What does רָגַל (rāgal) mean in the Bible?
רָגַל (rāgal): Walking becomes surveillance or betrayal: reconnaissance, spying, or slandering through circulating rumors among others.
Hebrew · H7270
רָגַל
To walk along ; but only in specifically, applications, to reconnoiter , to be a tale-bearer (i.e. slander); to lead about
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רָגַל H7270
Pronunciation rāgal
What does רָגַל (rāgal) mean in the Bible?
רָגַל (rāgal): Walking becomes surveillance or betrayal: reconnaissance, spying, or slandering through circulating rumors among others.
Full entry for רָגַל (H7270) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H7270?
The BSB source-word alignment has 25 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include spies (8), to spy out (5), are spies (3), spy it out (2), and accused us of spying (1).
Where does רָגַל (rāgal) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 42:9. Its strongest book concentrations include Genesis (7), Joshua (7), 2 Samuel (3), Judges (3).
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It spies 8× Genesis 42:11, Genesis 42:31, Genesis 42:34, Numbers 21:32
to spy out 5× Joshua 6:25, Joshua 14:7, Judges 18:2, Judges 18:14
are spies 3× Genesis 42:9, Genesis 42:14, Genesis 42:16
spy it out 2× 2 Samuel 10:3, 1 Chronicles 19:3
and accused us of spying 1× Genesis 42:30
and he has slandered 1× 2 Samuel 19:27
and spied out 1× Joshua 7:2
and spied out [the land] 1× Deuteronomy 1:24
and spy out 1× Joshua 7:2
slander 1× Psalms 15:3
who had spied out 1× Joshua 6:22
Show sample aligned rows
Genesis 42:9 מְרַגְּלִ֣ים to are spies Verb - Piel - Participle - masculine plural Genesis 42:11 מְרַגְּלִֽים׃ to spies Verb - Piel - Participle - masculine plural Genesis 42:14 מְרַגְּלִ֥ים to are spies Verb - Piel - Participle - masculine plural Genesis 42:16 מְרַגְּלִ֖ים to are spies Verb - Piel - Participle - masculine plural Genesis 42:30 כִּֽמְרַגְּלִ֖ים to and accused us of spying Preposition-k | Verb - Piel - Participle - masculine plural Genesis 42:31 מְרַגְּלִֽים׃ to spies Verb - Piel - Participle - masculine plural Genesis 42:34 מְרַגְּלִים֙ to spies Verb - Piel - Participle - masculine plural Numbers 21:32 לְרַגֵּ֣ל to spies Preposition-l | Verb - Piel - Infinitive construct Deuteronomy 1:24 וַֽיְרַגְּל֖וּ to and spied out [the land] Conjunctive waw | Verb - Piel - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural Joshua 2:1 מְרַגְּלִים֙ to spies Verb - Piel - Participle - masculine plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Genesis 42:9
Aligned rows 25
Books represented 9
Genesis 7 Numbers 1 Deuteronomy 1 Joshua 7 Judges 3 1 Samuel 1 2 Samuel 3 1 Chronicles 1 Psalms 1
Source forms
לְרַגֵּ֣ל 3x lə·rag·gêl Numbers 21:32, Joshua 14:7, Judges 18:17
וַֽיְרַגְּל֖וּ 2x way·rag·gə·lū Deuteronomy 1:24, Joshua 7:2
מְרַגְּלִים֙ 2x mə·rag·gə·lîm Genesis 42:34, Joshua 2:1
מְרַגְּלִֽים׃ 2x mə·rag·gə·lîm Genesis 42:11, Genesis 42:31
הַֽמְרַגְּלִ֤ים 1x ham·rag·gə·lîm Joshua 6:22
הַֽמְרַגְּלִ֗ים 1x ham·rag·gə·lîm Joshua 6:23
וַיְרַגֵּ֣ל 1x way·rag·gêl 2 Samuel 19:27
וּלְרַגֵּל֙ 1x ū·lə·rag·gêl 1 Chronicles 19:3
Parsing patterns
Verb - Piel - Participle - masculine plural 9x Genesis 42:9, Genesis 42:11, Genesis 42:14, Genesis 42:16
Preposition-l | Verb - Piel - Infinitive construct 6x Numbers 21:32, Joshua 6:25, Joshua 14:7, Judges 18:2
Article | Verb - Piel - Participle - masculine plural 2x Joshua 6:22, Joshua 6:23
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Piel - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural 2x Deuteronomy 1:24, Joshua 7:2
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Piel - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular 1x 2 Samuel 19:27
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Piel - Imperative - masculine plural 1x Joshua 7:2
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-l | Verb - Piel - Infinitive construct 1x 1 Chronicles 19:3
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-l | Verb - Piel - Infinitive construct | third person feminine singular 1x 2 Samuel 10:3
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Walking becomes surveillance or betrayal: reconnaissance, spying, or slandering through circulating rumors among others.
Strong's H7270
Lexical occurrences 25 verses Word forms 2 forms 10 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Genesis 42:1-17 Source Gloss
to walk along ; but only in specifically, applications, to reconnoiter , to be a tale-bearer (i.e. slander); to lead about
Extended definition Source: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Walking becomes surveillance or betrayal: reconnaissance, spying, or slandering through circulating rumors among others.
to walk along; but only in specifically, applications, to reconnoiter, to be a tale-bearer (i.e. slander); to lead about BDB: foot it Usage: backbite, search, slander, (e-) spy (out), teach to go, view.
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 groups 2 Aligned forms 10
Piel intensive active — emphasizes thoroughness or repeated action 9×
Participle active 1Sam 26:4 · 2Sam 15:10 · Gen 42:9 · Gen 42:11 · Gen 42:14 · Gen 42:16 · Gen 42:31 · Gen 42:34 · Josh 2:1 9×
Qal basic active stem — the word in its most common, direct sense 1×
Perfect Ps 15:3 1×
Selected Scripture Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
to reconnoiter or scout out a land for intelligence gathering purposes
Showing 1 selected witness from 25 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
רָגַל is built from this root:
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain