דָּלַח
𐤃𐤋𐤇
dâlach
H1804 verb
SILEX Entry
Definition
To stir up or agitate, particularly of water; to make turbid, murky, or disturbed. By extension, to trouble or disturb a settled situation, often used figuratively for stirring up strife or confusion.
Semantic Range
to agitate water, to make water turbid, to stir up sediment, to metaphorically disturb or trouble (e.g. cause unrest), to disrupt order
Root / Etymology
Root: דלח. Derived from the root דלח whose core meaning is 'to make turbid' or 'to stir up.' The verb originally expresses the action of disturbing a liquid, especially water, making it cloudy or muddy by stirring sediment. There are no widely attested cognates in other Semitic languages, and etymology beyond the Hebrew root is uncertain.
Historical & Contextual Notes
דָּלַח appears rarely in the Hebrew Bible (e.g., Ezekiel 32:2), where it depicts the metaphorical action of a creature (Pharaoh as a monster or crocodile) troubling or muddying the waters of the Nile. In such contexts, the action conveys both physical disturbance of water and symbolic disruption or chaos. It should not be conflated with other Hebrew roots like רגז (to quake, rage) or רפש (to stir up mud), which carry different nuances. Standard English translations render דָּלַח with terms like 'trouble,' 'disturb,' or 'muddy,' but the word more precisely evokes the act of stirring water so as to make it opaque and unsettled, with connotations of agitation or disruption. There is no evidence for later semantic development beyond the biblical period, as the term does not appear to survive into later Hebrew. In biblical usage, as in Ezekiel, the usage is poetic and emphasizes disruptive power (literal and symbolic).
Original Strong's Gloss (1890)
a primitive root; to roil water; trouble.
Bantu Hebrew
No Bantu Hebrew comparisons have been submitted for this word yet.
+ Add Bantu Hebrew WordRoot Family
דלח (d-l-ḥ) — to make turbid, to muddle, to stir up
Word Forms
2 distinct forms
| SIDANCE | Surface | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | Occurrences |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H1804-01 |
תִדְלָחֵ֤/ם | tidelachem | HVqi3fs/Sp3mp |
will-muddy-them | she will stir them up | 2 |
H1804-02 |
וַ/תִּדְלַח | vatidelach | HC/Vqw2ms |
and troubledst | and you stirred up | 1 |
Occurrences in Scripture
3 total occurrences
| SIDANCE | Reference | Word | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H1804-02 |
Ezekiel 32:2 | וַ/תִּדְלַח | vatidelach | HC/Vqw2ms |
and troubledst | and you stirred up |
H1804-01 |
Ezekiel 32:13 | תִדְלָחֵ֤/ם | tidelachem | HVqi3fs/Sp3mp |
will-muddy-them | she will stir them up |
H1804-01 |
Ezekiel 32:13 | תִדְלָחֵֽ/ם | tidelachem-2 | HVqi3fs/Sp3mp |
will-muddy-them | she will stir them up |