Lexical Summary
gal: Heap, wave, billow
Original Word:גַּל
Part of Speech:Noun Masculine
Transliteration:gal
Pronunciation:gal
Phonetic Spelling:(gal)
KJV: billow, heap, spring, wave
NASB:waves, heap, heaps, billows, rock garden, rock pile, ruins
Word Origin:[fromH1556 (גָּלַל - roll)]
1. something rolled, i.e. a heap of stone or dung (plural ruins), by analogy, a spring of water (plural waves)
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
billow, heap, spring, wave
Fromgalal; something rolled, i.e. A heap of stone or dung (plural ruins), by analogy, a spring of water (plural waves) -- billow, heap, spring, wave.
see HEBREWgalal
NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Originfrom
galalDefinitiona heap, wave, billow
NASB Translationbillows (1), heap (13), heaps (2), rock garden (1), rock pile (1), ruins (1), stone heaps (1), waves (14).
Brown-Driver-Briggs
Genesis 31:48 (as
rolled together, rolling, rolling up), also
,Songs 4:12 compare
below — absoluteJob 8:17 5t. (includingGenesis 31:48 +);Genesis 31:46;Genesis 31:46;Isaiah 25:2; constructJoshua 7:26 + 2t. +Genesis 31:47,48 q.see below; plural2 Kings 19:25 6t.; constructIsaiah 48:18; suffixPsalm 89:10 6t.;Psalm 65:8 2t.; —
heap of stones,
raised () over dead bodyJoshua 7:26;Joshua 8:29; compare2 Samuel 18:17 (with ).
aloneJob 8:17 (roots wrapped about it).
heap orpile made () for use in ratifying compact of Jacob with LabanGenesis 31:46 (twice in verse);Genesis 31:48;Genesis 31:51;Genesis 38:52;Genesis 31:52 (twice in verse) compare also
heap of ruinsIsaiah 25:2; elsewhere pluralHosea 12:12;2 Kings 19:25 =Isaiah 37:26;Job 15:28Jeremiah 9:10;Jeremiah 51:37.
waves (rollers) in poetry, only plural, waves of seaJeremiah 5:22;Jeremiah 31:35;Isaiah 51:15;Job 38:11;Psalm 65:8;Psalm 89:10;Psalm 107:25;Psalm 107:29; compare also in simileEzekiel 26:3;Isaiah 48:18 (); figurative of chastisements fromPsalm 42:8 ("" )Jonah 2:3 ("" id.); of army of Babylon's conquerorJeremiah 51:42,55; compareZechariah 10:11 (VB; but BevJPh xviii. 88 proposes compareEzekiel 27:9).
spring,Songs 4:12a garden barred (is) my sister, bride, a spring barred, a fountain sealed; but for .
Topical Lexicon
Overview and Range of ImageryUsed about thirty-four times across the Old Testament, גַּל (gal) gathers three main pictures: stone heaps that mark covenant or judgment, sea-waves that manifest power and turmoil, and refreshing springs that celebrate life. Each picture carries consistent theological threads—remembrance, divine sovereignty, and life-giving grace.
Stone Heaps as Covenantal Witnesses
•Genesis 31:46–52 records Jacob and Laban piling stones as a mutual pledge of peace. Repetition of gal underscores the permanence of their vow: “This heap is a witness between you and me this day” (Genesis 31:48).
• By naming the heap Galeed, Jacob admitted that God Himself monitored the agreement, turning a simple mound into a perpetual reminder of accountability.
Heaps Raised in Judgment
•Joshua 7:26; 8:29 and2 Samuel 18:17 employ gal for “a large pile of stones” over Achan, the king of Ai, and Absalom. The public mound warns later generations that rebellion invites visible, inescapable testimony against sin.
• The expression “to this day” (Joshua 7:26) proves that history itself bears witness to God’s unfailing righteousness.
Rolling Waves under Divine Command
•Psalm 89:9 celebrates the LORD who “rules the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, You still them.”
•Jeremiah 5:22 intensifies the lesson: “The waves may roll, but they cannot prevail”—a statement of God-given boundaries that remain unbroken.
•Isaiah 51:15 andJeremiah 31:35 emphasize the same sovereignty, declaring that the One who stirs the sea is also the One who reins it in.
Waves in Personal Lament and Worship
•Psalm 42:7 andJonah 2:3 capture despair: “All Your breakers and waves sweep over me.” Both writers acknowledge divine authorship of their affliction, thereby grounding lament in hope.
•Psalm 107:25–29 answers the cry, recording the LORD who “calmed the storm to a whisper, and the waves of the sea were hushed.”
Prophetic Portraits of Nations
•Isaiah 57:20 likens the wicked to a restless sea whose waves churn up mire.
•Jeremiah 51:55 pictures Babylon’s demise amid roaring waves, illustrating that even empires must bow before the Almighty.
• Such imagery assures believers that geopolitical turmoil is neither random nor ultimate; it is governed, limited, and conclusively judged by the LORD.
Fountain Imagery in Song of Songs
• Song of Songs 4:12; 4:15 and 5:12 shift gal from turbulence to tranquility. The bride is “a spring locked, a fountain sealed…a well of living water.” Purity, abundance, and exclusivity come to the foreground, hinting at the Spirit’s indwelling life later articulated in the New Testament.
Christological Fulfillment
The calming of the storm inMark 4:39 echoesPsalm 89:9, identifying Jesus as the LORD who commands gal. Stone heaps of judgment are ultimately answered by an empty tomb and a rolled-away stone, declaring that Christ bore the penalty those heaps once announced. The final vision ofRevelation 21–22 replaces chaotic sea with the river of life, fulfilling the movement from threatening gal to eternal refreshment.
Pastoral and Devotional Applications
1. Remembrance: Like Jacob’s heap, communion, testimonies, and personal journaling can function as present-day “gals,” reminding believers of covenant faithfulness.
2. Holiness: The heaps over Achan and Absalom warn against hidden sin and invite transparent repentance.
3. Trust amid Chaos: When life’s gal threatens to overwhelm, Psalms teach believers to address the LORD who both sends and stills the waves.
4. Mission: The bridal spring challenges the Church to guard purity and to extend living water to a thirsty world.
Whether as mound, wave, or spring, gal consistently directs readers to the God who remembers covenants, judges wickedness, restrains chaos, and grants inexhaustible life.
Forms and Transliterations
גַ֝לָּ֗יו גַּ֥ל גַּ֭ל גַּלִּ֔ים גַּלִּ֥ים גַּלֵּיהֶ֗ם גַּלֵּיהֶֽם׃ גַּלֶּֽיךָ׃ גַּלָּ֑יו גַּלָּ֖יו גַּלָּֽיו׃ גַּל־ גַלֵּיהֶם֙ גַלָּ֔יו גַלָּ֖יו גָ֑ל גל גל־ גליהם גליהם׃ גליו גליו׃ גליך׃ גלים הַגַּ֣ל הַגַּ֥ל הַגַּ֨ל הַגָּֽל׃ הגל הגל׃ וְ֝גַלֶּ֗יךָ וְגַלֶּ֖יךָ וגליך כְּגַלִּ֔ים כְּגַלֵּ֥י כגלי כגלים לְגַלִּ֖ים לְגַלִּ֧ים ׀ לְגַלִּֽים׃ לְגַלָּֽיו׃ לַגָּ֔ל לגל לגליו׃ לגלים לגלים׃ gal ḡāl gal- gal·lāw ḡal·lāw gal·lê·hem ḡal·lê·hem gal·le·ḵā gal·lîm galLav gallāw ḡallāw gallêhem ḡallêhem galLeicha galleiHem galleḵā galLim gallîm hag·gal hag·gāl haggal haggāl kə·ḡal·lê kə·ḡal·lîm kəḡallê kegalLei kegalLim kəḡallîm lag·gāl lagGal laggāl lə·ḡal·lāw lə·ḡal·lîm legalLav ləḡallāw legalLim ləḡallîm vegalLeicha wə·ḡal·le·ḵā wəḡalleḵā
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