דלה

Hebrew

Etymology

Root
ד־ל־ה (d-l-h)
2 terms

Either directly related to דָּלַל (dalál, “to be weak, feeble”) or denominated from דְּלִי (dli, “bucket”). In the former case both verbs inherently refer to the action of hanging down in a pendulous manner or to dangle by virtue of their shared origin from the biliteral root ד־ל. From this point the present verb acquired the causative meaning of "making hang down" or "letting down", which was then semantically limited to buckets in a well, in other words drawing water. Cognates include Aramaic דְּלָא (“to draw water”), Arabic دَلَى (dalā, “to lower, let down”) and Ge'ez ደለወ (dalawa, “to weigh”).

Verb

דָּלָה • (dalá) (pa'al construction, future יִדְלֶה)

1. to draw (water from a well, or the like)
   • Tanach, Exodus 2:19, with translation of the Jewish Publication Society:

     וַתֹּאמַרְןָ אִישׁ מִצְרִי הִצִּילָנוּ מִיַּד הָרֹעִים וְגַם־דָּלֹה דָלָה לָנוּ וַיַּשְׁקְ אֶת־הַצֹּאן׃

     They answered, “An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds; he even drew water for us and watered the flock.”

   • Tanach, Proverbs 20:5, with translation of the Jewish Publication Society:

     מַיִם עֲמֻקִּים עֵצָה בְלֶב־אִישׁ וְאִישׁ תְּבוּנָה יִדְלֶנָּה׃

     The designs in a man’s mind are deep waters, but a man of understanding can draw them out.

Conjugation

Conjugation of דָּלָה (see also Appendix:Hebrew verbs)

non-finite forms		to-infinitive		לִדְלוֹת
		action noun		דְּלִיָּה
		passive participle		דָּלוּי
finite forms		singular		plural
		m	f	m	f
past	first	דָּלִיתִי		דָּלִינוּ
	second	דָּלִיתָ	דָּלִית	דְּלִיתֶם1	דְּלִיתֶן1
	third	דָּלָה	דָּלְתָה	דָּלוּ
present		דּוֹלֶה	דּוֹלָה	דּוֹלִים	דּוֹלוֹת
future	first	אֶדְלֶה		נִדְלֶה
	second	תִּדְלֶה	תִּדְלִי	תִּדְלוּ	תִּדְלֶינָה2
	third	יִדְלֶה	תִּדְלֶה	יִדְלוּ	תִּדְלֶינָה2
imperative	positive	דְּלֵה	דְּלִי	דְּלוּ	דְּלֶינָה2
	negative	אַל + Second person future tense

¹ Pronounced דָּלִיתֶם and דָּלִיתֶן in informal Modern Hebrew.
² Rare in Modern Hebrew.

Synonyms

• שָׁאַב (sha'áv, “to draw water”)

Related terms

• דְּלִי (dli, “bucket”)

References

• H1802 in Strong, James (1979), Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Klein, Ernest (1987), “דלה”, in A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language for Readers of English‎^[1], Jerusalem: Carta, →ISBN, page 125a
• Jastrow, Marcus (1903), A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature‎^[2], London, New York: Luzac & Co., G.P. Putnam's Sons, page 309b