Hebrew word · H96
אֵ֫גֶל
'eglei-
drop
Found only here, so its meaning has to be inferred. Lexicons (BDB, HALOT) give 'drop' as the likely sense, with the root uncertain. Proposals link it to an idea of 'gathering' or 'collecting', which would suggest drops that gather, or possibly a 'store' of dew.
Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
drop, reserve supply, collections, stores
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
- Range of meaning
Found only here, so its meaning has to be inferred. Lexicons (BDB, HALOT) give 'drop' as the likely sense, with the root uncertain. Proposals link it to an idea of 'gathering' or 'collecting', which would suggest drops that gather, or possibly a 'store' of dew.
- Against the English
Almost all English versions say 'drops'. Some paraphrases drop the word and just say 'the dew'.
- Used elsewhere in the period
The Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation) renders it bōlous drosou, 'clods/lumps of dew', as though the dew came in small masses. The Vulgate has stillas roris, 'drops of dew'. Elihu uses a different word for drops of water drawn up by God (nitphê-mayim, Job 36:27).
Where it appears
Job · 1
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Job 38:28 אֶגְלֵי־ [the] drops of
Does the rain have a father? Who has begotten the drops of dew?
Here: This word appears only here in the Bible. Context and the ancient versions point to 'drops' or 'beads' of dew: the small glistening globules found on the ground at dawn. The Greek translation took it as 'clods' or 'lumps'. The exact root is uncertain.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.