mashal · saying, poem, proverb

What it means

mashal (מָשָׁל) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “saying, poem, proverb”.

Saying, proverb: a short saying with comparisons; also a poetic discourse.

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. A short, wise saying.
2. A solemn message spoken as a poem, like Balaam's.
3. An object of mockery among nations.

From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)

How it is translated

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

• proverb ×14
• poem ×12
• proverbs ×8
• byword ×5

Related words

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

Where it appears

• Numbers×7
• Deuteronomy×1
• 1 Samuel×2
• 1 Kings×2
• 2 Chronicles×1
• Job×3
• Psalms×4
• Proverbs×6
• Ecclesiastes×1
• Isaiah×1
• Jeremiah×1
• Ezekiel×8
• Micah×1
• Habakkuk×1

• Numbers 23:7

  And he took up his poem and said, “From Aram Balak, the king of Moab, has brought me, from the mountains of the east: ‘Come, curse Jacob for me, and come, denounce Israel!’

• Numbers 23:18

  And he took up his poem and said, “Rise, Balak, and hear; give ear to me, son of Zippor!

• Numbers 24:3

  And he took up his poem and said, “The oracle of Balaam son of Beor, and the oracle of the man whose eye is opened,

• Numbers 24:15

  And he took up his poem and said, “The oracle of Balaam son of Beor, and the oracle of the man whose eye is opened,

• Numbers 24:20

  And he saw Amalek and took up his poem and said, “Amalek was the first of the nations, but his end shall be to destruction.”

• Numbers 24:21

  And he saw the Kenites and took up his poem and said, “Enduring is your dwelling place, and your nest is set in the crag;

• Numbers 24:23

  And he took up his poem and said, “Alas, who shall live when El does this?

• Deuteronomy 28:37

  And you will become a horror, a byword, and a taunt among all the peoples where YHWH will drive you.

• 1 Samuel 10:12

  And a man from there answered and said, “And who is their father?” Therefore it became a proverb: “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

• 1 Samuel 24:13

  As the proverb of the ancients says, ‘From the wicked comes wickedness’; but my hand shall not be against you.

• 1 Kings 4:32

  And he spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs were a thousand and five.

• 1 Kings 9:7

  then I will cut off Israel from the face of the land that I have given them; and the house that I have consecrated for my name I will cast out from before my face; and Israel will become a byword and a taunt among all the peoples.

• 2 Chronicles 7:20

  then I will uproot them from my land that I have given them, and this house that I have consecrated for my name I will cast out from before my face, and I will make it a byword and a taunt among all the peoples.

• Job 13:12

  Your memorials are proverbs of ash; defenses of clay are your defenses.

• Job 27:1

  And Job again took up his poem and said:

• Job 29:1

  Job again took up his poem and said:

• Psalms 44:14

  You make us a byword among the nations, a shaking of the head among the peoples.

• Psalms 49:4

  I will incline my ear to a proverb; I will open with the lyre my riddle.

• Psalms 69:11

  And I made sackcloth my clothing, and I became to them a byword.

• Psalms 78:2

  I will open my mouth with a proverb; I will pour out riddles from of old,

• Proverbs 1:1

  The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:

• Proverbs 1:6

  to understand a proverb and a figurative saying, the words of the wise and their riddles.

• Proverbs 10:1

  The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son makes his father glad, but a senseless son is the grief of his mother.

• Proverbs 25:1

  These also are proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah, king of Judah, copied.

• Proverbs 26:7

  The legs of the lame hang limp; so is a proverb in the mouth of the senseless.

• Proverbs 26:9

  A thorn that goes up into the hand of a drunkard, so is a proverb in the mouth of the senseless.

• Ecclesiastes 12:9

  And besides that Qohelet was wise, he also taught the people knowledge, and he weighed and searched out; he arranged many proverbs.

• Isaiah 14:4

  that you will take up this poem against the king of Babylon, and say, “How the oppressor has ceased, the fury has ceased!

• Jeremiah 24:9

  And I will make them a dread, an evil, to all the kingdoms of the earth, a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all the places where I will drive them.

• Ezekiel 12:22

  “Son of man, what is this proverb that you have concerning the ground of Israel, saying, ‘The days grow long, and every vision perishes’?

• Ezekiel 12:23

  Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says Adonai YHWH: I will make this proverb cease, and they will not use it as a proverb anymore in Israel.’ But say to them, ‘The days have drawn near, and the word of every vision.

• Ezekiel 14:8

  And I will set my face against that man, and I will make him a sign and proverbs, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people; and you will know that I am YHWH.

• Ezekiel 17:2

  “Son of man, propound a riddle and speak a proverb to the house of Israel,

• Ezekiel 18:2

  “What do you mean, you who speak this proverb about the soil of Israel, saying, ‘The fathers eat unripe grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’?

• Ezekiel 18:3

  As I live, declares Adonai YHWH, you will surely not have occasion any longer to speak this proverb in Israel.

• Ezekiel 20:49

  And I said, “Ah, Adonai YHWH! They are saying of me, ‘Is he not a maker of proverbs?’”

• Ezekiel 24:3

  And speak a proverb to the rebellious house, and say to them: ‘Thus says Adonai YHWH: Set on the pot, set it on, and also pour water into it.

• Micah 2:4

  On that day one will take up against you a poem, and lament with a bitter lament and say, ‘We are utterly ruined; the portion of my people he changes; how he removes it from me! To the faithless he divides our fields.’

• Habakkuk 2:6

  Will not all these take up against him a poem, and a figurative saying, riddles against him? And one will say, ‘Woe to the one who multiplies what is not his! How long? And to the one who loads upon himself pledges!’