Lexical Summary
balah: To wear out, to waste away, to decay
Original Word:בָּלָה
Part of Speech:Verb
Transliteration:balah
Pronunciation:bah-LAH
Phonetic Spelling:(baw-law')
KJV: consume, enjoy long, become (make, wax) old, spend, waste
NASB:wear, worn, become old, consume, decaying, spend, waste
Word Origin:[a primitive root]
1. to fail
2. (by implication) to wear out, decay (causatively, consume, spend)
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
consume, enjoy long, become make, wax old, spend, waste
A primitive root; to fail; by implication to wear out, decay (causatively, consume, spend) -- consume, enjoy long, become (make, wax) old, spend, waste.
NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origina prim. root
Definitionto become old, wear out
NASB Translationbecome old (1), consume (1), decaying (1), spend (1), waste (1), waste away (1), wasted away (1), wear (6), worn (3).
Brown-Driver-Briggs
[] (Arabic
, Aramaic ,
, Ethiopic
id.) —
PerfectDeuteronomy 8:4,Deuteronomy 29:4 +;ImperfectJob 13:28 etc.;Infinitive with suffixGenesis 18:12; —wear out (intransitive), especially of garmentsDeuteronomy 8:4;Deuteronomy 29:4 (twice in verse), all with pregnantlywear out (and fall)from upon... (henceNehemiah 9:21),Joshua 9:13; figurative of the heavens (with simile of garment)Isaiah 50:9;Psalm 102:27 , the earthIsaiah 51:6 ; the bones (through suffering)Psalm 32:3; afflicted manJob 13:28 ("" ); of an aged and decrepit womanGenesis 18:12 (J) afterI am worn out.
causative of Qal.
wear out (transitive), figurativeLamentations 3:4 ,Psalm 49:15 and their form is forSh®°ôlto consume away (others read is forwasting away [Dr§ 204], connecting with following),1 Chronicles 17:9to wear it (Israel)out (altered from2 Samuel 7:10), compareDaniel 7:25 Aramaic
wear out by use, use to the full,Isaiah 65:22 and the work of their hands they shalluse to the full, enjoy,Job 21:13 theywear out their days in prosperity (Qr herecomplete, which perhaps is the true reading in both passages; compareExodus 5:13;Job 36:11). — OnPsalm 92:11, see below .
Topical Lexicon
OverviewThe verb בָּלָה traces a thread through the Old Testament that spans garments, bodies, nations, the earth, and the heavens. It describes the slow erosion of strength or substance, yet is also used to highlight occasions when God arrests that erosion. Thus the word serves both as a sober reminder of creaturely transience and as a platform for displaying divine faithfulness, judgment, and future hope.
Physical Aging and Personal Frailty
From the beginning, בָּלָה speaks to the limits of the human frame. When Sarah hears the promise of a son, she laughs: “After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?” (Genesis 18:12). Job laments, “So man wastes away like something rotten, like a moth-eaten garment” (Job 13:28), and Jeremiah cries, “He has worn away my flesh and skin; He has shattered my bones” (Lamentations 3:4). The verb stands behind these stark images of decay, underscoring that aging and physical decline are part of the present order.
Miraculous Preservation in the Wilderness
By contrast, three wilderness texts celebrate a divine suspension of the normal process:
• “Your clothing did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years” (Deuteronomy 8:4; cf. 29:5).
• “For forty years You sustained them in the desert; … their clothes did not wear out” (Nehemiah 9:21).
Israel’s garments should have fallen apart, yet the Lord sovereignly checked בָּלָה. The same Lord who ordains natural decay can overrule it to keep covenant promises.
Weariness Caused by Human Oppression
בָּלָה also expresses the draining effect of hostile pressure: “I will … plant them so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more; and violent men shall not oppress them again” (1 Chronicles 17:9). The word rendered “oppress” is literally “wear out.” In the post-exilic period, “the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah” (Ezra 4:4), again using בָּלָה. Whether military or psychological, opposition can exhaust the people of God, but He pledges eventual relief.
Internal Dissolution through Sin and Sorrow
David writes, “When I kept silent, my bones became brittle from my groaning all day long” (Psalm 32:3). Suppressed guilt eats away at the psalmist’s vitality, an inner wearing out that mirrors the outward. Likewise,Joshua 9:13 pictures wineskins and sandals “worn out from the very long journey,” a vivid metaphor for the soul that travels without truth.
The Inevitable Decay of the Wicked
Judgment texts heap up the same verb to emphasize that the ungodly cannot escape erosion:
• “Indeed, they will all wear out like a garment; a moth will eat them up” (Isaiah 50:9).
• “Like sheep they are destined for Sheol… their form will decay in Sheol” (Psalm 49:14).
• Job observes the prosperous wicked: “They spend their days in prosperity and go down to Sheol in peace” (Job 21:13), but the verb “spend” is literally “wear out”; their pleasant days are still being consumed.
Cosmic Transience and Divine Permanence
Psalm 102:26 elevates בָּלָה to the cosmic scale: “They will perish, but You remain; they will all wear out like a garment.” Isaiah echoes, “The earth will wear out like a garment” (Isaiah 51:6). Creation itself is subject to exhaustion, yet God endures untouched.Hebrews 1:10-12 later cites this truth of unchanging deity to establish the supremacy of Christ.
Reversal of Decay in Messianic Blessing
Isaiah 65:22 opens a prophetic vista where the verb is turned on its head: “For as the days of a tree, so will be the days of My people, and My chosen ones will fully enjoy the work of their hands.” The phrase “fully enjoy” (balah) pictures believers actually consuming their labor instead of being consumed themselves. In the kingdom age, the wasting of life and toil is reversed.
Ministry Reflections
1. Pastoral care must reckon with the realities of aging bodies and spirits; the Scriptures validate that experience without despair.
2. God’s ability to prevent decay encourages faith for daily needs and mission endurance.
3. Sin’s corrosive power warns against secrecy; confession restores vitality.
4. Preaching judgment passages that employ בָּלָה offers a realistic eschatology: the wicked are not merely judged—they progressively unravel.
5. Eschatological promises of renewed longevity motivate perseverance and holy work, anticipating a day when the consuming cycle is finally broken.
Forms and Transliterations
בְלֹתִי֙ בִּלָּ֤ה בָּל֕וּ בָּל֣וּ בָֽלְתָה֙ בָל֔וּ בָל֤וּ בָלְתָ֖ה בלה בלו בלתה בלתי וּֽמְבַהֲלִ֥ים ומבהלים יְבַלּ֥וּ יְכַלּ֣וּ יִבְל֑וּ יִבְל֔וּ יִבְלֶ֑ה יבלה יבלו יכלו לְבַלֹּת֔וֹ לְבַלּ֥וֹת לבלות לבלתו תִּבְלֶ֔ה תבלה ḇā·lə·ṯāh bā·lū ḇā·lū ḇāləṯāh baLu bālū ḇālū ḇə·lō·ṯî ḇəlōṯî bil·lāh bilLah billāh lə·ḇal·lō·ṯōw lə·ḇal·lō·wṯ ləḇallōṯōw ləḇallōwṯ levalLot levalloTo tiḇ·leh tiḇleh tivLeh ū·mə·ḇa·hă·lîm ūməḇahălîm umevahaLim valTah vaLu veloTi yə·ḇal·lū yə·ḵal·lū yəḇallū yechalLu yəḵallū yevalLu yiḇ·leh yiḇ·lū yiḇleh yiḇlū yivLeh yivLu
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