Hebrew word · H6128

עֲקַלְקַל

akalkalot

crooked

From the root ʿ-q-l, "to twist, bend" (compare meʿuqqal, "perverted," of justice in Hab 1:4). The doubled form ʿaqalqal makes the idea stronger and more vivid: something that twists and twists again. It occurs only twice in the Bible.

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

What it means

winding, devious, crooked

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 Psalm 125:5

Range of meaning

From the root ʿ-q-l, "to twist, bend" (compare meʿuqqal, "perverted," of justice in Hab 1:4). The doubled form ʿaqalqal makes the idea stronger and more vivid: something that twists and twists again. It occurs only twice in the Bible. In Judges 5:6 travelers in Deborah's day took ʾorḥot ʿaqalqallot, "winding byways," to avoid the main roads. Here it stands without a noun, so "paths/ways" has to be understood.

Against the English

"Crooked ways" (BSB, KJV, WEB) is accurate. What English loses is the sound of the word, which itself winds, and its direct contrast with v. 4's yesharim, "the upright," literally "the straight/level ones." The psalm sets straight people against twisting paths.

Used elsewhere in the period

Judges 5:6 (literal winding paths). The related ʿiqqesh, "twisted, perverse," is common in Proverbs (Prov 2:15; 28:6), and Proverbs 2:13–15 uses the same picture of leaving straight paths for twisted ones. The LXX translates with strangalias, "knots, tangles."

From the study of Judges 5:6

Range of meaning

From ʿql, "to bend, twist". The doubled form ʿăqalqal means very crooked, winding or tortuous. Elsewhere it appears only in Ps 125:5 ("those who turn aside to their crooked ways"), where it is moral. A related word, ʿăqallātôn, describes Leviathan as the "twisting serpent" (Isa 27:1).

Against the English

KJV, BSB, WEB and ESV say "byways". NIV says "winding paths". NASB says "roundabout ways". YLT says "crooked ways". "Byways" gets the idea of side roads but loses the picture of twisting. "Winding" or "roundabout" keeps it.

Used elsewhere in the period

Its use in Ps 125:5 shows the word could carry a moral sense, but nothing in Judges 5 points that way. Here it is plain geography. The Septuagint renders it "twisted" or "turned-aside" roads, and the Vulgate says "devious tracks" (calles devios).

Where it appears

Judges · 1

  1. Judges 5:6 עֲקַלְקַלּֽוֹת׃ twisting

    In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were deserted and the travelers took the byways.

    Here: A doubled form of the root ʿql, "bend, twist". The doubling strengthens it, something like "twisty-twisting". These were roundabout, hidden routes that kept travellers away from danger on the open roads.

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 125:5 עַֽקַלְקַלּוֹתָ֗ם twisting [ways] their

    But those who turn to crooked ways the LORD will banish with the evildoers. Peace be upon Israel.

    Here: "Their crooked [ways]": a rare doubled-up word whose repeated syllables (ʿaqal-qal) sound like a road that keeps twisting. The suffix "their" makes the crookedness theirs: paths they chose.

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