H6963 — קוֹל (qowl)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H6963
Original: קוֹל
Transliteration: qôwl
Pronunciation: kole
Part of Speech: Masculine noun
Root: From an unused root meaning to call aloud
Occurrences: 436 unique verses (543 tokens) across 35 books
First Occurrence: Gen 3:8 — "And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

or קֹל qôl; from an unused root meaning to call aloud; a voice or sound:— aloud, bleating, crackling, cry (out), fame, lightness, lowing, noise, hold peace, (pro-)claim, proclamation, sing, sound, spark, thunder(-ing), voice, yell.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
voice (all forms: the voice, my voice, his voice, etc.)	~340	78%
sound (the sound, a sound, at the sound, etc.)	~30	7%
noise (the noise, a noise, etc.)	~28	6%
thunder/thunderings	~10	2%
aloud	3	<1%
proclamation	~3	<1%
Other (cry, fame, lowing, bleating, crackling, etc.)	~22	5%

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Zephaniah	4	7.5
Nahum	3	6.4
Jeremiah	64	4.7
Jonah	2	4.2
Joel	3	4.1
1 Samuel	31	3.8
Deuteronomy	35	3.6
Habakkuk	2	3.6
Haggai	1	2.6
Isaiah	31	2.4
Ecclesiastes	5	2.3
Psalms	54	2.2
Amos	3	2.1
Exodus	24	2.0
Ezekiel	24	1.9
Micah	2	1.9
Judges	11	1.8
1 Kings	15	1.8
Job	19	1.8
Ezra	5	1.8
2 Samuel	12	1.7
Daniel	6	1.7
Genesis	23	1.5
2 Kings	9	1.3
Lamentations	2	1.3
Joshua	7	1.1
2 Chronicles	9	1.1
Zechariah	2	0.9
Proverbs	7	0.8
Nehemiah	3	0.7
Numbers	6	0.5
1 Chronicles	3	0.3
Leviticus	2	0.2
Song of Solomon	5	—
Ruth	2	—

Jeremiah dominates by raw count (64 occurrences), consistent with its sustained warnings about not obeying "the voice of the LORD." Deuteronomy ranks second (35x) with covenant-obedience formulas. Psalms (54x) reflect lament and praise usage. Prophetic and historical books together account for over 70% of occurrences; Pentateuchal law (Leviticus, Numbers) has surprisingly low density.

Semantic Categories¶

1. God's Authoritative Voice / Word — Obedience Formula¶

The dominant usage: "obey the voice of the LORD" (שׁמע בקול יהוה). The "voice" stands for God's expressed will and commands. - Exo 19:5 — "if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant" - Deu 28:1 — "if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God" - 1 Sam 15:22 — "Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings... as in obeying the voice of the LORD?" - Jer 7:23 — "Obey my voice, and I will be your God"

2. Cry of Lament / Petition to God¶

Human voice directed upward in distress — prayer, weeping, supplication. - Psa 3:4 — "I cried unto the LORD with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill" - Psa 130:2 — "Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications" - Psa 142:1 — "I cried unto the LORD with my voice; with my voice unto the LORD did I make my supplication" - Jonah 2:2 — "I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me"

3. God's Theophanic Voice — Thunder, Cosmic Power¶

The "voice of the LORD" as audible, terrifying manifestation in nature. - Psa 29:3–9 — "The voice of the LORD is upon the waters... powerful... full of majesty... breaketh the cedars... divideth the flames of fire... shaketh the wilderness" - Exo 19:16, 19 — "the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder" - Job 37:4–5 — "After it a voice roareth: he thundereth with the voice of his excellency... God thundereth marvellously with his voice" - Psa 18:13 — "The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice"

4. Sound of Instruments, War, and Events¶

Auditory phenomena: trumpets, battle noise, rushing water, natural sounds. - Josh 6:5, 20 — "when ye hear the sound of the trumpet" / "when the people heard the sound of the trumpet" - 2 Sam 5:24 — "when thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees" - Ezek 1:24 — "I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty" - Jer 4:19 — "thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war"

5. Voice Raised in Weeping or Emotional Outcry¶

Lifting the voice in grief, mourning, or intense emotion (often with "lifted up his/their voice and wept"). - Gen 29:11 — "And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept" - 1 Sam 30:4 — "David and the people... lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep" - 2 Sam 19:4 — "the king cried with a loud voice, O my son Absalom" - Jer 31:15 — "A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children"

6. Voice of Joy, Praise, and Celebration¶

Singing, thanksgiving, festive worship. - Psa 42:4 — "I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise" - Psa 47:1 — "shout unto God with the voice of triumph" - Jer 33:11 — "The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride" - Isa 52:8 — "Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing"

7. Prophetic and Proclamation Voice¶

A voice crying out as herald, prophet, or public announcement. - Isa 40:3 — "The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD" - Isa 40:6 — "The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry?" - Isa 58:1 — "Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet" - Prov 1:20 — "Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
שָׁמַע (shama)	H8085	235x (54%)	"hear/obey the voice" — the defining collocation
יְהֹוָה (Yehovah)	H3068	169x (39%)	"voice of the LORD" / "obey the voice of the LORD"
אָמַר (amar)	H559	115x (26%)	Verse co-occurrence: God's voice + "and he said"
אֱלֹהִים (elohim)	H430	81x (19%)	"voice of God"
גָּדוֹל (gadowl)	H1419	47x (11%)	"with a loud voice" (qowl gadowl)
קָרָא (qara)	H7121	39x (9%)	"cried with a voice" / "called"
דָּבָר (dabar)	H1697	34x (8%)	"voice of the words" — verbal content of the voice

Synonyms¶

H7032 קָל (qal) — Aramaic cognate; "sound, voice" (7v in Daniel/Ezra)
H8643 תְּרוּעָה (truah) — shout, blast, alarm (33v); clamor of joy or battle-cry
H7588 שָׁאוֹן (shaon) — uproar, rushing noise (16v); impersonal tumult
H1995 הָמוֹן (hamon) — noise, tumult, crowd (78v); multitude-roar

Antonyms¶

H1245 בָּקַשׁ (baqash) — to seek (SDBH semantic antonym — seeking vs. voicing)

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
שָׁאוֹן (shaon)	H7588	"noise"	shaon = impersonal rushing/tumult; qowl = identifiable voice or sound
הָמוֹן (hamon)	H1995	"noise"	hamon = crowd noise or multitude; qowl = a single distinguishable sound
הֶמְיָה (hemyah)	H1998	"noise"	hemyah = sound (rare, 1v); qowl = broad-spectrum sound/voice
רֹגֶז (rogez)	H7267	"noise"	rogez = commotion from agitation; qowl = the auditory event itself
תְּרוּעָה (truah)	H8643	"with a" / "shout"	truah = specifically a shout or trumpet blast; qowl = any voice or sound

Semantic Domain¶

Sounds (SDBH 002004001009007) Other words in domain: H584 anach (sigh), H585 anachah (sighing), H602 anaq (groan), H603 anaqah (groaning), H1600 gaah (bellow)

Shout (SDBH 002004001009005) Other words in domain: H421/422 alah (oath/curse-cry), H1906 hed (shout), H2050 huth (cry), H1959 heydad (shout of joy)

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Strong's	Co-occurrences	PMI Score
φωνή (phone)	G5456	388	33.20
ἀκούω (akouo)	G191	151	16.86
εἰσακούω (eisakouo)	G1522	51	14.70
κραυγή (krauge)	G2906	20	13.50
σάλπιγξ (salpinx)	G4536	20	11.89
ὑπακούω (hupakouo)	G5219	15	11.22
κλαυθμός (klauthmos)	G2805	11	10.82
βοάω (boao)	G994	21	10.44

The LXX overwhelmingly translates qowl as φωνή (phone) — 388 of 436 OT occurrences, making this a near-one-to-one bridge. The secondary mappings (akouo, eisakouo, hupakouo) reflect the "obey the voice" formula where LXX translators used hearing/obedience verbs to capture the collocational phrase.