Hebrew word · H1546

גָּלוּת

galut

captivity

A noun from the verb gālāh, whose basic sense is 'to uncover, lay bare' and so 'to depart, go away', and in particular 'to go into exile'. Gālût means (1) the act of deportation or exile, and (2) the group of exiles itself, the people who were carried off (e.g. Jer 24:5; 28:4; 29:22).

Appears 15 times in 14 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) exile, exiles

2) (TWOT) captivity

Aramaic equivalent: ga.lut (גָּלוּ "captivity" H1547)

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 Ezekiel 1:2

Range of meaning

A noun from the verb gālāh, whose basic sense is 'to uncover, lay bare' and so 'to depart, go away', and in particular 'to go into exile'. Gālût means (1) the act of deportation or exile, and (2) the group of exiles itself, the people who were carried off (e.g. Jer 24:5; 28:4; 29:22). The related noun gôlāh, used in Ezek 1:1 ('among the exiles'), covers the same ground. The idea is removal from one's land, not imprisonment.

Against the English

KJV and WEB say 'captivity', BSB, ESV and NIV say 'exile', YLT says 'removal'. 'Exile' and 'removal' are closer. 'Captivity' makes a modern reader think of chains and prison.

How it drifted

'Captivity' comes through the Latin and older English tradition ('the Babylonian Captivity'). It was reasonable then, but today it suggests imprisonment, which describes Jehoiachin's own position better than that of the community Ezekiel lived in.

Used elsewhere in the period

Used for the 597 BC deportation in 2 Kgs 25:27 and Jer 52:31 ('the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin'), the exact phrase Ezekiel uses here. Ezekiel counts by it again in 33:21 and 40:1 ('of our exile'). Babylonian documents show the deportees were settled in their own communities, with Judean villages such as Āl-Yāhūdu ('Judah-town') attested in cuneiform tablets, and Ezekiel lived at Tel-abib (3:15).

From the study of Ezekiel 40:1

Range of meaning

Deportation or exile, as an event or a condition. It can also mean the deported people as a group, "the exiles" (e.g., Jer 24:5; 28:4). It comes from the verb gālâ, "to uncover, remove, go into exile."

Against the English

KJV and WEB say "captivity" and YLT says "removal." Most modern versions say "exile." "Captivity" suggests prison and chains. "Exile" is closer to the truth: a forced move to a foreign land.

How it drifted

"Captivity" comes from the Latin captivitas used in the Vulgate tradition and from the KJV. In modern English it suggests being locked up.

Used elsewhere in the period

Ezekiel dates from "the exile of King Jehoiachin" (1:2) and uses gālût the same way in 33:21. Babylonian ration tablets from Nebuchadnezzar's palace list Jehoiachin ("Ya'ukin, king of Judah") and his sons receiving oil rations. That confirms the deported king lived in honourable confinement, not in a dungeon. The Āl-Yāḫūdu ("Judah-town") tablets show Judean deportees farming, contracting and paying taxes in Babylonia.

From the study of Jeremiah 24:5

Range of meaning

Exile, either as an event or, as here, as a collective noun for the group of deportees ('the exile' = the exiled community). It comes from galah, 'to uncover, go away, go into exile'.

Against the English

BSB and NIV say 'exiles'. KJV says 'them that are carried away captive', WEB 'captives' and YLT 'the removed'. 'Captives' suggests prisoners held in chains, while 'exiles' is closer: a people displaced and resettled.

How it drifted

KJV-era 'captivity' language (Latin captivitas) shaped the English picture of 'the Babylonian Captivity' as imprisonment.

Used elsewhere in the period

It is used collectively in Jer 28:4; 29:22; 40:1; 52:31, in Ezek 1:2 ('the exile of King Jehoiachin') and in Amos 1:6, 9 ('a whole galut'). Babylonian documents show what the deportees' lives were like. Ration tablets from Nebuchadnezzar's palace list oil for 'Ya'ukin, king of the land of Yahud' (Jehoiachin) and his sons. The Al-Yahudu tablets show Judean families in rural Babylonia farming, leasing land and doing business over several generations.

Where it appears

2 Kings · 1

  1. 2 Kings 25:27 לְגָלוּת֙ of [the] exile of

    On the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Judah’s King Jehoiachin, in the year Evil-merodach became king of Babylon, he released King Jehoiachin of Judah from prison.

    Here: 'Of the exile of': the deportation of 597 BC, used here as a fixed point for counting years, as the exiles themselves did (Ezekiel 1:2).

Isaiah · 2

  1. Isaiah 20:4 גָּל֥וּת [the] exile[s] of

    so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Cush, young and old alike, naked and barefoot, with bared buttocks—to Egypt’s shame.

    Here: 'The exile of Cush,' meaning the deported population. It pairs with šəbî: captured, then carried off out of their land.

  2. Isaiah 45:13 וְגָלוּתִ֣י and exile[s] my

    I will raise up Cyrus in righteousness, and I will make all his ways straight. He will rebuild My city and set My exiles free, but not for payment or reward, says the LORD of Hosts.”

    Here: 'And my exile', a collective noun meaning 'my exiled people', the deported community in Babylonia. Calling them 'my' exiles claims them as God's own people, even far from the land.

Jeremiah · 5

  1. Jeremiah 24:5 גָּל֣וּת [the] exile[s] of

    “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Like these good figs, so I regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans.

    Here: A collective noun: 'the exile' meaning the deported community as one group, the Judeans carried off with King Jeconiah in 597 BC (24:1).

  2. Jeremiah 28:4 גָּל֨וּת [the] exile[s] of

    And I will restore to this place Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, along with all the exiles from Judah who went to Babylon,’ declares the LORD, ‘for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.’”

  3. Jeremiah 29:22 גָּל֣וּת [the] exile[s] of

    Because of them, all the exiles of Judah who are in Babylon will use this curse: ‘May the LORD make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire!’

    Here: A collective noun: the body of deported people, not just the condition of being exiled. It means the Judeans carried off to Babylon in 597 BC.

  4. Jeremiah 40:1 גָּל֤וּת [the] exile[s] of

    This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD after Nebuzaradan captain of the guard had released him at Ramah, having found him bound in chains among all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah who were being exiled to Babylon.

  5. Jeremiah 52:31 לְגָלוּת֙ of [the] exile of

    On the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the first year of the reign of Evil-merodach king of Babylon, he pardoned Jehoiachin king of Judah and released him from prison.

    Here: 'Of the exile of'. The years are counted from Jehoiachin's own deportation. The exiles kept time by their captive king, as Ezekiel does too (Ezek 1:2).

Ezekiel · 3

  1. Ezekiel 1:2 לְגָל֖וּת of [the] exile of

    On the fifth day of the month—it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin—

    Here: 'Of the exile of', meaning the forced removal of the king from his land. The exile itself is the event from which this community counts its years.

  2. Ezekiel 33:21 לְגָלוּתֵ֑נוּ of exile our

    In the twelfth year of our exile, on the fifth day of the tenth month, a fugitive from Jerusalem came to me and reported, “The city has been taken!”

  3. Ezekiel 40:1 לְ֠גָלוּתֵנוּ of exile our

    In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month—in the fourteenth year after Jerusalem had been struck down—on that very day the hand of the LORD was upon me, and He took me there.

    Here: "Of our exile." Ezekiel counts his dates from King Jehoiachin's deportation in 597 BC (1:2). "Our" puts the prophet among the deportees. He is one of them, not an observer.

Amos · 2

  1. Amos 1:6 גָּל֥וּת exile

    This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Gaza, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they exiled a whole population, delivering them up to Edom.

    Here: From the same root as the verb, so literally 'they exiled an exile'. It can mean the act of deportation or the group of deported people. Here it means the captives taken.

  2. Amos 1:9 גָּל֤וּת exile

    This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Tyre, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they delivered up a whole congregation of exiles to Edom and broke a covenant of brotherhood.

    Here: Here the word means the people themselves: a deported population, a group of captives taken from their home.

Obadiah · 2

  1. Obadiah 1:20 וְגָלֻ֣ת וְגָלֻ֥ת and [the] exile[s] of

    And the exiles of this host of the Israelites will possess the land of the Canaanites as far as Zarephath; and the exiles from Jerusalem who are in Sepharad will possess the cities of the Negev.

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