Hebrew word · H2973

יָאַל

no'alnu

be foolish

To be or act foolishly, to be exposed as a fool. In this form it implies being shown up, made to look stupid.

Appears 4 times in 4 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. · Updated November 01, 2026

What it means

1) to be foolish, become fools, act foolishly, show wicked folly

1a) (Niphal)

1a1) to show wicked folly

1a2) to become fools

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

Range of meaning: To be or act foolishly, to be exposed as a fool. In this form it implies being shown up, made to look stupid.
Against the English: 'Become fools' (BSB, WEB) is right. KJV's 'dote' was correct in 1611, when 'dote' meant to act stupidly or to have a weakened mind. Most readers today hear 'dote on' (adore), which is misleading.
How it drifted: The English verb 'dote' moved from 'be foolish, senile' toward 'be excessively fond of,' and today the second sense has almost pushed out the first.
Used elsewhere in the period: Isaiah 19:13: 'The princes of Zoan have become fools (נוֹאֲלוּ),' about Egypt's wise counselors, an almost identical scene of the wisdom of a great power failing. In Numbers 12:11 Aaron says 'we have acted foolishly.' Jeremiah 5:4 uses it of people who 'are foolish, for they do not know the way of the LORD.'

Range of meaning: In the form used here, 'to become foolish, to act foolishly.' Rare: Numbers 12:11 (Aaron: 'we have acted foolishly and sinned'), Isaiah 19:13 ('the princes of Zoan have become fools'), Jeremiah 50:36 (Babylon's diviners 'will become fools'). It probably belongs with the word 'ewil, the Proverbs fool who despises instruction.
Against the English: KJV/WEB 'they are foolish'; BSB 'they have played the fool'; ESV 'they have no sense'. 'Foolish' in modern English suggests silliness or low intelligence. The Hebrew is about lacking practical and moral insight, failing to see what life with God requires.
How it drifted: English 'fool/foolish' has lost much of its moral and religious weight. In Hebrew wisdom language, folly is a failure to live rightly, not a lack of brains.
Used elsewhere in the period: Numbers 12:11 pairs it with 'we have sinned.' Isaiah 19:13 uses it for royal counsellors who should have known better. Both carry blame. Ancient translations differ here (see textual notes).

Numbers · 1

Numbers 12:11 נוֹאַ֖לְנוּ we have acted foolishly

and said to Moses, “My lord, please do not hold against us this sin we have so foolishly committed.

Isaiah · 1

Isaiah 19:13 נֽוֹאֲלוּ֙ they have become fools

The princes of Zoan have become fools; the princes of Memphis are deceived. The cornerstones of her tribes have led Egypt astray.

Jeremiah · 2

Jeremiah 5:4 נוֹאֲל֕וּ they have acted foolishly

Then I said, “They are only the poor; they have played the fool, for they do not know the way of the LORD, the justice of their God.

Here: 'They have become foolish' or 'they have acted foolishly.' The fool here lacks the insight to live rightly. Elsewhere the verb names a real wrong someone did (Numbers 12:11). Here the prophet is half excusing them: they are fools because nobody taught them.
Jeremiah 50:36 וְנֹאָ֑לוּ and they will become fools

A sword is against her false prophets, and they will become fools. A sword is against her warriors, and they will be filled with terror.

Here: 'And they will be shown to be fools.' The verb is grammatically past in form, but the 'and' in front makes it a future, as often in prophecy. The experts in hidden knowledge end up exposed as people who know nothing.

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