21

  And Enoch lived sixty-five years and fathered Methuselah.

• Genesis 5:22

  And Enoch walked with Elohim after he fathered Methuselah three hundred years and fathered sons and daughters.

• Genesis 5:25

  And Methuselah lived one hundred and eighty-seven years and fathered Lamech.

• Genesis 5:26

  And Methuselah lived after he fathered Lamech seven hundred and eighty-two years and fathered sons and daughters.

• Genesis 5:28

  And Lamech lived one hundred and eighty-two years and fathered a son.

• Genesis 5:30

  And Lamech lived after he fathered Noah five hundred and ninety-five years and fathered sons and daughters.

• Genesis 5:32

  And Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

• Genesis 6:1

  And it happened, when human beings began to multiply on the face of the ground, and daughters were born to them,

• Genesis 6:4

  The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of Elohim went in to the daughters of human beings and they bore children to them; they were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.

• Genesis 6:10

  And Noah fathered three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

• Genesis 10:1

  And these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth; and sons were born to them after the flood.

• Genesis 10:8

  And Cush fathered Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth.

• Genesis 10:13

  And Mizraim fathered the Ludim, the Anamim, the Lehabim, the Naphtuhim,

• Genesis 10:15

  And Canaan fathered Sidon, his firstborn, and Heth,

• 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 10:24

  And Arpachshad fathered Shelah; and Shelah fathered Eber.

• Genesis 10:25

  And to Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided; and the name of his brother was Joktan.

• Genesis 10:26

  And Joktan fathered Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah,

• Genesis 11:10

  These are the generations of Shem. Shem was a hundred years old when he fathered Arpachshad, two years after the flood.

And 457 more times.