Hebrew word · H5947

עַלִּיז

'alizah

jubilant

Exultant, jubilant, noisily joyful. It often carries a note of reckless or arrogant revelry: 'the exultant city' (Isa 22:2; 23:7; 32:13; Zeph 2:15, of Nineveh, 'the exultant city that lived securely').

Appears 7 times in 7 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

exultant, jubilant

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 Isaiah 13:3

Range of meaning

Exultant, jubilant, noisily joyful. It often carries a note of reckless or arrogant revelry: 'the exultant city' (Isa 22:2; 23:7; 32:13; Zeph 2:15, of Nineveh, 'the exultant city that lived securely').

Against the English

KJV and YLT say 'rejoice', BSB 'exult', WEB, ESV and NASB 'proudly exulting'. 'Rejoice' is too mild and too pious. The word is closer to the loud war-cry joy of troops on the march.

Used elsewhere in the period

The exact phrase ʿallîzê gaʾăwātēk, 'your proudly exulting ones', occurs in Zeph 3:11. There God removes these arrogant people from Jerusalem. So the phrase was a recognised expression for proud, swaggering people, and in Zephaniah it is negative.

From the study of Isaiah 32:13

Range of meaning

Exultant, jubilant, loudly rejoicing. Related to the verb ʿālaz, 'to exult'. In context it often suggests revelry that does not see what is coming.

Against the English

KJV and WEB 'joyous' sounds simply pleasant. BSB 'revelry' and other versions' 'exultant' or 'jubilant' come closer to the noisy, self-assured celebrating the word describes.

How it drifted

Modern 'joyous' is wholly positive. The biblical uses of ʿallîz cluster around cities celebrating while disaster approaches.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isaiah 22:2 (Jerusalem, 'a tumultuous city, an exultant town', qiryâ ʿallîzâ, the exact same phrase, partying while the siege comes); Isaiah 23:7 (Tyre); Zephaniah 2:15 (Nineveh, 'the exultant city that lived securely, that said in her heart, I am, and there is no other'); compare Isaiah 5:14 (the ʿālēz, revelers, going down to Sheol).

From the study of Zephaniah 2:15

Range of meaning

Exultant, jubilant, boisterously merry. The root ʿālaz means to exult or triumph, as in Psalm 68:4 ('let them exult before God'). The adjective form, though, nearly always describes a noisy, self-satisfied city or crowd that is about to be humbled.

Against the English

KJV 'rejoicing' and WEB 'joyous' sound neutral or even pious. BSB 'carefree' captures the lack of worry but loses the noise and swagger. YLT 'exulting' is closest.

How it drifted

In church English 'rejoicing' is usually a good word, joy in God. Here the word describes the city's revelry and pride, not the joy of faith.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isaiah 22:2 calls Jerusalem 'a city full of tumult, an exultant town' (qiryāh ʿallîzāh) just before its disaster. Isaiah 23:7 says of Tyre, 'Is this your exultant city?' Isaiah 32:13 speaks of 'the exultant city' becoming thorns. Zephaniah 3:11 promises God will remove from Jerusalem 'your proudly exultant ones' (ʿallîzê gaʾăwātēk).

Where it appears

Isaiah · 5

  1. Isaiah 13:3 עַלִּיזֵ֖י [the] exultant [ones] of

    I have commanded My sanctified ones; I have even summoned My warriors to execute My wrath and exult in My triumph.

    Here: 'Exulting ones of…': loud, triumphant joy, often with a note of swagger. Elsewhere it describes noisy, carefree cities (Isa 22:2; 23:7) and arrogant revellers (Zeph 3:11).

  2. Isaiah 22:2 עַלִּיזָ֑ה jubilant

    O city of commotion, O town of revelry? Your slain did not die by the sword, nor were they killed in battle.

    Here: Wildly rejoicing. Elsewhere it describes cities that celebrate carelessly just before disaster (Tyre, Nineveh), so it already hints at overconfidence.

  3. Isaiah 23:7 עַלִּיזָ֑ה jubilant [city]

    Is this your jubilant city, whose origin is from antiquity, whose feet have taken her to settle far away?

  4. Isaiah 24:8 עַלִּיזִ֑ים jubilant [people]

    The joyful tambourines have ceased; the noise of revelers has stopped; the joyful harp is silent.

  5. Isaiah 32:13 עַלִּיזָֽה׃ jubilant

    and for the land of my people, overgrown with thorns and briers—even for every house of merriment in this city of revelry.

    Here: Loud, exuberant celebration. In the Bible this word nearly always describes a city partying while it ignores its danger (Isa 22:2; 23:7; Zeph 2:15). That fits the carefree women of verses 9–11.

Zephaniah · 2

  1. Zephaniah 2:15 הָעַלִּיזָה֙ <the> jubilant

    This carefree city that dwells securely, that thinks to herself: “I am it, and there is none besides me,” what a ruin she has become, a resting place for beasts. Everyone who passes by her hisses and shakes his fist.

    Here: 'The exultant one'. This is the loud, swaggering joy of a city full of revelry and sure of itself, not quiet gladness. Zephaniah later uses the same word for Jerusalem's 'proudly exultant ones' (3:11).

  2. Zephaniah 3:11 עַלִּיזֵי֙ [the] exultant [ones] of

    On that day you will not be put to shame for any of the deeds by which you have transgressed against Me. For then I will remove from among you those who rejoice in their pride, and you will never again be haughty on My holy mountain.

    Here: Boisterous, self-congratulating revellers. The same word described Nineveh as 'the exultant city' in 2:15, so Jerusalem's swaggering elite are cast in Nineveh's mould.

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