mashal · recite poems, liken

What it means

mashal (מָשַׁל) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “recite poems, liken”.

Speak proverbs or poems: speak with comparisons and figurative language; also be like.

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 be similar to something else, or to be compared to it.
2. To speak in sayings or pictures that people repeat.

From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)

How it is translated

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

• like ×6
• speak ×5
• compare me ×1
• maker ×1
• those who recite poems ×1
• use it as a proverb ×1
• who speaks proverbs ×1

Related words

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

Where it appears

• Numbers×1
• Job×1
• Psalms×4
• Isaiah×2
• Ezekiel×8

• Numbers 21:27

  Therefore those who recite poems say, “Come to Heshbon; let it be built, and let the city of Sihon be established.

• Job 30:19

  He has cast me into the mud, and I have become like dust and ashes.

• Psalms 28:1

  Of David. To you, YHWH, I call; my Rock, do not be deaf to me, lest you be silent to me and I become like those who go down to the pit.

• Psalms 49:12

  But man, in his dignity, does not remain; he is like the livestock that are destroyed.

• Psalms 49:20

  Man in dignity, but who does not understand, is like the livestock that are destroyed.

• Psalms 143:7

  Answer me quickly, YHWH; my spirit is consumed; do not hide your face from me, and I would become like those who go down to the pit.

• Isaiah 14:10

  All of them will answer and say to you, ‘You too have been made weak as we are; you have become like us.’

• Isaiah 46:5

  To whom will you liken me and make me equal and compare me, that we may be alike?

• 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 16:44

  Look, everyone who speaks proverbs will speak this proverb about you, saying, “Like the mother, her daughter.”

• 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.

And 1 more times.