Hebrew word · H3856

לָהַה

vatelah

to amaze

This word appears only here in the Hebrew Bible, so its meaning is worked out from its root and its form. The form doubles part of the root and adds a reflexive prefix (in Hebrew grammar, a "hithpalpel"). That kind of form often describes someone putting himself into a state, or acting out a role.

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

(Qal) to languish, faint

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 26:18

Range of meaning

This word appears only here in the Hebrew Bible, so its meaning is worked out from its root and its form. The form doubles part of the root and adds a reflexive prefix (in Hebrew grammar, a "hithpalpel"). That kind of form often describes someone putting himself into a state, or acting out a role. The root לָהַהּ (lāhah) appears in Genesis 47:13, where the land "languished" or "was exhausted" in famine. Lexicons such as BDB and HALOT take the word here as "to act like a madman, to behave in a crazed way". The picture is wild, uncontrolled behaviour, not a medical diagnosis.

Against the English

KJV "mad man", BSB/ESV/NASB/WEB "madman" and NIV "maniac" all follow the main lexical view. YLT's "one pretending to be feeble" follows the Genesis 47:13 sense of the root ("languish") together with the "pretend" use of reflexive forms (compare Proverbs 13:7, "one who pretends to be rich").

Used elsewhere in the period

It occurs nowhere else in the Bible. The root appears in Genesis 47:13 (the land "languished"). The Greek translation of Proverbs (LXX) seems not to have recognised the word and rendered the whole verse quite differently. The Latin Vulgate gives "noxius" ("a harmful or guilty one"), which may be a guess from context.

Similar words

Where it appears

Genesis · 1

  1. Genesis 47:13 וַתֵּ֜לַהּ and it languished

    There was no food, however, in all that region, because the famine was so severe; the lands of Egypt and Canaan had been exhausted by the famine.

Proverbs · 1

  1. Proverbs 26:18 כְּֽ֭מִתְלַהְלֵהַּ like a madman

    Like a madman shooting firebrands and deadly arrows,

    Here: The prefix kə- means "like" and opens a comparison that is only completed in verse 19 ("so is…"). The word itself occurs only here in the Bible. Its form describes someone working himself into a state or acting a part: a person behaving wildly and out of control. Most read "madman" or "maniac". A minority read "one pretending" (see debates).

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