Aramaic word · H7032

קָל

kal

sound

qāl: voice, sound, as of speech or instruments (Dan 3:5). nᵉpal: to fall, fall down, fall to someone. It is also used of a lot or a duty that 'falls' to someone.

A Biblical Aramaic word, from the parts of the Old Testament written in Aramaic. Why Aramaic?

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

What it means

voice, sound

Aramaic of qol (קוֹל ": sound" H6963H)

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 Daniel 4:31

Range of meaning

qāl: voice, sound, as of speech or instruments (Dan 3:5). nᵉpal: to fall, fall down, fall to someone. It is also used of a lot or a duty that 'falls' to someone.

Against the English

KJV and (by most accounts) ESV keep 'there fell a voice'. BSB, NIV and WEB say 'came'. NLT says 'called down'. 'Came' is accurate but loses the picture of something dropping from above.

Used elsewhere in the period

Nᵉpal is used of falling down in worship before the statue (3:5–7) and of the three men falling bound into the furnace (3:23). Later Jewish writings speak of a bat qôl, a heavenly 'daughter of a voice', which announces God's will without a prophet. Daniel 4:31 is one of the earliest scenes of this kind. Compare the voice 'from the heavens' in the Gospels (Mark 1:11).

Where it appears

Daniel · 7

  1. Daniel 3:5 קָ֣ל [the] sound of

    As soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up.

  2. Daniel 3:7 קָ֣ל [the] sound of

    Therefore, as soon as all the people heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, and all kinds of music, the people of every nation and language would fall down and worship the golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

  3. Daniel 3:10 קָ֣ל [the] sound of

    You, O king, have issued a decree that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music must fall down and worship the golden statue,

  4. Daniel 3:15 קָ֣ל [the] sound of

    Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the statue I have made, very good. But if you refuse to worship, you will be thrown at once into the blazing fiery furnace. Then what god will be able to deliver you from my hands?”

    Here: 'The sound of': the noise of the state orchestra. The same word means 'voice'; later in Daniel a 'voice' comes from heaven (4:31).

  5. Daniel 4:31 קָ֖ל a voice

    While the words were still in the king’s mouth, a voice came from heaven: “It is decreed to you, King Nebuchadnezzar, that the kingdom has departed from you.

    Here: A voice with no visible speaker. In the dream earlier in the chapter a heavenly 'watcher' proclaimed the sentence. Now an unseen voice speaks to the waking king.

  6. Daniel 6:20 בְּקָ֥ל with a voice

    When he reached the den, he cried out in a voice of anguish, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?”

    Here: Voice or sound. With the next word it describes how the king sounded.

  7. Daniel 7:11 קָל֙ [the] sound of

    Then I kept watching because of the arrogant words the horn was speaking. As I continued to watch, the beast was slain, and its body was destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire.

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