מָעַל

Leviticus 5:15 תִמְעֹ֣ל it will act unfaithfully

“If someone acts unfaithfully and sins unintentionally against any of the LORD’s holy things, he must bring his guilt offering to the LORD: an unblemished ram from the flock, of proper value in silver shekels according to the sanctuary shekel; it is a guilt offering.

Here: "Commits a breach" against God. The verb is used for betrayal of trust: a wife's infidelity, breaking an oath, misusing what belongs to God. Here it is the specific wrong of encroaching on God's property.

Leviticus 6:2 וּמָעֲלָ֥ה and it will act unfaithfully

“If someone sins and acts unfaithfully against the LORD by deceiving his neighbor in regard to a deposit or security entrusted to him or stolen, or if he extorts his neighbor

Here: 'And commits a breach of faith.' This is the word that sets the category: the wrong is treated as a betrayal that reaches God, not only a civil wrong against a neighbour.

Leviticus 26:40 מָֽעֲלוּ־ they acted unfaithfully

But if they will confess their iniquity and that of their fathers in the unfaithfulness that they practiced against Me, by which they have also walked in hostility toward Me—

Here: The verb from the same root as the noun just before it: 'their sacrilege which they sacrileged'. The doubling stresses that this was a real, committed act. KJV keeps the echo with 'trespass which they trespassed'.

Numbers 5:6 לִמְעֹ֥ל by acting unfaithfully

“Tell the Israelites that when a man or woman acts unfaithfully against the LORD by committing any sin against another, that person is guilty

Numbers 5:12 וּמָעֲלָ֥ה and she will act unfaithfully

“Speak to the Israelites and tell them that if any man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him

Numbers 5:27 וַתִּמְעֹ֣ל and she has acted unfaithfully

When he has made her drink the water, if she has defiled herself and been unfaithful to her husband, then the water that brings a curse will enter her and cause bitter suffering; her belly will swell, her thigh will shrivel, and she will become accursed among her people.

Deuteronomy 32:51 מְעַלְתֶּ֜ם you acted unfaithfully

For at the waters of Meribah-kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin, both of you broke faith with Me among the Israelites by failing to treat Me as holy in their presence.

Here: "You acted treacherously," a heavy word for violating what belongs to God or breaking loyalty sworn to him. The form is plural, so it covers Aaron as well as Moses, and it looks back on a completed act.

Joshua 7:1 וַיִּמְעֲל֧וּ and they acted unfaithfully

The Israelites, however, acted unfaithfully regarding the things devoted to destruction. Achan son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of what was set apart. So the anger of the LORD burned against the Israelites.

Here: A plural verb: "they broke faith." The word is used for betraying a trust, and especially for taking what belongs to God. The narrator gives the act of one man a plural subject, the whole nation.

Joshua 22:16 מְעַלְתֶּם֙ you have acted unfaithfully

“This is what the whole congregation of the LORD says: ‘What is this breach of faith you have committed today against the God of Israel by turning away from the LORD and building for yourselves an altar, that you might rebel against the LORD this day?

Joshua 22:20 מָ֤עַל did he act unfaithfully

Was not Achan son of Zerah unfaithful regarding what was set apart for destruction, bringing wrath upon the whole congregation of Israel? Yet it was not only Achan who perished because of his sin!’”

Here: The verb for breaking faith with God, especially by laying hands on what belongs to him. It is the key word of the whole chapter (vv. 16, 22, 31), so citing Achan defines the eastern tribes' altar as the same kind of crime.

Joshua 22:31 מְעַלְתֶּ֥ם you have acted unfaithfully

Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest said to the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, “Today we know that the LORD is among us, because you have not committed this breach of faith against Him. Consequently, you have delivered the Israelites from the hand of the LORD.”

Here: 'You have broken faith.' This is the technical word for betraying God's exclusive claim, the same charge laid against them in v.16, which is now withdrawn.

1 Chronicles 2:7 מָעַ֖ל he acted unfaithfully

The son of Carmi: Achar, who brought trouble upon Israel by violating the ban on devoted things.

Here: To break faith with God, especially by taking something that belongs to him. Joshua 7:1 uses this same verb for the same act. It is also the word Chronicles keeps coming back to for Israel's betrayals.

1 Chronicles 5:25 וַיִּֽמְעֲל֔וּ and they acted unfaithfully

But they were unfaithful to the God of their fathers, and they prostituted themselves with the gods of the peoples of the land, whom God had destroyed before them.

1 Chronicles 10:13 מָעַ֣ל he had acted unfaithfully

So Saul died for his unfaithfulness to the LORD, because he did not keep the word of the LORD and even consulted a medium for guidance,

Here: "Which he committed" (literally "which he ma'al-ed"). Noun and verb from the same root are paired for emphasis: the breach is stated twice.

2 Chronicles 12:2 מָעֲל֖וּ they had acted unfaithfully

In the fifth year of Rehoboam’s reign, because they had been unfaithful to the LORD, Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem

2 Chronicles 26:16 וַיִּמְעַ֖ל and he acted unfaithfully

But when Uzziah became powerful, his arrogance led to his own destruction. He was unfaithful to the LORD his God, for he entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense.

Here: "And he committed a breach / sacrilege." This is the Chronicler's word for the most serious kind of unfaithfulness: taking what belongs to God or crossing into his sacred sphere. Here it is literal, because the king walks into space set apart for priests.

2 Chronicles 26:18 מָעַ֔לְתָּ you have acted unfaithfully

They took their stand against King Uzziah and said, “Uzziah, you have no right to offer incense to the LORD. Only the priests, the descendants of Aaron, are consecrated to burn incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have acted unfaithfully; you will not receive honor from the LORD God.”

Here: The technical word for sacrilege, a breach of trust against God, especially by laying hands on what belongs to him. It repeats the narrator's verdict in verse 16 ('he acted faithlessly against the LORD his God').

2 Chronicles 28:19 וּמָע֥וֹל מַ֖עַל and he had acted unfaithfully, unfaithfulness

For the LORD humbled Judah because Ahaz king of Israel had thrown off restraint in Judah and had been most unfaithful to the LORD.

2 Chronicles 28:22 לִמְע֣וֹל to act unfaithfully

In the time of his distress, King Ahaz became even more unfaithful to the LORD.

Here: The Chronicler's strongest word for betraying God: breaking trust by violating what belongs to him. Here it is concrete. Ahaz has just stripped the temple (v. 21), and he goes on to sacrifice to foreign gods and shut the temple doors (vv. 23–24).

2 Chronicles 29:6 מָעֲל֣וּ they acted unfaithfully

For our fathers were unfaithful and did evil in the sight of the LORD our God. They abandoned Him, turned their faces away from the dwelling place of the LORD, and turned their backs on Him.

2 Chronicles 30:7 מָעֲל֔וּ they acted unfaithfully

Do not be like your fathers and brothers who were unfaithful to the LORD, the God of their fathers, so that He made them an object of horror, as you can see.

2 Chronicles 36:14 לִמְעָל to act unfaithfully

Furthermore, all the leaders of the priests and the people multiplied their unfaithful deeds, following all the abominations of the nations, and they defiled the house of the LORD, which He had consecrated in Jerusalem.

Here: An infinitive, "to commit ma'al." With the noun that follows it forms a deliberately emphatic pairing: "they multiplied the committing of sacrilege."

Ezra 10:2 מָעַ֣לְנוּ we have acted unfaithfully

Then Shecaniah son of Jehiel, an Elamite, said to Ezra: “We have been unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women from the people of the land, yet in spite of this, there is hope for Israel.

Ezra 10:10 מְעַלְתֶּ֔ם you have acted unfaithfully

Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have been unfaithful by marrying foreign women, adding to the guilt of Israel.

Nehemiah 1:8 תִּמְעָ֔לוּ you will act unfaithfully

Remember, I pray, the word that You commanded Your servant Moses when You said, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations,

Here: 'You will break faith.' This means betraying a trust, especially by taking what belongs to God or breaking an oath sworn in his name. There is no 'if' in the Hebrew. Placing the two clauses side by side makes the condition.

Nehemiah 13:27 לִמְעֹ֖ל to act unfaithfully

Must we now hear that you too are doing all this terrible evil and acting unfaithfully against our God by marrying foreign women?”

Proverbs 16:10 יִמְעַל־ it will act unfaithfully

A divine verdict is on the lips of a king; his mouth must not betray justice.

Ezekiel 14:13 לִמְעָל־ by acting unfaithfully

“Son of man, if a land sins against Me by acting unfaithfully, and I stretch out My hand against it to cut off its supply of food, to send famine upon it, and to cut off from it both man and beast,

Here: "By breaking faith." An infinitive that says what kind of sin this is: a betrayal of trust, misusing what belongs to God or breaking a sworn obligation.

Ezekiel 15:8 מָ֣עֲלוּ they have acted unfaithfully

Thus I will make the land desolate, because they have acted unfaithfully,’ declares the Lord GOD.”

Ezekiel 17:20 מָֽעַל־ he has acted unfaithfully

I will spread My net over him and catch him in My snare. I will bring him to Babylon and execute judgment upon him there for the treason he committed against Me.

Here: "He committed": the verb comes from the same root as the noun just before it ("his breach that he breached"). Repeating the root stresses that the crime really happened and fixes it on him.

Ezekiel 18:24 מָעַ֛ל he has acted unfaithfully

But if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and practices iniquity, committing the same abominations as the wicked, will he live? None of the righteous acts he did will be remembered. Because of the unfaithfulness and sin he has committed, he will die.

Here: Noun and verb from the same root ('his breach which he breached') stress that the betrayal is his own act.

Ezekiel 20:27 בְּמַעֲלָ֥ם when acted unfaithfully they

Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel, and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: In this way also your fathers blasphemed Me by their unfaithfulness against Me.

Ezekiel 39:23 מָֽעֲלוּ־ they had acted unfaithfully

And the nations will know that the house of Israel went into exile for their iniquity, because they were unfaithful to Me. So I hid My face from them and delivered them into the hands of their enemies, so that they all fell by the sword.

Here: A pointed word for betraying trust. It means taking what belongs to God for oneself, or breaking a sworn bond with him. It is more specific than general 'sinning'.

Ezekiel 39:26 מָעֲלוּ־ they acted unfaithfully

They will forget their disgrace and all the treachery they committed against Me, when they dwell securely in their land, with no one to frighten them.

Here: 'They committed treachery.' The verb and its noun come from the same root, a Hebrew way of adding weight: 'the treachery they treacheried.' The form points back to completed acts in the past.

Daniel 9:7 מָֽעֲלוּ־ they acted unfaithfully

To You, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but this day we are covered with shame—the men of Judah, the people of Jerusalem, and all Israel near and far, in all the countries to which You have driven us because of our unfaithfulness to You.

Here: The verb from the same root as the noun: "the treachery which they committed treacherously." The repetition stresses the offence and echoes the exact wording of Leviticus 26:40.