Hebrew word · H8518

תָּלָה

talah

to hang

To hang up or suspend: a harp on a willow (Ps 137:2), shields on a tower (Song 4:4), the earth 'upon nothing' (Job 26:7). In judicial contexts it means hanging a person, often a corpse, on a wooden post for public exposure (Gen 40:19, 22; Deut 21:22; Josh 10:26; 2 Sam 4:12).

Appears 27 times in 26 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to hang

1a) (Qal)

1a1) to hang

1a1a) to hang up (any object)

1a1b) to put to death by hanging

1b) (Niphal) to be hanged

1c) (Piel) to hang, hang up (for display)

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 Esther 7:10

Range of meaning

To hang up or suspend: a harp on a willow (Ps 137:2), shields on a tower (Song 4:4), the earth 'upon nothing' (Job 26:7). In judicial contexts it means hanging a person, often a corpse, on a wooden post for public exposure (Gen 40:19, 22; Deut 21:22; Josh 10:26; 2 Sam 4:12).

Against the English

'Hanged' in modern English almost always means death by noose. NIV and NLT use 'impaled', which takes a firmer position on the method than the Hebrew verb does. The Hebrew says only that he was put up on the pole.

How it drifted

In English, 'hanged' (for people) has narrowed to mean strangulation by rope. The Hebrew verb is about suspension and display. It is neutral on method.

Used elsewhere in the period

In Gen 40:19 Joseph tells the baker that Pharaoh will 'lift your head from you and hang you on a tree': execution first, display afterwards. In Esther 9:7–10, 13–14 Haman's ten sons have already been killed, and then they are 'hung' on the pole. That is clearly the exposure of corpses. Deut 21:22–23 regulates hanging a body that has already been put to death. The Septuagint uses kremannymi, 'to hang', in 7:10.

From the study of Esther 5:14

Range of meaning

To hang or suspend something on something: hang up shields (Ezek 27:10–11), hang a harp on a tree (Ps 137:2), suspend a body on a tree or wall (Gen 40:19, Deut 21:22, 1 Sam 31:10). It names the act of fastening up, not a particular method of killing.

Against the English

English 'hang' now almost always means strangling by rope. The Hebrew verb covers impaling a person, fixing a body up after death, or displaying it. It never specifies a noose.

How it drifted

Early modern English legal usage, where 'to be hanged' meant execution by rope.

Used elsewhere in the period

Gen 40:19: Pharaoh will 'lift your head from you and hang you on a tree', where death comes first and display follows. Deut 21:22–23: an executed man hung on a tree must be taken down by evening. 2 Sam 21:6, 9 (similar language for exposure). In Esther: 2:23; 7:9–10; 8:7; 9:13–14, 25. In 9:13–14 Haman's sons are already dead (9:10) when they are 'hanged', so the verb clearly can mean display after death.

From the study of Isaiah 22:24

Range of meaning

To hang or suspend something: objects on a peg or wall (Ezek 15:3; 27:10–11, shields hung on walls; Song 4:4), and also hanging a person as execution or display (Gen 40:22; Deut 21:22).

Against the English

"Hang" is accurate. YLT's past tense "they have hanged" copies the Hebrew perfect form but misses that, after "and," this form points to the future in a sequence of predictions.

Used elsewhere in the period

Ezek 15:3 is the closest parallel: "Will they take a peg (yated) from it to hang (litlot) any vessel (keli) on it?" It uses the same peg, vessel and hanging words.

Where it appears

Genesis · 3

  1. Genesis 40:19 וְתָלָ֥ה and he will hang

    Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head and hang you on a tree. Then the birds will eat the flesh of your body.”

  2. Genesis 40:22 תָּלָ֑ה he hanged

    But Pharaoh hanged the chief baker, just as Joseph had described to them in his interpretation.

  3. Genesis 41:13 תָלָֽה׃ he hanged

    And it happened to us just as he had interpreted: I was restored to my position, and the other man was hanged.”

Deuteronomy · 2

  1. Deuteronomy 21:22 וְתָלִ֥יתָ and you will hang

    If a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he is executed, and you hang his body on a tree,

    Here: 'And you hang/suspend'. The body is displayed, fastened to or possibly impaled on wood. It is not a noose execution. The 'you' is singular, addressed to Israel as one community acting through its courts.

  2. Deuteronomy 21:23 תָּל֑וּי [one who] is hanged

    you must not leave the body on the tree overnight, but you must be sure to bury him that day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse. You must not defile the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.

    Here: A passive participle, 'one hanged/suspended': the body displayed on the wood after execution (v. 22). It does not refer to a man put to death by a noose.

Joshua · 3

  1. Joshua 8:29 תָּלָ֥ה he hanged

    He hung the king of Ai on a tree until evening, and at sunset Joshua commanded that they take down the body from the tree and throw it down at the entrance of the city gate. And over it they raised a large pile of rocks, which remains to this day.

    Here: He 'hung up' the king, meaning he suspended or fastened him on a wooden stake for public display. The verb does not mean a noose. Comparable texts suggest the man was usually already dead (see the studies). The subject is Joshua, who is named a few words later.

  2. Joshua 10:26 וַיִּתְלֵ֕ם תְּלוּיִ֥ם and he hanged them, hanged

    After this, Joshua struck down and killed the kings, and he hung their bodies on five trees and left them there until evening.

2 Samuel · 2

  1. 2 Samuel 4:12 וַיִּתְל֥וּ and they hanged [them]

    So David commanded his young men, and they killed Rechab and Baanah. They cut off their hands and feet and hung their bodies by the pool in Hebron, but they took the head of Ish-bosheth and buried it in Abner’s tomb in Hebron.

  2. 2 Samuel 18:10 תָּל֖וּי hung up

    When one of the men saw this, he told Joab, “I just saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree!”

Esther · 9

  1. Esther 2:23 וַיִּתָּל֥וּ and they were hanged

    After the report had been investigated and verified, both officials were hanged on the gallows. And all this was recorded in the Book of the Chronicles in the presence of the king.

  2. Esther 5:14 וְיִתְל֤וּ so people may hang

    His wife Zeresh and all his friends told him, “Have them build a gallows fifty cubits high, and ask the king in the morning to have Mordecai hanged on it. Then go to the banquet with the king and enjoy yourself.” The advice pleased Haman, and he had the gallows constructed.

    Here: Expresses purpose: 'so that they may hang/fix Mordecai on it'. The verb means to suspend or fasten something up on something. Here that means fixing a body on the stake, whether by impaling or by displaying it.

  3. Esther 6:4 לִתְלוֹת֙ to hang

    “Who is in the court?” the king asked. Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the palace to ask the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows he had prepared for him.

  4. Esther 7:9 תְּלֻ֥הוּ hang him

    Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs attending the king, said: “There is a gallows fifty cubits high at Haman’s house. He had it built for Mordecai, who gave the report that saved the king.” “Hang him on it!” declared the king.

    Here: A plural command to the attendants: 'Hang him!' The verb means to suspend or fix something up high. Here, given Persian practice and the word 'stake,' it most likely means fixing him on the pole, possibly by impaling him, or displaying his body there. It does not mean a noose drop.

  5. Esther 7:10 וַיִּתְלוּ֙ and they hanged

    So they hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the fury of the king subsided.

    Here: To suspend something on a support. The plural 'they' is impersonal: the king's attendants carry out his order from 7:9 ('Hang him on it!'). The verb names the hanging up on the pole. It does not say how Haman actually died.

  6. Esther 8:7 תָּל֣וּ they have hanged

    So King Xerxes said to Esther the Queen and Mordecai the Jew, “Behold, I have given Haman’s estate to Esther, and he was hanged on the gallows because he attacked the Jews.

    Here: Literally 'they have hung'. 'They' is the unnamed royal attendants (7:9–10). The verb means to hang up or suspend, the word used for displaying an executed body on wood.

  7. Esther 9:13 יִתְל֥וּ let them hang

    Esther replied, “If it pleases the king, may the Jews in Susa also have tomorrow to carry out today’s edict, and may the bodies of Haman’s ten sons be hanged on the gallows.”

  8. Esther 9:14 תָּלֽוּ׃ people hanged

    So the king commanded that this be done. An edict was issued in Susa, and they hanged the ten sons of Haman.

  9. Esther 9:25 וְתָל֥וּ and people will hang

    But when it came before the king, he commanded by letter that the wicked scheme which Haman had devised against the Jews should come back upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.

    Here: "And they shall hang," with an unnamed "they" that works much like a passive. It means suspending a body in public, not necessarily execution by rope.

Job · 1

  1. Job 26:7 תֹּ֥לֶה [he] hangs

    He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth upon nothing.

    Here: Also a participle: "the one hanging". In everyday use you hang something on a peg, a hook, a wall or a tree. Its sound echoes tōhû (tō-hû / tō-leh), tying the two lines together.

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 137:2 תָּ֝לִ֗ינוּ we hung up

    There on the willows we hung our harps,

Song of Songs · 1

  1. Song of Songs 4:4 תָּל֣וּי [is] hung

    Your neck is like the tower of David, built with rows of stones; on it hang a thousand shields, all of them shields of warriors.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 22:24 וְתָל֨וּ and they will hang

    So they will hang on him all the glory of his father’s house: the descendants and the offshoots—all the lesser vessels, from bowls to every kind of jar.

    Here: "And they will hang." The form points to the future and continues the promises of vv. 20–23. The subject "they" is left open: people in general, the family, anyone looking for a hook. The picture is of objects hung on a wall peg.

Lamentations · 1

  1. Lamentations 5:12 נִתְל֔וּ they have been hanged

    Princes have been hung up by their hands; elders receive no respect.

Ezekiel · 3

  1. Ezekiel 15:3 לִתְל֥וֹת to hang

    Can wood be taken from it to make something useful? Or can one make from it a peg on which to hang utensils?

  2. Ezekiel 27:10 תִּלּוּ־ they hung up

    Men of Persia, Lydia, and Put served as warriors in your army. They hung their shields and helmets on your walls; they gave you splendor.

    Here: 'They hung (up).' This is an intensive form of the verb. It means deliberately setting things up on display, not just leaving gear lying about. Verse 11 repeats the verb for shields hung 'on your walls all around.'

  3. Ezekiel 27:11 תִּלּ֤וּ they hung up

    Men of Arvad and Helech manned your walls all around, and the men of Gammad were in your towers. They hung their shields around your walls; they perfected your beauty.

    Here: The verb form suggests hanging many items in a row, shield after shield along the parapet. It echoes v. 10, where the same verb is used of the Persians', Lydians' and Libyans' shields and helmets.

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