Hebrew word · H8587

תַּעֲלֻמָּהֿ

veta'alumah

secret

Something hidden, concealed or secret. It comes from the root ʿ-l-m, 'to hide, be concealed'. It is used for what lies below the surface, out of human sight.

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament.

What it means

hidden thing, secret, that which is hidden

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 Job 11:6

Range of meaning

Something hidden, concealed or secret. It comes from the root ʿ-l-m, 'to hide, be concealed'. It is used for what lies below the surface, out of human sight.

Against the English

'Secrets' is accurate. The Hebrew leans less toward 'confidential information' and more toward 'what is buried out of sight', such as hidden depths or concealed things.

Used elsewhere in the period

Psalm 44:21 (Heb. 44:22): God 'knows the secrets of the heart'. Job 28:11: the miner 'brings the hidden thing to light', in the poem about wisdom being hidden from every living thing. The root ʿlm 'hide' is common in Biblical Hebrew (e.g. Lev 5:2–4, 'it is hidden from him').

From the study of Psalm 44:21

Range of meaning

Hidden thing, secret, something concealed from view. It comes from the root ʿ-l-m, 'to hide, be concealed' (compare ne'lam, 'hidden', used of sins someone did not know about in Leviticus 4:13; 5:2–4).

Against the English

Every major English version says 'secrets.' That is accurate, provided 'secrets' is heard broadly as 'whatever is hidden' and not narrowly as shameful private sins.

Used elsewhere in the period

It occurs only three times. In Job 11:6 Zophar wishes God would show Job 'the secrets of wisdom.' In Job 28:11 the miner 'brings hidden things to light.' Here it refers to the hidden things of the heart. The Greek translation (Septuagint) renders it ta krypha, 'the hidden things.' The New Testament echoes the phrase in 1 Corinthians 14:25 ('the secrets of his heart are disclosed') and Romans 2:16 ('God judges the secrets of people').

Similar words

Where it appears

Job · 2

  1. Job 11:6 תַּֽעֲלֻמ֣וֹת [the] secrets of

    and disclose to you the secrets of wisdom, for true wisdom has two sides. Know then that God exacts from you less than your iniquity deserves.

    Here: From a root meaning 'to hide'. These are the concealed depths of wisdom that people cannot reach by themselves. Zophar implies Job has not seen them.

  2. Job 28:11 וְ֝תַעֲלֻמָ֗הּ and secret her

    He stops up the sources of the streams to bring what is hidden to light.

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 44:21 תַּעֲלֻמ֥וֹת [the] secrets of

    would not God have discovered, since He knows the secrets of the heart?

    Here: From a root meaning 'to hide, conceal.' These are the things kept out of sight: unspoken loyalties, private intentions, a turning toward another god that no one else could see. The word is rare, used only three times in the Hebrew Bible.

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