Hebrew word · H1534

גַּלְגַּל

hagalgal

wheel

Wheel (Isa 5:28; Ezek 10); whirl, whirlwind (Ps 77:18); and, in this kind of image, a plant head that rolls in the wind like a wheel — a 'tumbleweed.'

Appears 11 times in 11 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) wheel, whirl, whirlwind, whirling

1a) wheel

1b) whirl (of dust, chaff)

Aramaic equivalent: gal.gal (גַּלְגַּל "wheel" H1535)

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 Isaiah 17:13

Range of meaning

Wheel (Isa 5:28; Ezek 10); whirl, whirlwind (Ps 77:18); and, in this kind of image, a plant head that rolls in the wind like a wheel — a 'tumbleweed.'

Against the English

KJV/YLT 'rolling thing,' WEB 'whirling dust,' BSB 'tumbleweeds.' 'Whirling dust' follows older tradition (and probably the Greek), 'tumbleweed' follows a botanical reading.

Used elsewhere in the period

Psalm 83:13 'make them like a galgal, like chaff before the wind' — the same pair of images. Botanists and commentators often identify the plant as the wild artichoke (Gundelia tournefortii), whose dried heads break off and roll across the land in late-summer winds; this identification is common but not certain.

From the study of Ezekiel 10:2

Range of meaning

Wheel, especially a war-chariot wheel (Isaiah 5:28; Jeremiah 47:3; Ezekiel 23:24; 26:10), or the wheel of a well (Ecclesiastes 12:6). It also means a whirl or whirlwind (Psalm 77:18, 'your thunder was in the whirlwind'), and things that whirl, such as tumbleweed or swirling dust (Psalm 83:13; Isaiah 17:13). The doubled root g-l, 'roll', gives it a sense of spinning motion.

Against the English

BSB's 'wheelwork' keeps the Hebrew singular as a collective. KJV 'wheels' and the modern 'whirling wheels' turn it plural. 'Whirling' captures the extra sense of storm and spin. YLT's 'the wheel' is the most literal.

Used elsewhere in the period

Ezekiel 1 calls the wheels 'ofannim (ordinary wheels). Chapter 10 switches to galgal, and 10:13 says, 'As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing “the whirling (wheel)”.' In later Jewish literature the ofannim and galgallim became classes of angels (compare 1 Enoch 61:10; 71:7, and later 'chariot' mysticism). That is a later development, not the meaning here.

From the study of Psalm 77:18

Range of meaning

Wheel (of a chariot, Isaiah 5:28; of a well's pulley, Ecclesiastes 12:6); the wheels of God's throne-chariot in Ezekiel (10:2, 6, 13); something whirled along by wind, such as chaff or tumbleweed (Psalm 83:13; Isaiah 17:13). From a root meaning to roll.

Against the English

Most modern versions (BSB, WEB, NIV, ESV, NASB) say 'whirlwind'. KJV says 'heaven' and YLT 'spheres', following the later Jewish use of galgal for the turning sphere of the sky. The Greek and Latin versions keep 'wheel'.

How it drifted

'Whirlwind' is a defensible guess from Psalm 83:13 and Isaiah 17:13, but it narrows a word whose basic picture is a turning wheel. 'Heaven/spheres' comes from medieval cosmology (rotating celestial spheres), later than the psalm.

Used elsewhere in the period

LXX ἐν τῷ τροχῷ ('in the wheel'); Vulgate in rota ('in the wheel'). Habakkuk 3:8 and Psalm 18:10–11 picture God riding storm-clouds and chariots; Ezekiel uses galgal for the wheels of God's chariot-throne.

Where it appears

Psalms · 2

  1. Psalm 77:18 בַּגַּלְגַּ֗ל [was] in the whirlwind

    Your thunder resounded in the whirlwind; the lightning lit up the world; the earth trembled and quaked.

    Here: Literally 'in the wheel'. The word means something that rolls or whirls: a chariot wheel, whirling chaff or tumbleweed, so here either the whirling storm or the rumbling wheels of God's storm-chariot. Thunder heard as rolling is part of the picture either way.

  2. Psalm 83:13 כַגַּלְגַּ֑ל like <the> whirling dust

    Make them like tumbleweed, O my God, like chaff before the wind.

Ecclesiastes · 1

  1. Ecclesiastes 12:6 הַגַּלְגַּ֖ל the [water] wheel

    Remember Him before the silver cord is snapped and the golden bowl is crushed, before the pitcher is shattered at the spring and the wheel is broken at the well,

Isaiah · 2

  1. Isaiah 5:28 וְגַלְגִּלָּ֖יו and wheels its

    Their arrows are sharpened, and all their bows are strung. The hooves of their horses are like flint; their chariot wheels are like a whirlwind.

  2. Isaiah 17:13 וּכְגַלְגַּ֖ל and like whirling dust

    The nations rage like the rush of many waters. He rebukes them, and they flee far away, driven before the wind like chaff on the hills, like tumbleweeds before a gale.

    Here: 'And like a tumbleweed' — literally 'a rolling thing.' Probably the dried head of a thistle-like plant that breaks off and bowls across open country in the wind; the same picture as Psalm 83:13.

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 47:3 גַּלְגִּלָּ֑יו wheels its

    at the sound of the galloping hooves of stallions, the rumbling of chariots, and the clatter of their wheels. The fathers will not turn back for their sons; their hands will hang limp.

Ezekiel · 5

  1. Ezekiel 10:2 לַגַּלְגַּ֜ל <to> the wheel

    And the LORD said to the man clothed in linen, “Go inside the wheelwork beneath the cherubim. Fill your hands with burning coals from among the cherubim and scatter them over the city.” And as I watched, he went in.

    Here: Singular, used for the whole set: 'the wheelwork' or 'the whirl'. Ezekiel 10:13 says the wheels were called 'the whirling (wheel)' in the prophet's hearing. The word suggests rolling, storm-like motion.

  2. Ezekiel 10:6 לַגַּלְגַּ֔ל <to> the wheel

    When the LORD commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, “Take fire from within the wheelwork, from among the cherubim,” the man went in and stood beside a wheel.

  3. Ezekiel 10:13 הַגַּלְגַּ֖ל the wheel

    I heard the wheels being called “the whirling wheels.”

  4. Ezekiel 23:24 וְגַלְגַּל֙ and wheel[s]

    They will come against you with a host of peoples, with weapons, chariots, and wagons. They will array themselves against you on every side with buckler and shield and helmet. I will delegate judgment to them, and they will punish you according to their own standards.

  5. Ezekiel 26:10 וְגַלְגַּ֜ל and wheel[s]

    His multitude of horses will cover you in their dust. When he enters your gates as an army entering a breached city, your walls will shake from the noise of cavalry, wagons, and chariots.

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