Hebrew word · H1802

דָּלָה

dalah

to draw (up|out)

A rare verb: to draw up water with a bucket, and by extension to lift someone up out of a depth. The related noun is dəlî, "bucket" (Num 24:7; Isa 40:15, "a drop from a bucket").

Appears 5 times in 4 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to draw, dangle

1a) (Qal)

1a1) to draw

1a2) drawing advice (fig.)

1b) (Piel) to draw up

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 20:5

Range of meaning

A rare verb: to draw up water with a bucket, and by extension to lift someone up out of a depth. The related noun is dəlî, "bucket" (Num 24:7; Isa 40:15, "a drop from a bucket").

Against the English

"Draw out" (KJV, BSB, ESV, NIV, NLT) is accurate, but in English it can sound abstract, like coaxing a shy person to talk. YLT's "draweth up" keeps the picture of pulling up from below.

Used elsewhere in the period

Exodus 2:16, 19: Jethro's daughters come to "draw water," and they report that Moses "drew water for us" (dālōh dālâ). Psalm 30:1 (Hebrew v. 2): "I will exalt you, LORD, for you have drawn me up," from the pit or the depths. The LXX here uses exantlēsei, "will bail/draw it out fully."

From the study of Psalm 30:1

Range of meaning

Basic meaning: to draw water from a well (Exod 2:16, 19). By extension it means to draw something up or out of a depth: 'the purposes of a man's heart are deep waters, but a man of understanding draws them out' (Prov 20:5). The related noun dᵉlî means 'bucket' (Num 24:7; Isa 40:15, 'like a drop from a bucket'). The intensive form used here means 'to draw up' (HALOT and BDB, s.v.).

Against the English

KJV, NASB, BSB and WEB: 'lifted me up' or 'raised me up.' These are accurate but general, and in modern English they can sound emotional ('lifted my spirits'). YLT has 'drawn me up' and ESV 'drawn me up,' which keep the verb. NIV, 'lifted me out of the depths,' supplies the depth the verb implies. NLT, 'rescued me,' gives the meaning and loses the picture.

How it drifted

'Lift up' in modern devotional English often means encouragement or a mood lifted. The Hebrew is concrete: a body hauled out of a shaft.

Used elsewhere in the period

Exod 2:16, 19 (Moses and Jethro's daughters drawing water). Prov 20:5. The noun appears in Num 24:7 and Isa 40:15. The Greek translation (LXX Ps 29:2) has hypelabes me, 'you took me up, you caught me,' and the Vulgate follows with suscepisti me. Both translators chose a word for being received or rescued, not a well image.

Where it appears

Exodus · 3

  1. Exodus 2:16 וַתִּדְלֶ֗נָה and they drew

    Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father’s flock.

  2. Exodus 2:19 דָּלֹ֤ה דָלָה֙ carefully <to draw>, he drew

    “An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds,” they replied. “He even drew water for us and watered the flock.”

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 30:1 דִלִּיתָ֑נִי you have drawn up me

    A Psalm. A song for the dedication of the temple. Of David. I will exalt You, O LORD, for You have lifted me up and have not allowed my foes to rejoice over me.

    Here: 'You drew me up.' The verb is the ordinary word for drawing water out of a well, and its related noun means 'bucket.' The picture is a man hauled up out of a deep shaft. Verse 3 explains it: God brought him up from Sheol, the realm of the dead, and from 'the pit.'

Proverbs · 1

  1. Proverbs 20:5 יִדְלֶֽנָּה׃ he draws out it

    The intentions of a man’s heart are deep waters, but a man of understanding draws them out.

    Here: "Draws it up," the way you haul a bucket out of a well. The ending "it" is feminine and points back to the plan (ʿēṣâ). The verb form states a general truth: this is what a discerning person does, not a one-time future act.

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