לְ/קַֽלְל֔/וֹ

𐤋/𐤒𐤋𐤋/𐤅

qâlal

to curse him

To be light, insignificant, or of little weight, both literally and metaphorically; to be or make small in mass or value, to treat or regard lightly, to despise or hold in contempt. The verb also carries senses of being quick or swift, and by extension, to curse or pronounce a curse upon, in the sense of diminishing someone's worth or status. In causative stems, it can mean to lighten or ease, to make something less burdensome.

H7043

Nehemiah 13:2 · Word #13

Lexicon H7043

Lemmaקָלַל
Lemma (Paleo)𐤒𐤋𐤋
Transliterationqâlal
Strong'sH7043
DefinitionTo be light, insignificant, or of little weight, both literally and metaphorically; to be or make small in mass or value, to treat or regard lightly, to despise or hold in contempt. The verb also carries senses of being quick or swift, and by extension, to curse or pronounce a curse upon, in the sense of diminishing someone's worth or status. In causative stems, it can mean to lighten or ease, to make something less burdensome.

Morphology HR/Vpc/Sp3ms All morphology codes

Part of Speech V — Verb — An action or state
Binyan p — Piel — Intensive active
Conjugation c — Infinitive Construct — The verbal noun ("to ...")

Common Translation

Phraseto curse him

SIBI-P1 Translation H7043-14

to treat him as contemptible

Morphological NotesPiel infinitive construct with prefixed לְ and 3rd person masculine singular pronominal suffix
Rendering RationaleThe Piel stem intensifies the root sense of "making light," conveying active treatment of someone as insignificant or diminished in worth. The infinitive construct with 3ms suffix yields "to treat him" in this intensified, contemptuous sense.

View full lexicon entry for H7043 →

SILEX v2

SIBI-P2 (Context-Aware)

to curse him

Same as P1No — adjusted for context
RationaleIn the narrative context, the standard sense here is cursing, not the broader 'treat as contemptible'.