Hebrew word · H1259

בָּרָד

barad

hail

Hail or hailstones. In the Bible hail almost always comes as an act of God, usually in judgment or in war.

Appears 29 times in 26 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) hail

1a) of God's judgment (fig.)

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Psalm 18:13

Range of meaning

Hail or hailstones. In the Bible hail almost always comes as an act of God, usually in judgment or in war.

Against the English

Some versions say “hail,” others “hailstones” (KJV puts “stones” in brackets because it adds that word). The meaning is the same.

Used elsewhere in the period

Exodus 9:18–34 (the seventh plague: hail with fire running along the ground). Joshua 10:11 (more of the enemy died from hailstones than by the sword). Isaiah 30:30 (Yahweh’s voice with hail against Assyria). Job 38:22–23 (hail stored up “for the day of battle and war”).

From the study of Exodus 9:23

Range of meaning

Hail, the ice that falls in storms. In poetry it is often one of God's weapons, together with fire, coals, and stones from the sky.

Against the English

Every English version has "hail", and that is accurate. Modern readers may picture an ordinary passing hailstorm. The text means a destructive storm with no precedent in Egypt (v.24), which killed people and animals left in the open and smashed crops and trees (v.25).

Used elsewhere in the period

Joshua 10:11 (God throws "great stones" of hail on the Amorites); Isa 28:2, 17; 30:30; Ezek 13:11–13; 38:22; Job 38:22–23 (God keeps "storehouses of hail… for the day of battle"). Psalms 78:47–48 and 105:32–33 recall this plague. Wisdom of Solomon 16:16–19 praises the wonder of fire that kept burning in the middle of water and ice. Revelation 8:7, 11:19 and 16:21 reuse the image of hail and fire.

Where it appears

Exodus · 17
  1. Exodus 9:18 בָּרָ֖ד hail

    Behold, at this time tomorrow I will rain down the worst hail that has ever fallen on Egypt, from the day it was founded until now.

  2. Exodus 9:19 הַבָּרָ֖ד the hail

    So give orders now to shelter your livestock and everything you have in the field. Every man or beast that remains in the field and is not brought inside will die when the hail comes down upon them.’”

  3. Exodus 9:22 בָרָ֖ד hail

    Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, so that hail may fall on all the land of Egypt—on man and beast and every plant of the field throughout the land of Egypt.”

  4. Exodus 9:23 וּבָרָ֔ד בָּרָ֖ד and hail, hail

    So Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and lightning struck the earth. So the LORD rained down hail upon the land of Egypt.

    Here: "And hail." The hail is the plague itself. The word comes three times in vv.22–24 and fills the whole scene.

  5. Exodus 9:24 בָרָ֔ד הַבָּרָ֑ד hail, the hail

    The hail fell and the lightning continued flashing through it. The hail was so severe that nothing like it had ever been seen in all the land of Egypt from the time it became a nation.

  6. Exodus 9:25 הַבָּרָ֜ד הַבָּרָ֔ד the hail

    Throughout the land of Egypt, the hail struck down everything in the field, both man and beast; it beat down every plant of the field and stripped every tree.

  7. Exodus 9:26 בָּרָֽד׃ hail

    The only place where it did not hail was in the land of Goshen, where the Israelites lived.

  8. Exodus 9:28 וּבָרָ֑ד and [the] hail

    Pray to the LORD, for there has been enough of God’s thunder and hail. I will let you go; you do not need to stay any longer.”

    Here: The hail of the seventh plague. It killed people and animals in the open, stripped plants and broke trees (9:25). In Egypt, where hail is very rare, it was terrifying.

  9. Exodus 9:29 וְהַבָּרָד֙ and the hail

    Moses said to him, “When I have left the city, I will spread out my hands to the LORD. The thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth is the LORD’s.

    Here: Hail, the seventh plague (9:18–26). Elsewhere in the Bible it is one of God's weapons against his enemies (Josh 10:11; Ps 18:12–13).

  10. Exodus 9:33 וְהַבָּרָ֔ד and the hail

    Then Moses departed from Pharaoh, went out of the city, and spread out his hands to the LORD. The thunder and hail ceased, and the rain no longer poured down on the land.

  11. Exodus 9:34 וְהַבָּרָ֛ד and the hail

    When Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and thunder had ceased, he sinned again and hardened his heart—he and his officials.

  12. Exodus 10:5 הַבָּרָ֔ד the hail

    They will cover the face of the land so that no one can see it. They will devour whatever is left after the hail and eat every tree that grows in your fields.

  13. Exodus 10:12 הַבָּרָֽד׃ the hail

    Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt, so that the locusts may swarm over it and devour every plant in the land—everything that the hail has left behind.”

  14. Exodus 10:15 הַבָּרָ֑ד the hail

    They covered the face of all the land until it was black, and they consumed all the plants on the ground and all the fruit on the trees that the hail had left behind. Nothing green was left on any tree or plant in all the land of Egypt.

Joshua · 1
  1. Joshua 10:11 הַבָּרָ֔ד the hail

    As they fled before Israel along the descent from Beth-horon to Azekah, the LORD cast down on them large hailstones from the sky, and more of them were killed by the hailstones than by the swords of the Israelites.

    Here: 'The hail.' The 'stones from the sky' were hailstones, the same word used for the seventh plague on Egypt (Exod 9).

Job · 1
  1. Job 38:22 בָּרָ֣ד hail

    Have you entered the storehouses of snow or observed the storehouses of hail,

Psalms · 6
  1. Psalm 18:12 בָּ֝רָ֗ד hail

    From the brightness of His presence His clouds advanced—hailstones and coals of fire.

  2. Psalm 18:13 בָּ֝רָ֗ד hail

    The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded—hailstones and coals of fire.

    Here: Hail. In Israel’s memory hail was a weapon God used, as in the Egyptian plague (Exodus 9) and at Joshua’s battle (Joshua 10:11). It works almost like a battle cry: what falls from the storm.

  3. Psalm 78:47 בַּבָּרָ֣ד with <the> hail

    He killed their vines with hailstones and their sycamore-figs with sleet.

  4. Psalm 78:48 לַבָּרָ֣ד to <the> hail

    He abandoned their cattle to the hail and their livestock to bolts of lightning.

  5. Psalm 105:32 בָּרָ֑ד hail

    He gave them hail for rain, with lightning throughout their land.

  6. Psalm 148:8 וּ֭בָרָד and hail

    lightning and hail, snow and clouds, powerful wind fulfilling His word,

    Here: Hail, the destructive ice-storm that could flatten a whole season's crops in the Levant. In Israel's memory it was a weapon God used (Exodus 9; Joshua 10:11). Here it joins the choir of praise.

Isaiah · 3
  1. Isaiah 28:2 בָּרָ֖ד hail

    Behold, the Lord has one who is strong and mighty. Like a hailstorm or destructive tempest, like a driving rain or flooding downpour, he will smash that crown to the ground.

    Here: Hail: the storm that shreds crops, vines and flowers. It fits the 'fading flower' garland of verse 1, which hail would rip apart. Hail is also a classic weapon of God in Israel's stories (Exod 9; Josh 10:11).

  2. Isaiah 28:17 בָרָד֙ hail

    I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the level. Hail will sweep away your refuge of lies, and water will flood your hiding place.

    Here: Hail, a familiar weapon of God in storm scenes (Exod 9; Josh 10:11). It picks up v.2, where Assyria is "a storm of hail."

  3. Isaiah 30:30 בָּרָֽד׃ hail

    And the LORD will cause His majestic voice to be heard and His mighty arm to be revealed, striking in angry wrath with a flame of consuming fire, and with cloudburst, storm, and hailstones.

    Here: Hail. In Israel's memory it was God's weapon against Egypt (Exodus 9) and against the Amorite kings at Beth-horon (Joshua 10:11).

Haggai · 1
  1. Haggai 2:17 וּבַבָּרָ֔ד and with <the> hail

    I struck you—all the work of your hands—with blight, mildew, and hail, but you did not turn to Me, declares the LORD.

    Here: 'And with the hail': sudden storm damage that flattens standing grain and strips vines. Haggai adds it to the older pair.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.