Word Study for H5041 (נְבַלָּט)

Nᵉballâṭ /neb-al-lawt'/ Ask about this word

Rootapparently from נָבָל and לָט

Meaningfoolish secrecy; Neballat, a place in Palestine

KJV usageNeballat.

Word Study

In depth

A plain-language study of Nᵉballâṭ — the range of meaning it carries, how Scripture actually uses it, and where it points. Written for readers who don’t know the original language.

Core Meaning & Semantic Range

The Hebrew word Nᵉballâṭ, represented by H5041, refers to a specific place in Palestine. Its base definition is "foolish secrecy." It is a very rare term in scripture, appearing only 1 time in 1 unique verse.

Biblical Occurrences & Contextual Analysis

The sole appearance of H5041 is in a list of inhabited towns. The verse simply names a series of locations, with Neballat being mentioned alongside its neighbors: "Hadid, Zeboim, Neballat," Nehemiah 11:34. This context establishes it as a geographical marker within a specific region being chronicled.

Related Words & Concepts

The words listed with Neballat provide its primary context:

H2307 Châdîyd (Hadid): Defined as "a peak; Chadid, a place in Palestine," this location is mentioned alongside Neballat in Nehemiah 11:34. It also appears in lists of "the children of" various towns (Ezra 2:33, Nehemiah 7:37).
H6650 Tsᵉbôʻîym (Zeboim): Defined as "hyenas; Tseboim, a place in Palestine," this town is also listed with Neballat Nehemiah 11:34. It is referenced elsewhere as "the valley of Zeboim" 1 Samuel 13:18.

Theological Significance

The significance of H5041 is entirely geographical, derived from its single mention.

Geographical Marker: Its primary function is to identify a specific town in Palestine during the time of Nehemiah.
Contextual Association: The importance of Neballat is understood through its grouping with other towns like Hadid H2307 and Zeboim H6650.
Place in a List: Its appearance in Nehemiah 11:34 situates it within a broader account that involves the cataloging of places and their inhabitants, as seen with related towns in other passages (Ezra 2:33, Nehemiah 7:37).

Summary

In summary, H5041 is a singular place name whose biblical role is confined to its appearance in one list. Unlike words with deep theological meaning, Nᵉballâṭ serves a practical purpose: to specify a location in the geography of the Old Testament. Its significance is not found in its definition of "foolish secrecy," but in its context as a town named in the biblical record.

How the KJV Renders It

Translation

Strong’s lists the renderings but not their weight. These are counted from the King James text of the tagged verses — the bar under each is how often the translators actually reached for it. Select one to filter the occurrences below.

Grammatical Forms

Morphology

In the Hebrew Old Testament, this word appears as a noun across 1 occurrence, inflected in 1 grammatical form — each row is one form, and the bar is how often it is that form. Select any form to read what each part of its name means, and to filter the occurrence list to it.

נְבַלָּט

Theographic Context

Context

The people, places, and span of history the verses containing this word touch on — drawn from the theographic tagging of Scripture. Select any name to isolate its verses in the occurrence list.

Biblical Distribution

Distribution

1 verse, all in Nehemiah — and none of the other 38 Old Testament books.

Every Occurrence

Concordance

Every verse where the word is tagged in the King James text. Filter by book, by the English word the translators chose, by grammatical form, or search within the verses.

Sources. Definition and numbering: James Strong, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890). Morphology: STEPBible / Tyndale House (CC BY). Verse tagging: the King James text keyed to Strong’s numbers. Every count on this page is computed from the tagged corpus, not estimated.