Lexical Summary
kesel: Confidence, hope, folly, stupidity
Original Word:כֶּסֶל
Part of Speech:Noun Masculine
Transliteration:kecel
Pronunciation:keh'-sel
Phonetic Spelling:(keh'-sel)
KJV: confidence, flank, folly, hope, loin
NASB:loins, confidence, folly and the foolishness, foolish, thighs
Word Origin:[fromH3688 (כָּסַל - foolish)]
1. (properly) fatness
2. (by implication, literally) the loin (as the seat of the leaf fat)
3. (generally) the bowels, gut, intestines
4. (figuratively) silliness
5. (in a good sense) trust
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
confidence, flank, folly, hope, loin
Fromkacal; properly, fatness, i.e. By implication (literally) the loin (as the seat of the leaf fat) or (generally) the viscera; also (figuratively) silliness or (in a good sense) trust -- confidence, flank, folly, hope, loin.
see HEBREWkacal
NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Originfrom
kasalDefinitionloins, stupidity, confidence
NASB Translationconfidence (4), folly and the foolishness (1), foolish (1), loins (6), thighs (1).
Brown-Driver-Briggs
,
,
(Late Hebrewid. lion; Aramaicid.); —
loinsJob 15:27; pluralLeviticus 3:4,10,15;Leviticus 4:9;Leviticus 7:4; suffix ,Psalm 38:8.
stupidity, follyEcclesiastes 7:25 ("" ),Psalm 49:14.
confidence, suffixJob 31:24;Proverbs 3:26;Job 8:14;Psalm 78:7.
Topical Lexicon
Scope of Meaningכֶּסֶל (kesel) appears thirteen times in the Old Testament and gathers two main fields of meaning:
1. The physical flank or loins, especially of a sacrificial animal.
2. An inner, unseen quality—either sound trust (“confidence”) or its counterfeit (“folly,” “stupidity”).
Because the Hebrews viewed the loins/kidneys as the hidden seat of purpose and emotion, the literal and figurative uses naturally merge.
Physical Anatomy and Sacrificial Worship
InLeviticus 3:4, 10, 15; 4:9; and 7:4 the word identifies “the fat that is on [the kidneys] at the loins.” These fat portions were removed and offered on the altar as “food of the offering made by fire for a pleasing aroma to the LORD.” Their exclusive dedication to God (Leviticus 3:16-17) underscored that even the innermost life-force of the creature belonged to Him. The priestly handling of the kēsel thus taught Israel to yield its deepest strength to the Lord.
Anatomical References Beyond the Torah
Job 15:27 describes the wicked whose “waistline bulges with flesh,” whilePsalm 38:7 laments, “For my loins are filled with burning, and no soundness remains in my body.” In both cases the loins symbolize the very core of physical vitality—either swollen with proud excess or wracked by chastening pain.
Figurative Sense: Security and Confidence
Several passages move from the literal flank to the inner stance of the heart:
• “His confidence is fragile; his security is in a spider’s web” (Job 8:14).
• “If I have put my trust in gold or called pure gold my security” (Job 31:24).
• “For the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from the snare” (Proverbs 3:26).
• “That they should put their confidence in God, not forget His works” (Psalm 78:7).
In each text kesel names the unseen support a person leans upon. False props collapse, but resting on the covenant LORD brings sure footing.
Moral Dimension: Folly and Self-Reliance
Where that inner support is misplaced, kesel can denote “folly”:
• “This is the fate of the foolish” (Psalm 49:13).
• “to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the madness of folly” (Ecclesiastes 7:25).
The same word that can signal robust trust in God can also expose the emptiness of self-reliance that shuts Him out.
Interrelation of the Two Fields of Meaning
The movement from loins to trust/folly is not accidental. In Hebrew psychology the hidden organs summed up a person’s deepest drives; thus:
• The sacrificial fat of the loins belonged wholly to God—so also should the believer’s confidence.
• Disease in the loins (Psalm 38:7) foreshadows the spiritual sickness of false security (Job 8:14).
• Health in the loins parallels the stability found when “the LORD will be your confidence” (Proverbs 3:26).
Historical and Cultural Background
Ancient Near Eastern texts also link kidneys and loins with counsel, emotion, and destiny. Israel’s Scripture, however, anchors these associations in the covenant Lord who alone searches “mind and heart” (literally “kidneys and heart,”Jeremiah 17:10). Kesel therefore serves biblical theology by tying bodily imagery to moral accountability before God.
Theological and Devotional Implications
• Sacrifice: The removal of the flank fat summons worshipers to yield their hidden life to God, prefiguring the call to present our bodies as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1).
• Assurance: True kesel rests not in wealth, power, or human schemes but in the character and promises of God.
• Warning: When trust migrates from God to idols of security, kesel degenerates into folly, inviting the judgment chronicled in Job and Psalms.
• Pastoral Ministry: Preaching these texts invites believers to examine what undergirds their decisions and emotions. Corporate worship that stresses wholehearted surrender echoes Leviticus’s handling of the loins.
Selected References
Leviticus 3:4, 10, 15; 4:9; 7:4 — sacrificial fat at the loins
Job 8:14; 31:24 — insecure or idolatrous confidence
Job 15:27 — fleshy excess in the loins
Psalm 38:7 — afflicted loins
Psalm 49:13 — the destiny of folly
Psalm 78:7 — confidence in God
Proverbs 3:26 — the LORD as confidence
Ecclesiastes 7:25 — investigating folly
Forms and Transliterations
בְכִסְלֶ֑ךָ בכסלך הַכְּסָלִ֑ים הכסלים כְ֭סָלַי כִּ֫סְלָ֥ם כִּסְל֑וֹ כִּסְלִ֑י כֵּ֣סֶל כֶּ֔סֶל כָֽסֶל׃ כסל כסל׃ כסלו כסלי כסלם ḇə·ḵis·le·ḵā ḇəḵisleḵā Chasel Chesalai hak·kə·sā·lîm hakkesaLim hakkəsālîm ḵā·sel ḵāsel ḵə·sā·lay ke·sel kê·sel ḵəsālay kesel kêsel kis·lām kis·lî kis·lōw kisLam kislām kisLi kislî kisLo kislōw vechisLecha
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