עוֹלֵל

1 Samuel 15:3 מֵֽעֹלֵל֙ from a child

Now go and attack the Amalekites and devote to destruction all that belongs to them. Do not spare them, but put to death men and women, children and infants, oxen and sheep, camels and donkeys.’”

Here: A young child, old enough to be out in the streets (Lam 2:11; 4:4), as distinct from the nursing infant that follows.

1 Samuel 22:19 מֵעוֹלֵ֖ל from child

He also put to the sword Nob, the city of the priests, with its men and women, children and infants, oxen, donkeys, and sheep.

2 Kings 8:12 וְעֹלְלֵיהֶ֣ם and children their

“Why is my lord weeping?” asked Hazael. “Because I know the evil you will do to the Israelites,” Elisha replied. “You will set fire to their fortresses, kill their young men with the sword, dash their little ones to pieces, and rip open their pregnant women.”

Here: Babies and small children, often paired with 'nursing infants' (Lamentations 2:11; Psalm 8:2). These are the most helpless people in a city, not older children.

Job 3:16 כְּ֝עֹלְלִ֗ים like children

Or why was I not hidden like a stillborn child, like an infant who never sees daylight?

Psalm 8:2 עֽוֹלְלִ֨ים׀ children

From the mouths of children and infants You have ordained praise on account of Your adversaries, to silence the enemy and avenger.

Here: Small children. In Lamentations 4:4 the ʿôlālîm ask for bread, so the word can cover toddlers old enough to talk, not only newborns. Paired with "sucklings," it stands for the youngest and most defenseless people in a community.

Psalm 17:14 לְעוֹלְלֵיהֶֽם׃ to children their

from such men, O LORD, by Your hand—from men of the world whose portion is in this life. May You fill the bellies of Your treasured ones and satisfy their sons, so they leave their abundance to their children.

Here: 'To their young children', the generation after the sons. The verse follows the plenty, or the punishment, down through three generations.

Psalm 137:9 עֹ֝לָלַ֗יִךְ children your

Blessed is he who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.

Isaiah 13:16 וְעֹלְלֵיהֶ֥ם and children their

Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes, their houses will be looted, and their wives will be ravished.

Here: Young children of a household, small enough to be wholly dependent (the word is often paired with 'nursing babies'). It is placed first for emphasis: the first thing the oracle says the conquered lose is their children.

Jeremiah 6:11 עוֹלָל֙ child[ren]

But I am full of the LORD’s wrath; I am tired of holding it back. “Pour it out on the children in the street, and on the young men gathered together. For both husband and wife will be captured, the old and the very old alike.

Here: A small child, past nursing but still little, the kind who plays outdoors and asks for bread (Lam 4:4). The singular stands for children as a group.

Jeremiah 9:21 עוֹלָל֙ child[ren]

For death has climbed in through our windows; it has entered our fortresses to cut off the children from the streets, the young men from the town squares.

Here: 'Child' (singular, standing for the whole group). Here it means small children old enough to be out of doors, the little ones who play in the street.

Jeremiah 44:7 עוֹלֵ֥ל child

So now, this is what the LORD God of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Why are you doing such great harm to yourselves by cutting off from Judah man and woman, child and infant, leaving yourselves without a remnant?

Here: A young child. It often appears with 'nursing infant' in descriptions of a whole population destroyed (1 Sam 15:3; 22:19; Lam 2:11).

Lamentations 1:5 עוֹלָלֶ֛יהָ children her

Her foes have become her masters; her enemies are at ease. For the LORD has brought her grief because of her many transgressions. Her children have gone away as captives before the enemy.

Here: "Her little ones": young children. In Lamentations the word sits alongside "nursing infants" (2:11; 4:4). Here they are the mother-city's most vulnerable offspring.

Lamentations 2:11 עוֹלֵל֙ child

My eyes fail from weeping; I am churning within. My heart is poured out in grief over the destruction of the daughter of my people, because children and infants faint in the streets of the city.

Here: A small child, old enough to ask for food (v. 12 has them asking their mothers for grain and wine).

Lamentations 2:19 עֽוֹלָלַ֔יִךְ children your

Arise, cry out in the night from the first watch of the night. Pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord. Lift up your hands to Him for the lives of your children who are fainting from hunger on the corner of every street.

Here: "Your little children." These are young children, old enough to be out in the street but still dependent. The possessive "your" makes Zion their mother.

Lamentations 2:20 עֹלֲלֵ֣י children of

Look, O LORD, and consider: Whom have You ever treated like this? Should women eat their offspring, the infants they have nurtured? Should priests and prophets be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord?

Here: 'Infants of'. These are small children still being nursed or carried. The word echoes 'your little ones' fainting in 2:19 and, by sound, God's 'dealing severely' (olalta) earlier in this verse.

Lamentations 4:4 עֽוֹלָלִים֙ children

The nursing infant’s tongue clings in thirst to the roof of his mouth. Little children beg for bread, but no one gives them any.

Hosea 13:16 עֹלְלֵיהֶ֣ם children their

Samaria will bear her guilt because she has rebelled against her God. They will fall by the sword; their little ones will be dashed to pieces, and their pregnant women ripped open.

Here: 'Their little ones.' This means young children, not only nursing babies. Elsewhere the same word describes children playing in the streets (Jeremiah 6:11; 9:21).

Joel 2:16 עֽוֹלָלִ֔ים children

Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the aged, gather the children, even those nursing at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber.

Here: Small children, often named in the Bible as the first victims of famine and siege (Lam 2:11, 19; 4:4). They have done nothing wrong, but they share the people's danger and the people's plea.

Micah 2:9 עֹֽלָלֶ֔יהָ children her

You drive the women of My people from their pleasant homes. You take away My blessing from their children forever.

Here: 'Her little ones': young children, the most defenceless members of the household, who would have inherited the family land.

Nahum 3:10 עֹלָלֶ֛יהָ children its

Yet she became an exile; she went into captivity. Her infants were dashed to pieces at the head of every street. They cast lots for her dignitaries, and all her nobles were bound in chains.

Here: "Her little children": young children, often ones still nursing or just weaned (compare Lam 2:11, 4:4). They were the city's future.