male · fill, be full

What it means

male (מָלֵא) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “fill, be full”.

Fill or be full; also fulfill or complete (a time, a word given).

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 take up all the space of something, or to give someone all it can hold.
2. For a period to run out, or a word to come true.
3. Literally "fill the hand": to install someone as priest.
4. To follow YHWH without reserve, with one's whole being; also, to fill a setting with stones.

From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)

Word study

Fill, be full; from there to fulfill or complete a time or a word. BDB notes that it is applied very widely, literally and figuratively. Its adjective is מָלֵא, full (H4392).

• To fill the earth, the waters Genesis 1:22Genesis 1:28
• To be filled (with violence, with glory) Genesis 6:11Exodus 40:34
• A time being fulfilled Genesis 25:24Genesis 29:21
• To fulfill a word 1 Kings 2:27
• To “fill the hand”: to ordain a priest Exodus 28:41
• To follow YHWH “fully” Numbers 14:24

How we translate it

“Filled” 91 times, “fill” 44, “full” 42, “ordained” 10, “fully” 8, “are fulfilled” 7. This edition's glossary sets מִלֵּא יָד as “ordain”, with the literal expression (“fill the hand”) in a note; מִלֵּא אַחֲרֵי is “follow fully”.

How it is translated

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

• filled ×91
• fill ×44
• full ×42
• ordained ×10
• fully ×8
• are completed ×7
• are fulfilled ×7
• fulfill ×7
• ordain ×5
• were completed ×5
• others ×24

Related words

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

Where it appears

• Genesis×16
• Exodus×23
• Leviticus×9
• Numbers×7
• Deuteronomy×2
• Joshua×5
• Judges×3
• 1 Samuel×3
• 2 Samuel×2
• 1 Kings×12
• 2 Kings×10
• 1 Chronicles×3
• 2 Chronicles×11
• Ezra×1
• Esther×5
• Job×17
• Psalms×22
• Proverbs×7
• Ecclesiastes×5
• Song of Songs×2
• Isaiah×22
• Jeremiah×22
• Lamentations×1
• Ezekiel×26
• Daniel×2
• Joel×2
• Micah×2
• Nahum×1
• Habakkuk×2
• Zephaniah×1
• Haggai×1
• Zechariah×3

• Genesis 1:22

  And Elohim blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.”

• Genesis 1:28

  And Elohim blessed them, and Elohim said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every animal that creeps on the earth.”

• Genesis 6:11

  And the earth was corrupt before Elohim, and the earth was filled with violence.

• Genesis 6:13

  And Elohim said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before me, for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and look, I am going to destroy them with the earth.

• Genesis 9:1

  And Elohim blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.

• Genesis 21:19

  Then Elohim opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. She went and filled the skin with water and gave a drink to the boy.

• Genesis 24:16

  The girl was very beautiful in appearance, a virgin, and no man had known her. She went down to the spring, filled her jar, and came up.

• Genesis 25:24

  When her days to give birth were fulfilled, look, there were twins in her womb.

• Genesis 26:15

  All the wells that the servants of his father had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped up and filled with dust.

• Genesis 29:21

  Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, so that I may go in to her.”

• Genesis 29:27

  Complete the week of this one, and we will give you that one too, for the service that you will serve with me yet another seven years.”

• Genesis 29:28

  Jacob did so, and completed the week of this one; and he gave him Rachel his daughter as his wife.

• Genesis 42:25

  Joseph gave orders to fill their containers with grain, and to return their silver, each into his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. And so it was done for them.

• Genesis 44:1

  He commanded the one over his house, saying, “Fill the bags of the men with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man’s silver in the mouth of his bag.

• Genesis 50:3

  Forty days were completed for him, for so are completed the days of embalming; and the Egyptians wept for him seventy days.

• Exodus 1:7

  But the sons of Israel were fruitful, swarmed, multiplied, and grew strong, very, very much, and the land was filled with them.

• Exodus 2:16

  The priest of Midian had seven daughters. They came and drew water and filled the troughs to water the flock of their father.

• Exodus 7:25

  Seven days were completed after YHWH struck the Nile.

• Exodus 8:21

  For if you do not let my people go, look, I am going to send on you, on your servants, on your people, and into your houses the swarms of flies; and the houses of the Egyptians will be filled with the swarms of flies, and also the ground on which they stand.

• Exodus 10:6

  They will fill your houses and the houses of all your servants and the houses of all the Egyptians, such as your fathers and your fathers’ fathers have not seen, from the day they came to be on the earth until this day.’” Then he turned and went out from Pharaoh.

• Exodus 15:9

  The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the plunder; my soul will have its fill of them. I will draw my sword; my hand will destroy them.’

• Exodus 23:26

  None shall miscarry or be barren in your land; the number of your days I will fulfill.

• Exodus 28:3

  And you shall speak to all the wise of heart, whom I have filled with a spirit of wisdom, that they make the garments of Aaron to consecrate him to serve as priest for me.

• Exodus 28:17

  You shall fill it with a setting of stones, four rows of stones: a row of ruby, topaz, and emerald shall be the first row;

• Exodus 28:41

  You shall clothe with them Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, and anoint them and ordain them and consecrate them, that they may serve as priests for me.

• Exodus 29:9

  You shall gird them with sashes, Aaron and his sons, and bind caps on them, and the priesthood shall be theirs by a statute forever. So you shall ordain Aaron and his sons.

• Exodus 29:29

  The holy garments that are Aaron's shall be for his sons after him, to be anointed in them and to be ordained in them.

• Exodus 29:33

  They shall eat those things by which expiation was made to ordain and to consecrate them; but a stranger shall not eat them, for they are holy.

• Exodus 29:35

  So you shall do to Aaron and to his sons, according to all that I have commanded you; seven days you shall ordain them.

• Exodus 31:3

  and I have filled him with the spirit of Elohim, with wisdom, and with understanding, and with knowledge, and with all kinds of work,

• Exodus 31:5

  and in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in all kinds of work.

• Exodus 32:29

  And Moses said, “Consecrate yourselves today to YHWH, for each man has been against his son and against his brother, so as to bestow upon you today a blessing.”

• Exodus 35:31

  and he has filled him with the spirit of Elohim, with wisdom, with understanding, and with knowledge, and with all kinds of work,

• Exodus 35:33

  and in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every work of design.

• Exodus 35:35

  He has filled them with wisdom of heart to do all the work of the engraver, and of the designer, and of the embroiderer in blue, and in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen, and of the weaver, doers of every work and devisers of designs.

• Exodus 39:10

  And they filled it with four rows of stones: a row of ruby, topaz, and emerald, the first row;

• Exodus 40:34

  Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of YHWH filled the dwelling.

• Exodus 40:35

  And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting, for the cloud dwelt on it, and the glory of YHWH filled the dwelling.

• Leviticus 8:33

  You shall not go out from the entrance of the tent of meeting for seven days, until the day the days of your ordination are completed, for for seven days you will be ordained.

• Leviticus 9:17

  He presented the grain offering, filled his palm from it, and offered it up in smoke on the altar, besides the burnt offering of the morning.

And 210 more times.