H8518 — תָּלָה (talah)¶
Core Data¶
- Strong's: H8518
- Original: תָּלָה
- Transliteration: talah
- Pronunciation: taw-law'
- Part of Speech: Verb (primitive root)
- Root: Primitive root — no derived parent
- Occurrences: 27 unique verses (32 tokens) across 11 books
- First Occurrence: Gen 40:19 — "Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thy head from off thee, and shall hang thee on a tree"
- Hapax Legomenon: No
Lexicon Definition¶
A primitive root; to suspend (especially to gibbet): — hang (up).
Verb Stem Distribution¶
| Stem | Count | Typical Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Qal | 25 | hang, suspend (active/simple) |
| Niphal | 2 | be hanged (passive) |
| Piel | 2 | hang up, display (intensive) |
Qal dominates at 86% of occurrences. Forms include perfects (3ms, 2ms, 3p, 1p), wayyiqtols (3ms, 3mp), imperfects (3mp), imperatives (2mp), infinitives construct, and participles (both singular and plural). The Qal participle taluy "hanged/hanging" appears 5 times (Deut 21:23, Jos 10:26, 2 Sam 18:10, Job 26:7, Song 4:4).
Niphal (passive) occurs only twice: Lam 5:12 "Princes are hanged up by their hand" and Est 2:23 "they were both hanged on a tree."
Piel (intensive) occurs only in Eze 27:10–11, where warriors "hanged the shield and helmet" on the walls of Tyre — a display/decoration sense.
Translation Distribution (KJV)¶
| Translation | Count | % |
|---|---|---|
| hanged | 12 | 44% |
| hang | 8 | 30% |
| hanging / hangeth | 2 | 7% |
| hanged up | 1 | 4% |
| Other forms | 4 | 15% |
Virtually every occurrence is rendered with some form of "hang" in the KJV. The word has a narrow, consistent semantic range.
Distribution by Book¶
| Book | Count | Per 100 Verses |
|---|---|---|
| Esther | 9 | 5.4 |
| Lamentations | 1 | 0.6 |
| 2 Samuel | 3 | 0.4 |
| Joshua | 2 | 0.3 |
| Genesis | 3 | 0.2 |
| Deuteronomy | 2 | 0.2 |
| Ezekiel | 3 | 0.2 |
| Job | 1 | 0.1 |
| Isaiah | 1 | 0.1 |
| Psalms | 1 | 0.0 |
| Song of Solomon | 1 | 0.0 |
Esther dominates with 33% of all occurrences and the highest density (5.4 per 100 verses), reflecting the Haman narrative. The word clusters in narrative-legal texts; it is rare in prophetic and wisdom literature.
Semantic Categories¶
1. Post-Execution Display on a Tree¶
The primary and most frequent usage — hanging a body (or living person) on a tree/pole as public display after execution or as the mode of execution itself. - Gen 40:19 — "shall Pharaoh lift up thy head from off thee, and shall hang thee on a tree" (baker's execution) - Deut 21:22 — "if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree" - Deut 21:23 — "he that is hanged is accursed of God" — the Deuteronomic law requiring same-day burial - Jos 8:29 — "the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until eventide" - Jos 10:26 — "hanged them on five trees: and they were hanging upon the trees until the evening" - 2 Sam 4:12 — "hanged them up over the pool in Hebron" (Ish-bosheth's assassins) - 2 Sam 21:12 — "the Philistines had hanged them" (Saul and Jonathan's bodies)
2. Gallows Execution (Esther)¶
The Esther corpus uses talah specifically for impalement or hanging on the gallows (ets = "tree/wood/gallows"). - Est 2:23 — "they were both hanged on a tree" (Bigthan and Teresh) - Est 5:14 — "let Mordecai be hanged thereon" (Zeresh's counsel) - Est 7:9–10 — "So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai" - Est 9:13–14 — "let Haman's ten sons be hanged" (posthumous display) - Est 9:25 — "he and his sons should be hanged upon the gallows"
3. Suspending / Hanging Objects¶
A secondary, non-execution sense — suspending objects from a support. - Eze 15:3 — "will men take a pin of it to hang any vessel thereon?" - Eze 27:10–11 — "they hanged the shield and helmet in thee" (military display on Tyre's walls) - Song 4:4 — "Thy neck is like the tower of David... whereon there hang a thousand bucklers" - Isa 22:24 — "they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father's house"
4. Cosmic Suspension¶
A unique metaphorical use for God's creative act. - Job 26:7 — "hangeth the earth upon nothing" — divine suspension of the earth in space
5. Lament / Cessation¶
Hanging instruments as a symbol of grief. - Psa 137:2 — "We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof"
6. Bodily Exposure as Disgrace¶
- Lam 5:12 — "Princes are hanged up by their hand" — public humiliation of leaders
- 2 Sam 18:10 — "I saw Absalom hanged in an oak" (caught by his hair, suspended alive)
Common Collocations¶
| Word | Strong's | Co-occurrences | Typical Pattern |
|---|---|---|---|
| עֵץ (ets) "tree/wood" | H6086 | 14x (52%) | "hanged on a tree" — the standard execution formula |
| מֶלֶךְ (melek) "king" | H4428 | 10x (37%) | royal authorization of hanging or hanging of kings |
| אָמַר (amar) "say" | H559 | 8x (30%) | speech commanding or reporting the hanging |
| הָמָן (Haman) | H2001 | 7x (26%) | the Haman narrative in Esther |
| יוֹם (yom) "day" | H3117 | 6x (22%) | same-day burial requirement (Deut 21) or timing |
| מׇרְדְּכַי (Mordecai) | H4782 | 5x (19%) | Esther narrative — intended victim becomes survivor |
| נָתַן (nathan) "give" | H5414 | 5x (19%) | decree or command to hang |
The overwhelming collocation with ets ("tree/wood/gallows") in 52% of verses confirms that talah denotes suspension from a wooden structure.
Related Words¶
Semantic Domain: Hang¶
- H8511 תָּלָא (tala') — to suspend; figuratively to be uncertain, hang in doubt (Deut 28:66 "thy life shall hang in doubt")
- H1802 דָּלָה (dalah) — to dangle, let down (a bucket); figuratively to deliver
- H5628 סָרַח (sarach) — to extend, spread, stretch; "shall hang over" (Exo 26:12–13)
Easily Confused Words¶
| Word | Strong's | Shared Translation | Key Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| יָקַע (yaqa') | H3363 | "hang" (3x) | To sever/dislocate then impale; judicial dismemberment-display (Num 25:4, 2 Sam 21:6,9) |
| חָנַק (chanaq) | H2614 | "hanged himself" (1x) | To strangle/choke; self-strangulation (2 Sam 17:23 Ahithophel), not public display |
| תָּלָא (tala') | H8511 | "hang in doubt" (1x) | Figurative suspension — mental uncertainty, not physical hanging |
| מְחָא (mecha') | H4223 | "let him be hanged" (1x) | Aramaic; to strike/impale (Ezra 6:11), not standard Hebrew talah |
| κρεμάννυμι (kremannymi) | G2910 | "hang/hanged" (5x in NT) | Greek NT equivalent; used in Matt 22:40 figuratively and in Acts 5:30, 10:39 for crucifixion |
| ἀπάγχομαι (apanchomai) | G519 | "hanged himself" (1x) | Greek; self-strangulation (Matt 27:5 Judas), parallel to Hebrew chanaq |
Key distinction: Talah specifically denotes suspension/display (usually post-mortem or as execution), while yaqa' implies dismemberment-impalement, chanaq means choking/strangling, and tala' is figurative uncertainty.
LXX Mapping¶
The LXX does not consistently translate talah with a single Greek verb. The verb itself is often absorbed into the surrounding narrative rendering. The most relevant cross-language connections are contextual rather than lexical:
| Greek Equivalent | Co-occurrence | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| ξύλον (xylon) G3586 | 11x | Not a translation of talah but of ets ("tree"); appears in the same verses |
| σῶμα (soma) G4983 | 3x | "body" — in verses about handling the hanged corpse |
| κρεμάννυμι (kremannymi) G2910 | — | Standard Greek verb for "hang"; NT uses this for Deut 21:23 quotation in Gal 3:13 |
The theological bridge from Deut 21:23 taluy ("he that is hanged") to the NT runs through κρεμάννυμι (kremannymi G2910) and ἐπικατάρατος (epikataratos G1944 "cursed"), as quoted in Gal 3:13: "Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree."
Generated from: gather_word_data.py, hebrew_parser.py, search_relationships.py, search_strongs.py Last updated: 2026-05-03