maal · above, upward

What it means

maal (מַעַל) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “above, upward”.

Above, on top; upward.

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. Upward, above; with ages, "twenty years old or more".
2. More and more: used to say "greatly" or "above all".

From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)

Word study

What is above; always as an adverb: above, on top, upward. BDB notes that properly it is the upper part, and that it goes with a preposition. It comes from עָלָה, “to go up”.

• “In heaven above” Exodus 20:4
• On top of the ark or the altar Exodus 25:21Genesis 22:9
• “From twenty years old and upward” Numbers 1:3
• Taller than all the people 1 Samuel 9:2
• “Exceedingly” 1 Chronicles 29:25

How we translate it

“Above” 49 times, “old and upward” 33, “upward” 30, “higher” 7, “exceedingly” 5, “top” 4… With numbers of age, “and upward”; repeated, “greater and greater”.

How it is translated

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

• above ×49
• old and upward ×33
• upward ×30
• higher ×7
• exceedingly ×5
• top ×4
• onward ×3
• forward ×1
• greater and greater ×1
• greatly ×1
• others ×6

Related words

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

Where it appears

• Genesis×3
• Exodus×13
• Leviticus×2
• Numbers×37
• Deuteronomy×5
• Joshua×3
• Judges×2
• 1 Samuel×4
• 1 Kings×8
• 2 Kings×2
• 1 Chronicles×8
• 2 Chronicles×11
• Ezra×2
• Job×4
• Psalms×2
• Proverbs×2
• Ecclesiastes×1
• Isaiah×6
• Jeremiah×5
• Ezekiel×15
• Daniel×2
• Amos×1
• Haggai×2

• Genesis 6:16

  An opening you shall make for the ark, and finish it to a cubit from above; and the door of the ark you shall put in its side; with lower, second, and third decks you shall make it.

• Genesis 7:20

  Fifteen cubits upward the waters prevailed, and the mountains were covered.

• Genesis 22:9

  They came to the place that Elohim had told him, and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood, and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.

• Exodus 20:4

  You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the waters under the earth.

• Exodus 25:20

  The cherubim shall spread out their wings upward, overshadowing with their wings the cover of expiation, and their faces shall be one toward the other; toward the cover of expiation the faces of the cherubim shall be turned.

• Exodus 25:21

  You shall put the cover of expiation on top of the ark, and into the ark you shall put the testimony that I will give you.

• Exodus 26:14

  You shall make a covering for the tent of rams' skins dyed red, and a covering of fine skins above.

• Exodus 28:27

  You shall make two rings of gold and put them on the two shoulder pieces of the ephod, low down, on its front, close to its seam, above the woven band of the ephod.

• Exodus 30:14

  Everyone who passes over to those numbered, from twenty years old and upward, shall give the contribution of YHWH.

• Exodus 36:19

  And he made a covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red, and a covering of fine skins above.

• Exodus 37:9

  And the cherubim were spreading out their wings upward, covering with their wings over the cover of expiation, and their faces were each toward the other; toward the cover of expiation were the faces of the cherubim.

• Exodus 38:26

  a beka per head, half a shekel, by the shekel of the sanctuary, for everyone who passed over to those counted, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty.

• Exodus 39:20

  And they made two rings of gold and put them on the two shoulder pieces of the ephod below, at its front, close to its joining, above the woven band of the ephod.

• Exodus 39:31

  And they put on it a cord of blue to fasten it on the turban above, as YHWH had commanded Moses.

• Exodus 40:19

  And he spread the tent over the dwelling, and put the covering of the tent on it above, as YHWH had commanded Moses.

• Exodus 40:20

  And he took and put the testimony into the ark, and set the poles on the ark, and put the cover of expiation on the ark above.

• Leviticus 11:21

  But these you may eat of all the winged insects that walk on all fours: those that have jointed legs above their feet with which to leap on the earth.

• Leviticus 27:7

  And if from sixty years old and upward, if a male, the valuation shall be fifteen shekels, and for the female ten shekels.

• Numbers 1:3

  From twenty years old and upward, everyone in Israel who goes out to the army, you shall count them by their armies, you and Aaron.

• Numbers 1:18

  and they assembled the whole community on the first day of the second month, and they declared their descent by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, head by head,

• Numbers 1:20

  The sons of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, everyone who went out to the army:

• Numbers 1:22

  Of the sons of Simeon, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, those of them counted, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, everyone who went out to the army:

• Numbers 1:24

  Of the sons of Gad, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, everyone who went out to the army:

• Numbers 1:26

  Of the sons of Judah, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, everyone who went out to the army:

• Numbers 1:28

  Of the sons of Issachar, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, everyone who went out to the army:

• Numbers 1:30

  Of the sons of Zebulun, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, everyone who went out to the army:

• Numbers 1:32

  Of the sons of Joseph, of the sons of Ephraim, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, everyone who went out to the army:

• Numbers 1:34

  Of the sons of Manasseh, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, everyone who went out to the army:

• Numbers 1:36

  Of the sons of Benjamin, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, everyone who went out to the army:

• Numbers 1:38

  Of the sons of Dan, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, everyone who went out to the army:

• Numbers 1:40

  Of the sons of Asher, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, everyone who went out to the army:

• Numbers 1:42

  The sons of Naphtali, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, everyone who went out to the army:

• Numbers 1:45

  So all those counted of the sons of Israel by their fathers’ houses, from twenty years old and upward, everyone in Israel who went out to the army,

• Numbers 3:15

  “Count the sons of Levi by their fathers’ houses, by their families; every male from a month old and upward you shall count.”

• Numbers 3:22

  Those of them counted, according to the number of every male from a month old and upward, those of them counted were seven thousand five hundred.

• Numbers 3:28

  According to the number of every male from a month old and upward, there were eight thousand six hundred, keeping the charge of the Holy Place.

• Numbers 3:34

  And those of them counted, according to the number of every male from a month old and upward, were six thousand two hundred.

• Numbers 3:39

  All those counted of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron counted according to the command of YHWH, by their families, every male from a month old and upward, were twenty-two thousand.

• Numbers 3:40

  And YHWH said to Moses, “Count every firstborn male of the sons of Israel from a month old and upward, and take the number of their names.

• Numbers 3:43

  And all the firstborn males, according to the number of names, from a month old and upward, of those of them counted, were twenty-two thousand two hundred seventy-three.

And 100 more times.