Hebrew word · H1973
הָֽ֫לְאָה
hal'ah
further
Hal'ah means 'out there, onward, further' in space (Gen 19:9 'stand back'; Num 16:37) or 'from then on' in time (1 Sam 18:9). With 'from' and 'to/regarding' it forms a comparison of distance: 'farther away than X'.
Appears 16 times in 16 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
1) out there, onwards, further
1a) yonder, beyond (of place)
1b) onwards (of time)
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
- Range of meaning
Hal'ah means 'out there, onward, further' in space (Gen 19:9 'stand back'; Num 16:37) or 'from then on' in time (1 Sam 18:9). With 'from' and 'to/regarding' it forms a comparison of distance: 'farther away than X'.
- Against the English
All the major English versions render it 'beyond Damascus', which is accurate. Some looser paraphrases have tried to point it in a compass direction. The Hebrew only says 'farther than'.
- Used elsewhere in the period
The same construction appears in Jer 22:19 ('beyond the gates of Jerusalem'). The Septuagint renders it ἐπέκεινα Δαμασκοῦ ('on the far side of Damascus'), and Acts 7:43 keeps ἐπέκεινα.
From the study of Numbers 15:23
- Range of meaning
'Further, beyond, onward.' In space: 'stand back' (Gen 19:9), 'scatter the fire far away' (Num 17:2 [16:37 Eng.]), 'beyond Damascus' (Amos 5:27). In time, usually with 'from … and onward': 'from the eighth day onward' (Lev 22:27), 'from that day onward' (1 Sam 18:9; Ezek 39:22).
- Against the English
'Henceforward' (KJV), 'henceforth' (YLT), 'onward' (WEB), 'continuing' (BSB). All are fair. The BSB's 'continuing' slightly blurs the sense of a fixed starting point moving forward with no end.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Around a dozen and a half uses in the Hebrew Bible. The LXX has epekeina, 'beyond, after'.
Where it appears
Genesis · 2
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Genesis 19:9 הָ֗לְאָה beyond
“Get out of the way!” they replied. And they declared, “This one came here as a foreigner, and he is already acting like a judge! Now we will treat you worse than them.” And they pressed in on Lot and moved in to break down the door.
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Genesis 35:21 מֵהָ֖לְאָה from beyond
Israel again set out and pitched his tent beyond the Tower of Eder.
Leviticus · 1
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Leviticus 22:27 וָהָ֔לְאָה and onwards
“When an ox, a sheep, or a goat is born, it must remain with its mother for seven days. From the eighth day on, it will be acceptable as a food offering presented to the LORD.
Numbers · 3
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Numbers 15:23 וָהָ֖לְאָה and onwards
all that the LORD has commanded you through Moses from the day the LORD gave them and continuing through the generations to come—
Here: 'And beyond' or 'and onward'. The word can mean 'further away' in space or 'from then on' in time. Here it is time: the span reaches forward from that first day with no end point.
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Numbers 16:37 הָ֑לְאָה beyond
“Tell Eleazar son of Aaron the priest to remove the censers from the flames and to scatter the coals far away, because the censers are holy.
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Numbers 32:19 וָהָ֑לְאָה and beyond
Yet we will not have an inheritance with them across the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has come to us on the east side of the Jordan.”
1 Samuel · 4
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1 Samuel 10:3 וָהָ֗לְאָה and beyond
Then you will go on from there until you come to the Oak of Tabor. Three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine.
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1 Samuel 18:9 וָהָֽלְאָה׃ ס and onwards
And from that day forward Saul kept a jealous eye on David.
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1 Samuel 20:22 וָהָ֑לְאָה and beyond
But if I say to the young man, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then you must go, for the LORD has sent you away.
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1 Samuel 20:37 וָהָֽלְאָה׃ and beyond
When the boy reached the place where Jonathan’s arrow had fallen, Jonathan called to him, “Isn’t the arrow beyond you?”
Isaiah · 2
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Isaiah 18:2 וָהָ֑לְאָה and beyond
which sends couriers by sea, in papyrus vessels on the waters. Go, swift messengers, to a people tall and smooth-skinned, to a people widely feared, to a powerful nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers.
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Isaiah 18:7 וָהָ֑לְאָה and beyond
At that time gifts will be brought to the LORD of Hosts—from a people tall and smooth-skinned, from a people widely feared, from a powerful nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers—to Mount Zion, the place of the Name of the LORD of Hosts.
Here: 'And further': feared 'near and far' (spatial), or 'from their beginning onward' (temporal, as in KJV). Either way it stresses how widely or how long they have been dreaded.
Jeremiah · 1
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Jeremiah 22:19 מֵהָ֖לְאָה from beyond
He will be buried like a donkey, dragged away and thrown outside the gates of Jerusalem.
Ezekiel · 2
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Ezekiel 39:22 וָהָֽלְאָה׃ and onwards
From that day forward the house of Israel will know that I am the LORD their God.
Here: "And onward / and beyond." A spatial word ("further off") used for time: from then on, with no end set. It makes the knowledge permanent, in contrast with Israel's past forgetting.
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Ezekiel 43:27 וָהָ֗לְאָה and onwards
At the end of these days, from the eighth day on, the priests are to present your burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar. Then I will accept you, declares the Lord GOD.’”
Here: 'And onward.' The eighth day is the start of a permanent arrangement, not a one-off event. Regular worship carries on from then.
Amos · 1
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Amos 5:27 מֵהָ֣לְאָה from beyond
Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the LORD, whose name is the God of Hosts.
Here: An adverb of distance, 'onward, further', with the preposition 'from'. Together with the next word it is an idiom for 'farther out than'. The point is that the exile will go past the most distant enemy Israel knew.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.