בָּשַׁל (ba.shal)
ba.shal
to boil
H:VQuick Reference
- Language
- Biblical Hebrew
- Testament
- Old Testament
- Occurrences
- 19 verses
- Root
- —
- Part of speech
- H:V
Word Overview
The Hebrew verb bashal describes the process of cooking by boiling or simmering, but its meaning extends beyond simple food preparation. In the Qal stem, it can also mean to grow ripe or mature, linking the transformation of food with the natural ripening of fruit. This dual sense suggests a focus on change through heat or time, turning raw ingredients into something ready for use.
The word appears frequently in legal and narrative texts, particularly in Exodus and Kings. For instance, it is used to describe how meat was cooked for sacrifices or meals, such as when the Israelites are instructed to boil certain portions rather than roast them (Exodus 12:9). The Piel stem often emphasizes the active act of boiling, while the Hiphil highlights the result: bringing something to a state of ripeness or completion.
Translators typically render bashal as "boil" or "cook," though context determines whether the focus is on the method or the outcome. Its use in describing ripening fruit adds a layer of natural imagery, reminding readers that transformation—whether in food or life—is often a gradual process requiring patience and care.
Based on public-domain lexicons (Strong's, Thayer, Gesenius, Brown-Driver-Briggs and others).
What This Word Means for Your Faith
The Hebrew word bashal describes the process of boiling or cooking, but it also carries the sense of ripening or maturing. This dual meaning connects the physical act of preparing food with the natural growth of fruit. In ancient Israel, this verb appeared in instructions for sacrifices and daily meals, reminding people that transformation requires time and care.
For your faith life, this word invites reflection on how God works gradually in your circumstances. Just as raw ingredients become nourishing through heat and time, your experiences may be shaping you into something ready for His purposes. Patience allows these processes to reach their full potential without rushing the outcome.
Whether you are facing a season of waiting or active change, remember that maturity often comes through steady development. Trust that God is present in both the preparation and the final result, bringing completeness to what He has begun in your life.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 19 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- you will boil3×
- boil2×
- you must boil1×
- when/ boiled1×
- they ripened1×
- they have boiled1×
- they boiled1×
- he cooked/ them1×
- boiled1×
- being boiled1×
- and/ you will cook [it]1×
- and/ you will boil1×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- תְבַשֵּׁ֥ל3×
- מְבֻשָּׁ֖ל2×
- תְּבַשְּׁלוּ֙1×
- כְּ/בַשֵּׁ֣ל1×
- וּ/בַשֵּׁ֥ל1×
- וּ/בִשַּׁלְתָּ֥1×
- וּ/בִשַּׁלְתָּ֙1×
- וּ/בִשְּׁלוּ֙1×
- וּ/בִשְּׁל֣וּ1×
- וַֽ/יְבַשְּׁל֥וּ1×
- וַ/תְּבַשֵּׁ֖ל1×
- וַ/נְּבַשֵּׁ֥ל1×
Key Verses
-
Exodus 12:9
Don’t eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted with fire; with its head, its legs and its inner parts.
This verse specifies that the Passover lamb must be roasted rather than boiled, highlighting distinct ritual requirements for sacred meals.
-
I Samuel 2:15
Yes, before they burned the fat, the priest’s servant came, and said to the man who sacrificed, “Give meat to roast for the priest; for he will not accept boiled meat from you, but raw.”
The priest rejects boiled meat in favor of raw flesh, illustrating a violation of proper sacrificial protocol that contributed to spiritual decline.
-
II Kings 4:38
Elisha came again to Gilgal. There was a famine in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him; and he said to his servant, “Get the large pot, and boil stew for the sons of the prophets.”
Elisha instructs his servant to boil stew for the prophets, showing how this common cooking method fits into daily communal life during famine.
-
Lamentations 4:10
The hands of the pitiful women have boiled their own children. They were their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
This heartbreaking image of mothers boiling their children underscores the extreme desperation and horror experienced during Jerusalem's destruction.