What does יָחַל (hôḥālətî) mean in the Bible?
H3176 is a verb of waiting, hoping, and patiently looking toward what has not yet arrived. Its biblical force is not passive daydreaming.
Hebrew · H3176
יָחַל
To wait ; by implication, to be patient , hope
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יָחַלH3176
Pronunciationhôḥālətî
What does יָחַל (hôḥālətî) mean in the Bible?
H3176 is a verb of waiting, hoping, and patiently looking toward what has not yet arrived. Its biblical force is not passive daydreaming.
Reader summary
Full entry for יָחַל (H3176) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H3176?
The BSB source-word alignment has 40 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include Put your hope (5), I put my hope (2), I wait (2), I will wait (2), [And] Noah waited (1).
Where does יָחַל (hôḥālətî) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 8:12. Its strongest book concentrations include Psalms (19), Job (8), 1 Samuel (2), Ezekiel (2).
What This Word Actually Means
H3176 is a verb of waiting, hoping, and patiently looking toward what has not yet arrived. Its biblical force is not passive daydreaming. The word can describe an appointed pause, a person looking for God’s salvation, or a sufferer who continues to hope while the outcome remains hidden. Noah waits between acts of obedience, Saul waits under Samuel’s instruction and reveals the danger of impatient presumption, and Job uses the word while asking what strength remains for hope.
Isaiah places the term inside the promise of justice and salvation, where the islands wait for the Lord’s arm and the servant does not grow weak before establishing righteousness. H3176 therefore holds together expectation and endurance. It does not guarantee that every desired event will occur on the timetable a person chooses, nor does it make waiting emotionally easy.
The word gives language for faithful persistence, honest lament, and hope directed toward God’s character rather than mere control of circumstances. Read each occurrence with attention to who waits, what has been promised, whether the waiting is faithful or misplaced, and how the surrounding passage names God’s action.
source_lexiconPassage contextBook contextCanonical parallel
How the Bible Uses It
H3176 moves from ordinary waiting and appointed delay into hope for justice, salvation, renewal, and God’s faithfulness. Its range includes patient trust, frustrated expectation, and warnings against waiting on false words, so the object and promise of hope must remain visible.
- Gen.8.12
And Noah waited seven more days and sent out the dove again, but this time she did not return to him.
Noah’s waiting belongs to patient obedience after judgment, showing that faithful hope may involve repeated attention to the world God is restoring.
- 1Sam.10.8
And you shall go before me to Gilgal, and surely I will come to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice peace offerings. Wait seven days until I come to you and show you what you are to do.”
Samuel gives Saul an appointed period and a promised instruction, making waiting a test of trust rather than an invitation to invent a substitute plan.
- Isa.42.4
He will not grow weak or discouraged before He has established justice on the earth. In His law the islands will put their hope.”
The servant’s perseverance and the islands’ hope are joined to the establishment of justice, giving waiting a public and righteous horizon.
- Isa.51.5
My righteousness draws near, My salvation is on the way, and My arms will bring justice to the nations. The islands will look for Me and wait in hope for My arm.
Isaiah directs waiting toward the Lord’s approaching righteousness, salvation, and justice rather than toward an undefined optimism detached from God’s promise.
- Job.13.15
Though He slay me, I will hope in Him. I will still defend my ways to His face.
Job’s hope is spoken inside severe protest, showing that waiting faith can include grief, argument, and a refusal to pretend that suffering is simple.
- Job.14.14
When a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait, until my renewal comes.
The question of renewal places waiting at the edge of mortality, where hope faces uncertainty and longs for a restoration beyond present hardship.
Passage contextCanonical parallelBook context
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItPut your hope5×Psalms 42:5, Psalms 42:11, Psalms 43:5, Psalms 130:7
I put my hope2×Psalms 119:114, Psalms 130:5
I wait2×Psalms 38:15, Psalms 119:81
I will wait2×Job 14:14, Micah 7:7
[And] Noah waited1×Genesis 8:12
And [Saul] waited1×1 Samuel 13:8
and wait in hope1×Isaiah 51:5
going to wait1×2 Samuel 18:14
hope1×Psalms 71:14
I have hope1×Lamentations 3:21
I have hoped1×Psalms 119:74
I have put my hope1×Psalms 119:147
I hope1×Psalms 119:43
I should still hope1×Job 6:11
I waited1×Job 32:11
I will hope1×Lamentations 3:24
I will hope in Him1×Job 13:15
linger1×Micah 5:7
looking1×Psalms 69:3
Must I wait1×Job 32:16
on those whose hope1×Psalms 33:18
she had waited in vain1×Ezekiel 19:5
should I wait1×2 Kings 6:33
They waited1×Job 29:23
Wait1×1 Samuel 10:8
we put our hope1×Psalms 33:22
when I looked1×Job 30:26
who hope1×Psalms 147:11
will put their hope1×Isaiah 42:4
with expectation1×Job 29:21
yet they wait1×Ezekiel 13:6
You have given me hope1×Psalms 119:49
you who hope1×Psalms 31:24
Show sample aligned rows
Genesis 8:12וַיִּיָּ֣חֶלto[And] Noah waitedConjunctive waw | Verb - Nifal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular1 Samuel 10:8תּוֹחֵל֙toWaitVerb - Hifil - Imperfect Jussive - second person masculine singular1 Samuel 13:8וַיִּיחֶלtoAnd [Saul] waitedConjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular2 Samuel 18:14אֹחִ֣ילָהtogoing to waitVerb - Hifil - Imperfect Cohortative - first person common singular2 Kings 6:33אוֹחִ֥ילtoshould I waitVerb - Hifil - Imperfect - first person common singularJob 6:11אֲיַחֵ֑לtoI should still hopeVerb - Piel - Imperfect - first person common singularJob 13:15אֲיַחֵ֑לtoI will hope in HimVerb - Piel - Imperfect - first person common singularJob 14:14אֲיַחֵ֑לtoI will waitVerb - Piel - Imperfect - first person common singularJob 29:21וְיִחֵ֑לּוּtowith expectationConjunctive waw | Verb - Piel - Conjunctive perfect - third person common pluralJob 29:23וְיִֽחֲל֣וּtoThey waitedConjunctive waw | Verb - Piel - Conjunctive perfect - third person common plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowGenesis 8:12
Aligned rows40
Books represented10
Genesis11 Samuel22 Samuel12 Kings1Job8Psalms19Isaiah2Lamentations2Ezekiel2Micah2
Source forms
יִחָֽלְתִּי׃5xyi·ḥā·lə·tîPsalms 119:43, Psalms 119:74, Psalms 119:81, Psalms 119:114
אֲיַחֵ֑ל4x’ă·ya·ḥêlJob 6:11, Job 13:15, Job 14:14, Psalms 71:14
הוֹחִ֣ילִי3xhō·w·ḥî·lîPsalms 42:5, Psalms 42:11, Psalms 43:5
אוֹחִ֥יל2x’ō·w·ḥîl2 Kings 6:33, Lamentations 3:24
אוֹחִֽיל׃ס1x’ō·w·ḥîlLamentations 3:21
אוֹחִ֖ילָה1x’ō·w·ḥî·lāhMicah 7:7
אֹחִ֣ילָה1x’ō·ḥî·lāh2 Samuel 18:14
הוֹחַ֨לְתִּי1xhō·w·ḥal·tîJob 32:11
Parsing patterns
Verb - Piel - Perfect - first person common singular5xPsalms 119:43, Psalms 119:74, Psalms 119:81, Psalms 119:114
Verb - Piel - Imperfect - first person common singular4xJob 6:11, Job 13:15, Job 14:14, Psalms 71:14
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Piel - Conjunctive perfect - third person common plural3xJob 29:21, Job 29:23, Ezekiel 13:6
Verb - Hifil - Imperative - feminine singular3xPsalms 42:5, Psalms 42:11, Psalms 43:5
Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - first person common singular3x2 Kings 6:33, Lamentations 3:21, Lamentations 3:24
Verb - Hifil - Perfect - first person common singular3xJob 32:11, Psalms 38:15, Psalms 130:5
Article | Verb - Piel - Participle - masculine plural2xPsalms 31:24, Psalms 147:11
Verb - Hifil - Imperfect Cohortative - first person common singular2x2 Samuel 18:14, Micah 7:7
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Practice the next faithful action while leaving the final outcome in God’s hands, and make room for honest grief during the wait.
- When someone is waiting under pressure, offer prayer and practical companionship without demanding certainty or prescribing a single emotional response.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that a long wait proves weak faith or that a quick answer proves greater spirituality.
- Do not claim that H3176 guarantees a specific healing, relationship, promotion, or other desired result.
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Waiting that implies trust in God's future deliverance; patience grounded in hopeful expectation rather than passive delay.
Strong'sH3176
Lexical occurrences42 versesWord forms3 forms29 referencesVerse guides0 guides
Study linkPsalms 38:15–22Source Gloss
to wait ; by implication, to be patient , hope
Extended definitionSource: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Waiting that implies trust in God's future deliverance; patience grounded in hopeful expectation rather than passive delay.
to wait; by implication, to be patient, hope BDB: wait Usage: (cause to, have, make to) hope, be pained, stay, tarry, trust, wait.
Grammatical Forms
How the stem changes the meaning of this verb across the biblical text.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Form groups3Aligned forms29
Pielintensive active — emphasizes thoroughness or repeated action15×
PerfectPs 119:43 · Ps 119:74 · Ps 119:81 · Ps 119:114 · Ps 119:147 · Ps 33:226×
ImperfectJob 6:11 · Job 13:15 · Job 14:14 · Ps 71:14 · Isa 42:4 · Mic 5:66×
Sequential imperfectPs 130:7 · Ps 131:32×
Participle activePs 69:41×
Hiphilcausative active — the subject causes someone else to perform the action13×
Imperfect2Kgs 6:33 · 2Sam 18:14 · Lam 3:21 · Lam 3:244×
PerfectJob 32:11 · Ps 38:16 · Ps 130:53×
Sequential imperfectPs 42:6 · Ps 42:12 · Ps 43:53×
CohortativeJer 4:19 · Mic 7:72×
Jussive1Sam 10:81×
Niphalpassive or reflexive — the subject receives or experiences the action1×
PerfectEzek 19:51×
Selected Scripture Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Old Testament Witnesses
I wait; I hope; I have an expectant, patient reliance on someone's intervention
Showing 1 selected witness from 42 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
יָחַל is a primitive root - no further derivation.
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
H3176 gives patient hope a truthful vocabulary. Noah waits through a world that is not yet fully dry, and Saul is told to wait for Samuel’s appointed arrival before acting. The contrast warns that impatience is not merely a personality flaw; it can become a refusal to receive direction and a choice to seize control. Isaiah gives the verb a larger horizon. The servant does not grow weak before establishing justice, and the islands wait in hope for the Lord’s arm because righteousness and salvation are approaching.
Hope here is not an escape from public reality. It expects God’s justice to enter the world. Job keeps the word from becoming sentimental. He can say that he hopes in God while also asking hard questions about death, strength, and renewal. Scripture therefore permits waiting to include lament, uncertainty, and perseverance. Teachers should not promise that every delay will end in the specific outcome a person imagines, nor should they shame someone whose hope is mixed with grief.
H3176 calls readers to keep bringing their desires under God’s promise, to reject false words that offer certainty without truth, and to practice the next faithful act while the final answer remains hidden.
Anchor passage
Isa.51.5
Doctrinal connections
- Gen.8.6-12 shows patient waiting joined to repeated obedience as Noah discerns the progress of God’s judgment and restoration.
- 1Sam.10.8 and 1Sam.13.8 contrast appointed waiting with impatient action that abandons received instruction.
- Isa.42.1-4 connects hope to the servant’s patient establishment of justice among the nations.
- Isa.51.4-8 places waiting within the approaching righteousness, salvation, and justice of the Lord.
- Job.13.13-16 and Job.14.13-17 show hope and lament sharing the same honest speech before God.
- G1551 And G3114 are related Greek entries, but H3176’s Hebrew waiting and hope must be read in its own covenant and poetic settings.
H3176 appears in forms that can be translated wait, hope, or patiently endure. Its object, appointed time, and surrounding verbs determine whether the emphasis is temporal delay, expectation of salvation, or persevering hope under affliction.
From Old to New Testament
The New Testament continues this waiting hope through patient expectation of Christ’s coming, endurance under trial, and confidence that God’s promises are not slow in the sense of abandonment. Christian hope remains active, truthful, and oriented toward final renewal.
Passage contextBook contextCanonical parallelPastoral application