kalal · be light, curse

What it means

kalal (קָלַל) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “be light, curse”.

Be light or of little account. Said of waters, go down. Said of people, treat with contempt; in the intensive form, curse.

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 weigh little or be worth little; to become lighter, or go down.
2. To count something or someone as little, as a thing without weight.
3. To speak words against someone that wish him harm.

From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)

Word study

To be light, of little account; from there to go down (of waters), to lighten, and to make little of, treat with contempt; in the intensive form, to curse. BDB adds “to be swift” and “to be vile”. Of the same root is קְלָלָה, “curse”.

• The waters that decrease Genesis 8:8
• “The one who treats you with contempt I will curse” Genesis 12:31 Samuel 2:30
• Cursing: “Whoever curses his father” Exodus 21:17Leviticus 24:112 Samuel 16:9
• “You shall not treat Elohim with contempt” Exodus 22:28
• Lightening a load or a yoke Exodus 18:221 Kings 12:10

Historical and cultural background

In Genesis 12:3 the two words are seen together: “the one who treats you with contempt” is this verb, and “I will curse” is אָרַר.

How we translate it

“Curse” 17 times, “cursed” 16, “lighten” 8, “curses” 5, “swifter” 5, “contempt” 4. This edition's glossary sets קִלֵּל = “curse” (Genesis 8:21; Exodus 21:17) or “treat with contempt” (Genesis 12:3; Exodus 22:28) according to the passage, always apart from אָרַר, which is also “curse”, and explains it in a note.

How it is translated

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

• curse ×17
• cursed ×16
• lighten ×8
• curses ×5
• swifter ×5
• contempt ×4
• cursing ×3
• lightly ×3
• became of little account ×2
• easy ×2
• others ×17

Related words

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

Where it appears

• Genesis×6
• Exodus×3
• Leviticus×7
• Deuteronomy×1
• Joshua×1
• Judges×1
• 1 Samuel×5
• 2 Samuel×11
• 1 Kings×5
• 2 Kings×3
• 2 Chronicles×3
• Nehemiah×2
• Job×5
• Psalms×3
• Proverbs×4
• Ecclesiastes×5
• Isaiah×6
• Jeremiah×5
• Ezekiel×3
• Jonah×1
• Nahum×1
• Habakkuk×1

• Genesis 8:8

  And he sent out the dove from him to see whether the waters had decreased from the face of the ground.

• Genesis 8:11

  And the dove came to him at evening time, and look, a freshly plucked olive leaf was in her mouth; and Noah knew that the waters had decreased from the earth.

• Genesis 8:21

  And YHWH smelled the pleasing aroma, and YHWH said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of the human being, for the inclination of the heart of the human being is evil from his youth; and I will never again strike every living thing, as I have done.

• Genesis 12:3

  I will bless those who bless you, and the one who treats you with contempt I will curse; and in you all the families of the ground will be blessed.”

• Genesis 16:4

  He went in to Hagar, and she conceived; and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress became of little account in her eyes.

• Genesis 16:5

  Then Sarai said to Abram, “The wrong done to me be on you! I myself gave my slave woman into your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, I became of little account in her eyes. May YHWH judge between me and you.”

• Exodus 18:22

  Let them judge the people at all times; and every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they shall judge themselves; so make it lighter for yourself, and they will bear the load with you.

• Exodus 21:17

  Whoever curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.

• Exodus 22:28

  You shall not treat Elohim with contempt, nor curse a chief among your people.

• Leviticus 19:14

  You shall not curse a deaf person and before a blind person you shall not put a stumbling block; but you shall fear your Elohim. I am YHWH.

• Leviticus 20:9

  For any man who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death; he has cursed his father or his mother; his blood is on him.

• Leviticus 24:11

  And the son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name and cursed; and they brought him to Moses. Now the name of his mother was Shelomith, daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.

• Leviticus 24:14

  “Bring the one who cursed outside the camp, and let all who heard lay their hands on his head, and let all the community stone him.

• Leviticus 24:15

  And you shall speak to the sons of Israel, saying: Any man who curses his Elohim shall bear his sin.

• Leviticus 24:23

  And Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, and they brought out the one who cursed to outside the camp and stoned him with stones. And the sons of Israel did as YHWH had commanded Moses.

• Deuteronomy 23:4

  because they did not meet you with bread and with water on the way when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam son of Beor from Pethor of Aram-naharaim to curse you.

• Joshua 24:9

  Then Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel; and he sent and summoned Balaam son of Beor to curse you.

• Judges 9:27

  They went out into the field and harvested their vineyards and trod the grapes, and they held a festival of praise; and they went into the house of their god and ate and drank and cursed Abimelech.

• 1 Samuel 2:30

  Therefore declares YHWH, the Elohim of Israel: I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father would walk before me forever; but now declares YHWH: Far be it from me! For those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me will be lightly esteemed.

• 1 Samuel 3:13

  And I have told him that I am judging his house forever for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were bringing a curse on themselves, and he did not restrain them.

• 1 Samuel 6:5

  So you shall make images of your tumors and images of your mice that are destroying the land, and give glory to the Elohim of Israel; perhaps he will lighten his hand from upon you and from upon your gods and from upon your land.

• 1 Samuel 17:43

  The Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with staffs?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

• 1 Samuel 18:23

  The servants of Saul spoke in the ears of David these words, and David said, “Is it a light thing in your eyes to become son-in-law to the king, when I am a poor and despised man?”

• 2 Samuel 1:23

  Saul and Jonathan, beloved and pleasant in their life, and in their death they were not separated; they were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions.

• 2 Samuel 6:22

  And I will make myself contemptible even more than this, and I will be low in my own eyes; but with the slave women of whom you have spoken, with them I will be honored.”

• 2 Samuel 16:5

  When King David came to Bahurim, there from there a man came out of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei son of Gera; he came out, cursing as he came.

• 2 Samuel 16:7

  This is what Shimei said as he cursed: “Get out, get out, you man of blood and wicked man!

• 2 Samuel 16:9

  Abishai son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Please let me cross over and take off his head.”

• 2 Samuel 16:10

  The king said, “What have I to do with you, sons of Zeruiah? So let him curse, for YHWH has said to him, ‘Curse David’; and who shall say, ‘Why have you done so?’”

• 2 Samuel 16:11

  David said to Abishai and to all his servants, “Look, my son, who came out from my own body, seeks my life; how much more now this Benjaminite! Leave him alone and let him curse, for YHWH has told him.

• 2 Samuel 16:13

  David and his men went along the road, and Shimei was going along the side of the hill opposite him, cursing as he went, and he threw stones opposite him and threw dust.

• 2 Samuel 19:21

  Abishai son of Zeruiah answered and said, “For this, shall not Shimei be put to death, because he cursed the anointed of YHWH?”

• 2 Samuel 19:43

  The men of Israel answered the men of Judah and said, “I have ten shares in the king, and in David too I have more than you. Why then have you despised me? Was not my word the first for me to bring back my king?” But the word of the men of Judah was harsher than the word of the men of Israel.

• 1 Kings 2:8

  And there is with you Shimei son of Gera, the Benjaminite from Bahurim, who cursed me with a grievous curse on the day I went to Mahanaim; but he came down to meet me at the Jordan, and I swore to him by YHWH, saying, ‘I will not put you to death with the sword.’

• 1 Kings 12:4

  “Your father hardened our yoke; now you, lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke that he put on us, and we will serve you.”

• 1 Kings 12:9

  He said to them, “What do you counsel that we answer this people, who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Lighten the yoke that your father put on us’?”

• 1 Kings 12:10

  The young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, “Thus you shall say to this people who spoke to you, saying, ‘Your father made heavy our yoke, but you, lighten it from on us’; thus you shall speak to them: ‘My little finger is thicker than the waist of my father.

• 1 Kings 16:31

  And it happened, as if it were a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, that he took as wife Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and bowed down to him.

• 2 Kings 2:24

  He turned behind him and saw them and cursed them in the name of YHWH. And two she-bears came out of the forest and tore apart forty two children of them.

• 2 Kings 3:18

  This is a light thing in the eyes of YHWH; he will also give Moab into your hand.

And 42 more times.