What does עָלַם mean in the Bible?
Concealing or remaining hidden concerns what someone does not see, disclose or acknowledge in a particular setting. Deuteronomy forbids ignoring a neighbor's straying animal and requires practical assistance.
Hebrew · H5956
עָלַם
Concealing or remaining hidden concerns what someone does not see, disclose or acknowledge in a particular setting. Deuteronomy forbids ignoring a neighbor's straying animal and requires practical assistance.
Reading a lexicon entry
What this page is: Each lexicon entry shows the original Hebrew or Greek word behind the English translation: its meaning, its range of use, and where it appears in Scripture.
Strong's number: The Strong's code (H- or G-) is the standard reference number for this word. It connects this entry to chapter and passage language tabs.
Where it appears: The witness passages show where this word is used in context. Click any to open the study page for that passage.
This lexicon entry is part of our ongoing editorial review. If you notice missing content, unclear wording, or a possible correction, please send us a note through theConnect page. Screenshots are helpful.
עָלַםH5956
What does עָלַם mean in the Bible?
Reader summary
Full entry for עָלַם (H5956) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H5956?
The BSB source-word alignment has 28 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include even if he is unaware (3), ignore it (3), ignore (2), . . . (1), and closed (1).
Where does עָלַם appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Leviticus 4:13. Its strongest book concentrations include Leviticus (6), Psalms (4), Deuteronomy (3), Job (3).
What This Word Actually Means
Concealing or remaining hidden concerns what someone does not see, disclose or acknowledge in a particular setting. Deuteronomy forbids ignoring a neighbor's straying animal and requires practical assistance. Samuel asks whether a bribe has made him close his eyes to wrongdoing, offering restitution if a charge is established. Elisha admits that the Lord has hidden the distressed woman's situation from him, so prophetic office does not mean unlimited knowledge.
Leviticus addresses wrongdoing initially hidden from the assembly, while Ecclesiastes places hidden matters within God's judgment. A lament may also ask why God seems hidden in trouble. These uses differ in agent and moral direction. Teach responsibility where the passage commands it, acknowledge the limits of human knowledge and receive lament without making unanswered questions a moral defect.
The verb cannot turn protecting private information into wrongdoing in every circumstance.
How the Bible Uses It
Commands against neglect, an accountability question, a prophet's limited knowledge and language of hidden matters require attention to the agent. Concealment is assessed through each setting rather than a single assumed motive.
- Deut.22.1
If you see your brother’s ox or sheep straying, you must not ignore it; be sure to return it to your brother.
A straying animal calls for return to its owner; the command forbids ignoring the neighbor's need.
- 1Sam.12.3
Here I am. Bear witness against me before the Lord and before His anointed: Whose ox or donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated or oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe and closed my eyes? Tell me, and I will restore it to you.”
Samuel invites testimony concerning oppression and bribes that might have caused him to close his eyes.
- 2Kgs.4.27
When she reached the man of God at the mountain, she clung to his feet. Gehazi came over to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone, for her soul is in deep distress, and the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me.”
Elisha acknowledges information hidden from him while protecting the distressed woman from being pushed away.
- Lev.4.13
Now if the whole congregation of Israel strays unintentionally and the matter escapes the notice of the assembly so that they violate any of the Lord’s commandments and incur guilt by doing what is forbidden,
The assembly's unrecognized wrongdoing remains subject to the passage's stated response once it becomes known.
- Eccl.12.14
For God will bring every deed into judgment, along with every hidden thing, whether good or evil.
The closing judgment statement includes hidden deeds and distinguishes good from evil rather than treating privacy itself as sin.
- Ps.10.1
Why, O Lord, do You stand far off? Why do You hide in times of trouble?
The psalm asks why the Lord seems hidden in trouble before describing the wicked's treatment of vulnerable people.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Iteven if he is unaware3×Leviticus 5:2, Leviticus 5:3, Leviticus 5:4
ignore it3×Deuteronomy 22:1, Deuteronomy 22:3, Deuteronomy 22:4
ignore2×Psalms 55:1, Lamentations 3:56
. . .1×Leviticus 20:4
and closed1×1 Samuel 12:3
and it is concealed1×Numbers 5:13
but he who hides1×Proverbs 28:27
escapes1×Leviticus 4:13
ever hide1×Leviticus 20:4
every hidden1×Ecclesiastes 12:14
has hidden1×2 Kings 4:27
hypocrites1×Psalms 26:4
I will hide1×Isaiah 1:15
into hiding1×Nahum 3:11
It is hidden1×Job 28:21
of melting1×Job 6:16
our secret [sins]1×Psalms 90:8
They disregard1×Ezekiel 22:26
to turn away1×Isaiah 58:7
too difficult1×1 Kings 10:3
was too difficult1×2 Chronicles 9:2
who conceals1×Job 42:3
Why do You hide1×Psalms 10:1
Show sample aligned rows
Leviticus 4:13וְנֶעְלַ֣םtoescapesConjunctive waw | Verb - Nifal - Conjunctive perfect - third person masculine singularLeviticus 5:2וְנֶעְלַ֣םtoeven if he is unawareConjunctive waw | Verb - Nifal - Conjunctive perfect - third person masculine singularLeviticus 5:3וְנֶעְלַ֣םtoeven if he is unawareConjunctive waw | Verb - Nifal - Conjunctive perfect - third person masculine singularLeviticus 5:4וְנֶעְלַ֣םtoeven if he is unawareConjunctive waw | Verb - Nifal - Conjunctive perfect - third person masculine singularLeviticus 20:4הַעְלֵ֣םtoever hideVerb - Hifil - Infinitive absoluteLeviticus 20:4יַעְלִימֽוּ֩to. . .Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - third person masculine pluralNumbers 5:13וְנֶעְלַם֙toand it is concealedConjunctive waw | Verb - Nifal - Conjunctive perfect - third person masculine singularDeuteronomy 22:1וְהִתְעַלַּמְתָּ֖toignore itConjunctive waw | Verb - Hitpael - Conjunctive perfect - second person masculine singularDeuteronomy 22:3לְהִתְעַלֵּֽם׃סtoignore itPreposition-l | Verb - Hitpael - Infinitive constructDeuteronomy 22:4וְהִתְעַלַּמְתָּ֖toignore itConjunctive waw | Verb - Hitpael - Conjunctive perfect - second person masculine singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowLeviticus 4:13
Aligned rows28
Books represented15
Leviticus6Numbers1Deuteronomy31 Samuel11 Kings12 Kings12 Chronicles1Job3Psalms4Proverbs1Ecclesiastes1Isaiah2Lamentations1Ezekiel1Nahum1
Source forms
וְנֶעְלַ֣ם4xwə·ne‘·lamLeviticus 4:13, Leviticus 5:2, Leviticus 5:3, Leviticus 5:4
וְהִתְעַלַּמְתָּ֖2xwə·hiṯ·‘al·lam·tāDeuteronomy 22:1, Deuteronomy 22:4
אַעְלִ֤ים1x’a‘·lîmIsaiah 1:15
הֶעְלִ֣ים1xhe‘·lîm2 Kings 4:27
הֶעְלִ֣ימוּ1xhe‘·lî·mūEzekiel 22:26
הַעְלֵ֣ם1xha‘·lêmLeviticus 20:4
וְאַעְלִ֥ים1xwə·’a‘·lîm1 Samuel 12:3
וּמַעְלִ֥ים1xū·ma‘·lîmProverbs 28:27
Parsing patterns
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Nifal - Conjunctive perfect - third person masculine singular5xLeviticus 4:13, Leviticus 5:2, Leviticus 5:3, Leviticus 5:4
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hitpael - Conjunctive perfect - second person masculine singular2xDeuteronomy 22:1, Deuteronomy 22:4
Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - second person masculine singular2xPsalms 10:1, Lamentations 3:56
Verb - Hitpael - Imperfect - second person masculine singular2xPsalms 55:1, Isaiah 58:7
Verb - Nifal - Participle - masculine singular2x1 Kings 10:3, Ecclesiastes 12:14
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Conjunctive imperfect - first person common singular1x1 Samuel 12:3
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Participle - masculine singular1xProverbs 28:27
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Nifal - Conjunctive perfect - third person feminine singular1xJob 28:21
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Hear reports of neglect and wrongdoing without demanding that a leader already know every detail.
- Protect confidential information while acting responsibly on a neighbor's real need for help.
Avoid claiming...
- The verb cannot give a minister authority to expose every private matter.
- Lack of knowledge or lament about divine distance cannot establish that a person lacks faith.
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. to veil from sight, i.e. conceal (literally or figuratively)
Source Gloss
to veil from sight, i.e. conceal (literally or figuratively)
Extended definitionSource: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
to veil from sight, i.e. conceal (literally or figuratively) BDB: conceal Usage: × any ways, blind, dissembler, hide (self), secret (thing).
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 forms16
Niphalpassive or reflexive — the subject receives or experiences the action5×
Participle active1Kgs 10:3 · Eccl 12:14 · Ps 26:43×
Perfect2Chr 9:21×
Participle passiveNah 3:111×
Hiphilcausative active — the subject causes someone else to perform the action8×
ImperfectIsa 1:15 · Lev 20:4 · Ps 10:13×
Perfect2Kgs 4:27 · Ezek 22:262×
Participle activeJob 42:31×
JussiveLam 3:561×
Infinitive absoluteLev 20:41×
Hithpaelreflexive or reciprocal — the subject acts on itself or mutually with others3×
ImperfectIsa 58:7 · Job 6:162×
JussivePs 55:21×
Word Origins
עָלַם is a primitive root - no further derivation.
For the Preacher and Teacher
Deuteronomy makes a neighbor's visible need a call to act, and Samuel treats turning a blind eye through bribery as a matter open to public testimony and restitution. Elisha offers another important setting: he does not know the woman's distress, acknowledges that limit and tells Gehazi to leave her alone. The narrative supports receiving a person before claiming insight into her hidden experience.
Leviticus names an assembly's unrecognized wrong within its sacrificial instructions, while Ecclesiastes places hidden deeds under God's judgment. Psalm 10 lets a sufferer question apparent divine distance while protesting harm. Together these contexts call for attentive responsibility and honest limits. They cannot authorize intrusive disclosure, suppress complaints about neglect, or make a leader's guesses about someone's private life equivalent to knowledge from God.
Anchor passage
Deut.22.1
Doctrinal connections
- Deuteronomy requires practical attention to a neighbor's property and need rather than convenient neglect.
- Samuel places his own conduct under testimony and offers restitution for established wrong.
- Elisha acknowledges limited knowledge while refusing to dismiss a woman in deep distress.
- Leviticus addresses unrecognized communal wrongdoing through its own stated sacrificial instructions.
- Ecclesiastes places hidden deeds before divine judgment while distinguishing good and evil.
- Psalm 10 brings the experience of apparent divine distance into prayer against oppression.
The verb has varied forms and contexts for hiding, being hidden and deliberately ignoring. Twenty-eight directly tagged BSB tokens in twenty-seven verses are retained separately from the canonical count of twenty-eight; the artifact's blank transliteration remains unchanged.
From Old to New Testament
Luke 10:25-37 contrasts passing by an injured traveler with the Samaritan's concrete assistance. This is a canonical comparison with Deuteronomy's refusal of neglect, not an assertion that Luke quotes this Hebrew verb; Jesus' question directs attention to enacted mercy.