To inquire ; by implication, to request ; by extension, to demand
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H7592 is a Hebrew verb that can mean ask, inquire, request, seek information, demand, or in some settings ask to borrow. The object, relationship, and social setting determine whether the action is prayer, counsel, ordinary questioning, petition, negotiation, or coercive demand.
Reader summary
Full entry for שָׁאַל (H7592) · Open the biblical lexicon
H7592 is a Hebrew verb that can mean ask, inquire, request, seek information, demand, or in some settings ask to borrow. The object, relationship, and social setting determine whether the action is prayer, counsel, ordinary questioning, petition, negotiation, or coercive demand.
The BSB source-word alignment has 173 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include ask (17), inquired (11), . . . (6), asked (5), He asked (3).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 24:47. Its strongest book concentrations include 1 Samuel (32), 1 Kings (15), Judges (14), Genesis (13).
This entry includes 1 verse guide that explain exact original-language forms in context.
H7592 is a Hebrew verb that can mean ask, inquire, request, seek information, demand, or in some settings ask to borrow. The object, relationship, and social setting determine whether the action is prayer, counsel, ordinary questioning, petition, negotiation, or coercive demand. Solomon is invited to ask, David inquires before acting, Israel requests mediated hearing, and the psalmist asks for life with the Lord.
The verb does not guarantee that every request will be granted, make every question disloyal, or sanctify a demand merely because a powerful person voices it. H7592 helps teachers encourage honest prayer, wise inquiry, informed consent, teachable leadership, and transparent questions. It must not be used to pressure gifts, information, loyalty, access, marriage, labor, or silence, nor to shame people whose prayers receive a different answer or whose safety requires them not to answer an intrusive request.
H7592 ranges across questions, requests, prayer, inquiry of God, demands, borrowing, and interpersonal petitions. The speaker's authority, the addressee's freedom, and the requested object shape its moral force.
One night at Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream, and God said, “Ask, and I will give it to you!”
God invites Solomon to ask, and the following request for discernment is evaluated within the king's responsibility to govern God's people.
So David inquired of the Lord, “Should I go and attack these Philistines?” And the Lord said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah.”
David inquires of the Lord before acting against the Philistines, and the narrative records a specific answer concerning Keilah.
This is what you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of the Lord our God or see this great fire anymore, so that we will not die!”
Moses recalls Israel's request not to hear the overwhelming divine voice directly, a request God answers through the prophetic arrangement described in context.
One thing I have asked of the Lord; this is what I desire: to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and seek Him in His temple.
The psalmist asks to dwell with the Lord and behold his beauty, concentrating desire on communion rather than possession or status.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Verse-level guides showing how this original-language form works in its specific context, including grammar, verse function, and guarded interpretation.
Hebrew word. Ranges from seeking information or counsel to requesting favor to demanding payment or obligation—fundamentally about voicing need.
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.
שָׁאַל is a primitive root - no further derivation.
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
H7592 makes asking a relational act rather than a magic mechanism. Solomon's invitation comes with royal responsibility, and his request for discernment serves the people he will judge. David's inquiry interrupts impulsive action. Israel's fearful request at Horeb is heard within God's covenant provision, while Psalm 27 gathers desire around communion with the Lord.
None of these scenes teaches that every strongly desired outcome must be granted. Asking faithfully can include lament, clarification, investigation, counsel, prayer, and a request another person is free to decline. Power changes the ethics: a supervisor, pastor, donor, parent, or spouse can phrase a demand politely while making refusal costly. Churches should therefore protect questions, explain decisions, disclose conflicts, and distinguish voluntary gifts from pressured compliance.
People may ask God boldly without hiding disappointment, and they may seek qualified advice without treating a private impression as evidence. H7592 encourages humble dependence and responsible inquiry. It does not authorize entitlement to another person's body, money, labor, confidential information, time, or agreement, and it does not make an unanswered or differently answered prayer proof of deficient faith.
1Kgs.3.5
H7592 is a Hebrew verb covering asking a question, requesting something, inquiring for guidance, demanding, and contextually borrowing. Direct and indirect objects, authority relationships, and narrative response distinguish informational, devotional, commercial, and coercive uses.
Old Testament H7592 includes prayer, counsel, questions, requests, and demands. New Testament teaching on asking, seeking wisdom, petition, and accountable speech continues these relational themes while locating confidence in God's character rather than a verbal formula.