Hebrew word · H3909

לָט

belateihem

secrecy

Secrecy, quietness, softness. With the preposition, ballat means 'secretly, stealthily' (Judg 4:21, Jael approaching Sisera; Ruth 3:7, Ruth coming to Boaz). Related to le'at, 'gently, slowly'.

Appears 6 times in 6 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) secrecy, mystery, enchantment

1a) secrecy, secretly

1b) mystery, enchantment

Also means: lat (לָאט "secret" H3814)

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 1 Samuel 24:4

Range of meaning

Secrecy, quietness, softness. With the preposition, ballat means 'secretly, stealthily' (Judg 4:21, Jael approaching Sisera; Ruth 3:7, Ruth coming to Boaz). Related to le'at, 'gently, slowly'.

Against the English

KJV 'privily' is archaic. YLT 'gently' brings out the 'softly' side. BSB/ESV 'stealthily' and WEB/NASB 'secretly' are accurate.

Used elsewhere in the period

Judg 4:21: Jael goes to the sleeping Sisera ballat and kills him. Ruth 3:7: Ruth comes ballat to uncover Boaz's feet.

From the study of Exodus 7:22

Range of meaning

Secrecy or covertness. Used adverbially, 'secretly, quietly' (Judg 4:21; Ruth 3:7; 1 Sam 18:22; 24:5). In the plural with 'their' attached, as here, it means 'their secret arts'. Most lexicons (BDB, HALOT) connect it with lûṭ, 'to wrap, cover'.

Against the English

KJV and WEB have 'enchantments' (from the Vulgate's incantationibus, 'chantings'). BSB has 'magic arts'. NIV, ESV and NASB have 'secret arts', which is the most accurate. YLT's 'flashings' follows the variant spelling in 7:11 (lahaṭ, 'flame').

How it drifted

'Enchantments' suggests spoken or sung spells in particular. The Hebrew says only that the method was hidden knowledge and does not say what it involved.

Used elsewhere in the period

The ordinary adverbial use ('secretly') runs through Judges, Ruth and Samuel. The 'arts' sense is limited to the magicians in Exod 7:22, 8:3 and 8:14, with the spelling variant at 7:11.

Where it appears

Exodus · 3

  1. Exodus 7:22 בְּלָטֵיהֶ֑ם by enchantments their

    But the magicians of Egypt did the same things by their magic arts. So Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said.

    Here: 'By their secret ways.' The root is linked to wrapping or covering (lûṭ), so the word means hidden, closely guarded knowledge: what only initiates knew. The text names the method without explaining how it worked.

  2. Exodus 8:7 בְּלָטֵיהֶ֑ם by enchantments their

    But the magicians did the same thing by their magic arts, and they also brought frogs up onto the land of Egypt.

  3. Exodus 8:18 בְּלָטֵיהֶ֛ם by enchantments their

    The magicians tried to produce gnats using their magic arts, but they could not. And the gnats remained on man and beast.

Ruth · 1

  1. Ruth 3:7 בַלָּ֔ט in <the> secrecy

    After Boaz had finished eating and drinking and was in good spirits, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then Ruth went in secretly, uncovered his feet, and lay down.

1 Samuel · 2

  1. 1 Samuel 18:22 בַּלָּט֙ in <the> secrecy

    Then Saul ordered his servants, “Speak to David privately and tell him, ‘Behold, the king is pleased with you, and all his servants love you. Now therefore, become his son-in-law.’”

  2. 1 Samuel 24:4 בַּלָּֽט׃ in <the> secrecy

    So David’s men said to him, “This is the day about which the LORD said to you, ‘Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, that you may do with him as you wish.’” Then David crept up and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.

    Here: 'In secret, quietly, softly': Saul does not notice. The narrator gives this as a fact, without praising or blaming it.

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