H4604 — מַעַל (maʻal)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H4604
Original: מַעַל
Transliteration: maʻal
Pronunciation: mah'-al
Part of Speech: Masculine noun
Root: מָעַל (maʻal, H4603) — primitive root verb: to act covertly, treacherously; literally "to cover up"
Occurrences: 29 unique verses (30 tokens) across 9 books
First Occurrence: Lev 5:15 — "If a soul commit a trespass (maʻal), and sin through ignorance, in the holy things of the LORD"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

From H4603; treachery, i.e. sin: — falsehood, grievously, sore, transgression, trespass, very.

Word Family / Cognates¶

H4603 מָעַל (maʻal) — root verb: to act covertly/treacherously, commit trespass (35v); literally "to cover up"

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
trespass (all forms)	19	65.5%
transgression (all forms)	6	20.7%
grievously	1	3.4%
sore	1	3.4%
falsehood	1	3.4%
in (adverbial use)	1	3.4%

Note: "Trespass" and "transgression" together account for 86% of renderings. The remaining uses ("grievously," "sore," "very") occur as adverbial intensifiers in construct phrases with the cognate verb H4603 (e.g., "trespassing grievously" = maʻol maʻal).

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Ezra	3	1.1
Joshua	5	0.8
Ezekiel	6	0.5
2 Chronicles	4	0.5
Leviticus	3	0.3
Numbers	4	0.3
Daniel	1	0.3
1 Chronicles	2	0.2
Job	1	0.1

Concentrated in narrative-legal contexts (Joshua, Chronicles, Ezra) and prophetic judgment (Ezekiel). The Pentateuchal occurrences (Leviticus, Numbers) establish the legal definition; the historical and prophetic books apply it to specific national failures. Absent from Psalms, Proverbs (except via the cognate verb), and the Minor Prophets.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Cultic/Sacral Violation — Offense Against Holy Things¶

The foundational legal sense: breach of faith involving what belongs to YHWH. - Lev 5:15 — "If a soul commit a trespass (maʻal), and sin through ignorance, in the holy things of the LORD" - Lev 6:2 — "If a soul sin, and commit a trespass (maʻal) against the LORD, and lie unto his neighbour" - Num 5:6 — "When a man or woman shall commit any sin that men commit, to do a trespass (maʻal) against the LORD" - Jos 7:1 — "the children of Israel committed a trespass (maʻal) in the accursed thing: for Achan... took of the accursed thing"

2. Marital/Covenant Unfaithfulness¶

Breach of faith between covenant partners — applied to marriage and to Israel's covenant with YHWH. - Num 5:12 — "If any man's wife go aside, and commit a trespass (maʻal) against him" - Num 5:27 — "if she be defiled, and have done trespass (maʻal) against her husband" - Num 31:16 — "these caused the children of Israel... to commit trespass (maʻal) against the LORD in the matter of Peor"

3. National/Corporate Treachery Leading to Exile¶

The historical books use maʻal to summarize why Israel was exiled or punished corporately. - 1Ch 9:1 — "Judah... were carried away to Babylon for their transgression (maʻal)" - 1Ch 10:13 — "Saul died for his transgression (maʻal) which he committed against the LORD" - 2Ch 36:14 — "all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much (maʻal maʻal) after all the abominations" - Ezr 9:4 — "assembled unto me every one that trembled... because of the transgression (maʻal) of those that had been carried away"

4. Royal/Political Treachery Against YHWH¶

Kings who violate their covenant obligations — distinct from general national sin by identifying the ruler as agent. - 2Ch 28:19 — "the LORD brought Judah low because of Ahaz... for he... transgressed sore (maʻal) against the LORD" - 2Ch 29:19 — "all the vessels, which king Ahaz in his reign did cast away in his transgression (maʻal)" - Eze 17:20 — "I will... plead with him there for his trespass (maʻal) that he hath trespassed against me" (Zedekiah's oath-breaking)

5. Prophetic Judgment Formula¶

Ezekiel uses maʻal in formulaic pronouncements linking national treachery to divine punishment. - Eze 14:13 — "when the land sinneth against me by trespassing grievously (maʻol maʻal)" - Eze 15:8 — "I will make the land desolate, because they have committed a trespass (maʻal)" - Eze 18:24 — "in his trespass (maʻal) that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die" - Eze 39:26 — "after that they have borne their shame, and all their trespasses (maʻal) whereby they have trespassed against me"

6. Confession and Restoration¶

The word appears in contexts of acknowledging maʻal as prerequisite for restoration. - Lev 26:40 — "If they shall confess their iniquity... with their trespass (maʻal) which they trespassed against me" - Dan 9:7 — "unto us confusion of faces... because of their trespass (maʻal) that they have trespassed against thee" - Ezr 10:6 — "he mourned because of the transgression (maʻal) of them that had been carried away"

7. General Falsehood (Unique Use)¶

Job 21:34 — "How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood (maʻal)?" — the only use outside sacral/covenant contexts, applying the treachery concept to deceptive speech

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
יִשְׂרָאֵל (Yisraʼel)	H3478	13x (45%)	"children of Israel committed a maʻal" — corporate agent
יְהֹוָה (Yehovah)	H3068	12x (41%)	"maʻal against the LORD" — the offended party
חָטָא (chaṭaʼ)	H2398	4x (14%)	"sin and commit a maʻal" — paired sin terminology
אֱלֹהִים (ʼelohiym)	H430	4x (14%)	"maʻal against the God of Israel"
אֶרֶץ (ʼerets)	H776	4x (14%)	"the land... committed maʻal" — judgment on territory
אִישׁ (ʼiysh)	H376	5x (17%)	"when a man... commits a maʻal" — individual legal formula
אִשָּׁה (ʼishshshah)	H802	3x (10%)	"man or woman commit... a maʻal" / marital unfaithfulness

Synonyms¶

H7847 שָׂטָה (satah) — to go aside, turn aside (used for marital unfaithfulness in Num 5:12)

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
אַשְׁמָה (ʼashmah)	H819	"trespass"	ʼashmah = guiltiness/fault as a state; maʻal = the act of treachery itself
אָשַׁם (ʼasham)	H816	"trespass"	ʼasham (verb) = to be/become guilty; maʻal = the treacherous offense that triggers guilt
אָשָׁם (ʼasham)	H817	"trespass"	ʼasham (noun) = guilt-offering/restitution sacrifice; maʻal = the underlying breach of faith
חָטָא (chaṭaʼ)	H2398	"trespass"	chaṭaʼ = to miss the mark, sin generally; maʻal = specifically covert/treacherous betrayal

Semantic Domain: Unfaithfulness¶

From SDBH domain [002001002027]: - H898 בָּגַד (bagad) — to deal treacherously, betray (verb) - H899 בֶּגֶד (beged) — treachery, garment - H2181 זָנָה (zanah) — to commit fornication, be unfaithful

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Co-occurrences	PMI	Notes
παραπίπτω (parapiptō) G3895	4x	9.08	"to fall aside" — highest PMI; captures the deviance sense
παράπτωμα (paraptōma) G3900	4x	7.66	"a side-slip, trespass" — noun equivalent in LXX
ὑπερείδω (hupereidō) G5237	3x	6.66	"to overlook, wink at" — used for the offense being committed
ἁμαρτάνω (hamartanō) G264	4x	4.17	"to sin" — generic sin vocabulary
ἁμαρτία (hamartia) G266	5x	3.47	"sin" — most frequent but low specificity
ἀνομία (anomia) G458	3x	3.68	"lawlessness" — captures the violation dimension

No dominant single Greek equivalent exists. The LXX fragments maʻal across several words, with the paraptōma/parapiptō family showing highest specificity (PMI > 7).