Hebrew word · H1556

גָּלַל

gol

to roll

To roll (a stone, a body, a scroll, water); to roll away or off; by figure, to roll a burden onto someone, meaning to entrust or hand over. HALOT and BDB both list the figurative 'roll (one's way/works) upon YHWH' as a distinct use.

Appears 18 times in 18 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to roll, roll away, roll down, roll together

1a) (Qal) to roll

1b) (Niphal)

1b1) to roll up

1b2) to flow down

1c) (Pilpel) to roll

1d) (Poal) to be rolled

1e) (Hithpoel) to roll oneself

1f) (Hithpalpel) to roll oneself

1g) (Hiphil) to roll away

Aramaic equivalent: ge.lal (גְּלָל "great" H1560)

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 Proverbs 16:3

Range of meaning

To roll (a stone, a body, a scroll, water); to roll away or off; by figure, to roll a burden onto someone, meaning to entrust or hand over. HALOT and BDB both list the figurative 'roll (one's way/works) upon YHWH' as a distinct use.

Against the English

Most versions say 'commit'. In 1611 'commit' meant 'hand over into someone's keeping', as in 'commit to prison' or 'commit to the grave', which is close to the Hebrew. Today 'commit' usually means pledging yourself or being dedicated ('a committed Christian', 'commit to the project'). That turns the action around: the modern hearer pictures themselves taking on an obligation, while the Hebrew pictures them putting a load down. YLT's 'Roll unto Jehovah' keeps the picture.

How it drifted

The English verb 'commit' changed. Its older sense, 'give in trust', has faded, and 'be committed / pledge' has become the main sense, helped by devotional phrases like 'commit your life to the Lord'.

Used elsewhere in the period

Literal uses: Jacob rolls the stone off the well (Gen 29:3, 8, 10); great stones are rolled to a cave mouth (Josh 10:18); 'I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt', which explains the name Gilgal (Josh 5:9); 'let justice roll down like waters' (Amos 5:24). Figurative uses, the closest parallels: Psalm 37:5, 'Roll your way upon YHWH, trust in him, and he will act'; Psalm 22:8 (Heb 22:9), where mockers say of the sufferer 'he rolled [it] onto YHWH, let Him rescue him', which Matthew 27:43 echoes as 'he trusts in God'. Psalm 55:22 (Heb 55:23) says the same with a different verb: 'cast your burden on YHWH'. The Septuagint and Vulgate render the verb as 'reveal / lay open' here and in Ps 37:5 (see textual notes).

From the study of Isaiah 34:4

Range of meaning

To roll: rolling a stone (Genesis 29:3), rolling oneself, rolling one's way onto the LORD (Psalm 37:5). In the passive form it means to be rolled up or rolled together. A related noun, məgillāh, is the ordinary word for a scroll.

Against the English

KJV says 'rolled together' and most modern versions say 'rolled up', which is accurate. NLT adds 'disappear', which goes beyond the Hebrew. The text says the sky is rolled up, not that it vanishes.

Used elsewhere in the period

Israel pictured the sky as something God 'stretched out like a curtain, spread like a tent' (Isaiah 40:22; also 42:5; 44:24; 45:12; Psalm 104:2). Psalm 102:26 (quoted in Hebrews 1:12) pictures God changing the heavens like a garment. Revelation 6:14 picks up our verse: 'the sky was split apart like a scroll being rolled up.'

From the study of Proverbs 26:27

Range of meaning

To roll: heavy stones (Gen 29:3, 8, 10; Josh 10:18), and figuratively 'roll' one's burden or way onto YHWH (Ps 22:8, Heb. 22:9; Ps 37:5; Prov 16:3) or 'roll away' disgrace (Josh 5:9).

Against the English

'Rolls/rolleth' in most versions. ESV recasts it as one 'who starts it rolling'. NLT supplies a direction and target, rolling a boulder down on others, which the Hebrew does not state.

Used elsewhere in the period

Gen 29:3, 8, 10 and Josh 10:18 show that rolling large stones was ordinary, strenuous work, for moving well-covers and sealing caves. Sirach 27:25–27, a Jewish wisdom book of about 180 BC, expands the saying: 'Whoever throws a stone straight up throws it on his own head… whoever does evil, it will roll back on him.'

Where it appears

Genesis · 4

  1. Genesis 29:3 וְגָלֲל֤וּ and they rolled

    When all the flocks had been gathered there, the shepherds would roll away the stone from the mouth of the well and water the sheep. Then they would return the stone to its place over the mouth of the well.

  2. Genesis 29:8 וְגָֽלֲלוּ֙ and people will roll

    But they replied, “We cannot, until all the flocks have been gathered and the stone has been rolled away from the mouth of the well. Then we will water the sheep.”

  3. Genesis 29:10 וַיָּ֤גֶל and he rolled

    As soon as Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of his mother’s brother Laban, with Laban’s sheep, he went up and rolled the stone away from the mouth of the well and watered his uncle’s sheep.

    Here: He rolls the large stone (v. 2), something the shepherds said was done only when all the flocks had gathered and the men could do it together (vv. 3, 8). Jacob does it alone: a feat of strength driven by the moment. The verb also anticipates the stone heap 'Gal-ed' in 31:46–48.

  4. Genesis 43:18 לְהִתְגֹּלֵ֤ל to roll himself

    But the brothers were frightened that they had been taken to Joseph’s house. “We have been brought here because of the silver that was returned in our bags the first time,” they said. “They intend to overpower us and take us as slaves, along with our donkeys.”

Joshua · 2

  1. Joshua 5:9 גַּלּ֛וֹתִי I have rolled away

    Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” So that place has been called Gilgal to this day.

    Here: "I have rolled (away)": the verb used for rolling a heavy stone (Gen 29:3, 8, 10; Josh 10:18). The form presents the act as done; spoken by God on that day it works almost as a declaration: "with this, I roll it off." Its sound sets up the name Gilgal.

  2. Joshua 10:18 גֹּ֛לּוּ roll

    So Joshua said, “Roll large stones against the mouth of the cave, and post men there to guard them.

1 Samuel · 1

  1. 1 Samuel 14:33 גֹּֽלּוּ־ roll

    Then someone reported to Saul: “Look, the troops are sinning against the LORD by eating meat with the blood still in it.” “You have broken faith,” said Saul. “Roll a large stone over here at once.”

2 Samuel · 1

  1. 2 Samuel 20:12 מִתְגֹּלֵ֥ל [was] wallowing

    But Amasa wallowed in his blood in the middle of the road, and when the man saw that all the troops were stopping there, he dragged the body off the road into a field and threw a garment over it.

Job · 1

  1. Job 30:14 הִתְגַּלְגָּֽלוּ׃ they have rolled themselves

    They advance as through a wide breach; through the ruins they keep rolling in.

Psalms · 3

  1. Psalm 22:8 גֹּ֣ל roll

    “He trusts in the LORD, let the LORD deliver him; let the LORD rescue him, since He delights in him.”

    Here: A command, as the Hebrew text is vowelled: "Roll it onto the LORD!" It pictures rolling a heavy load off yourself and onto someone else, an idiom for handing your case over to God (Prov 16:3; Ps 37:5). In the mockers' mouths it is a jeer, quoting the sufferer's piety back at him.

  2. Psalm 37:5 גּ֣וֹל roll

    Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him, and He will do it.

    Here: A command, "roll!" With "onto" it pictures heaving a heavy load off yourself and onto someone else, so they carry it. It opens the verse with a picture of physical handing-over, not of making a promise.

  3. Psalm 119:22 גַּ֣ל roll away

    Remove my scorn and contempt, for I have kept Your testimonies.

    Here: A command addressed to God: 'roll it off!' It pictures disgrace as a heavy thing lying on the speaker that has to be rolled away, the way a stone is rolled off. It is also the first word of the line, so it supplies the letter gimel (ג) this eight-verse section needs. The same form opens verse 18, where it means 'uncover' (my eyes).

Proverbs · 2

  1. Proverbs 16:3 גֹּ֣ל roll

    Commit your works to the LORD and your plans will be achieved.

    Here: A command addressed to one person: 'roll!' It is the ordinary verb for rolling a heavy stone or load. Here it pictures shifting a weight off yourself and onto someone else, which is the Hebrew way of saying 'entrust'. The verse opens with it, so the picture of a load comes first.

  2. Proverbs 26:27 וְגֹ֥לֵ֥ל and [one who] rolls

    He who digs a pit will fall into it, and he who rolls a stone will have it roll back on him.

    Here: Another participle, 'and the stone-roller', matching 'pit-digger'. This is the same verb used for rolling heavy stones off a well's mouth (Gen 29:3, 8, 10) or against a cave entrance (Josh 10:18). It is ordinary heavy labour, here put to hostile use.

Isaiah · 2

  1. Isaiah 9:5 מְגוֹלָלָ֣ה rolled

    For every trampling boot of battle and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.

    Here: 'Having been rolled', a passive form. The cloak has been tumbled and wallowed in blood, not merely spattered, which suggests the body that wore it.

  2. Isaiah 34:4 וְנָגֹ֥לּוּ and they will be rolled up

    All the stars of heaven will be dissolved. The skies will be rolled up like a scroll, and all their stars will fall like withered leaves from the vine, like foliage from the fig tree.

    Here: 'And they will be rolled up.' The passive form means the sky does not roll itself up. Someone rolls it up, as a reader closes a scroll when finished with it.

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 51:25 וְגִלְגַּלְתִּ֙יךָ֙ and I will roll you

    “Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, you who devastate the whole earth, declares the LORD. I will stretch out My hand against you; I will roll you over the cliffs and turn you into a charred mountain.

    Here: An intensive form: 'I will send you rolling, tumbling'. Something that looked immovable is toppled and rolled like a loose boulder.

Amos · 1

  1. Amos 5:24 וְיִגַּ֥ל and it may roll on

    But let justice roll on like a river, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

    Here: The verb means "to roll" (used of stones and of rolling water). Here the form is passive-reflexive, "roll along, come rolling", the picture of water surging down a channel. The "and" joins it to v. 23's command ("Take away… the noise of your songs"), so it works as the alternative: get rid of that, and let this roll instead. The Hebrew form can be a wish ("let it roll") or a purpose ("so that it may roll"). It probably echoes Amos's earlier pun on Gilgal, the shrine that "will surely go into exile" (5:5, using a similar-sounding verb).

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