Bible Word Study
כְּלָל
Kᵉlâl · Kelal, an Israelite
כְּלָל
Kelal, an Israelite
Definition
Kelal (כְּלָל) is a proper noun referring to an Israelite man mentioned in Ezra 10:30. He is listed among those who had married foreign wives during the post-exilic period and pledged to divorce them as part of the community's covenant renewal under Ezra's leadership. The name itself means 'completeness' or 'perfection,' derived from the root word for 'to complete.' As a personal name, it carries the sense of being whole or entire, possibly reflecting a parental hope or blessing for the child's character.
Biblical Usage
This word occurs only once in the Old Testament, in Ezra 10:30. It is used strictly as a personal name within a specific historical list. The context is the record of Israelite men who agreed to end their marriages to foreign women to maintain the purity and covenant faithfulness of the restored community after the Babylonian exile.
Etymology
Kelal comes from the Hebrew root כָּלַל (kālal, H3634), which means 'to complete, perfect, or make whole.' This root conveys the idea of bringing something to a state of entirety or perfection. As a proper noun derived from this root, the name Kelal carries the inherent meaning of 'completeness' or 'perfection.'
Semantic Range
While the name Kelal itself is not theologically loaded, its single biblical appearance in Ezra 10 highlights the serious theme of covenant fidelity and separation for holiness. The act of divorcing foreign wives, though difficult, was seen as necessary to preserve the identity and obedience of God's people. The name's meaning ('completeness') may subtly contrast with the 'incomplete' or compromised state the community was addressing. In ancient Israelite culture, names were often significant and descriptive. Naming a child Kelal ('completeness') likely expressed a hope for the child's wholeness of character or a blessed, fulfilled life. Its appearance in a list of those rectifying a covenant breach shows how individual identities were recorded within crucial community decisions. There are no direct synonyms as this is a unique proper noun. However, it shares a root with: כָּלִיל (kālîl, H3632) — a noun meaning 'whole burnt offering,' emphasizing completeness in dedication.
Word Details
How this works
Definitions are from the Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon (BDB, 1906, public domain). Concordance and morphology data are from the OSHB (Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible).
Full methodology & sources →References
- Abbott-Smith, G. (1921) A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. [Public Domain]
- Brown, F., Driver, S.R. and Briggs, C.A. (1906) A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament. Oxford: Clarendon Press. [Public Domain]
- Tyndale House, Cambridge (n.d.) Tyndale Brief lexicon of Extended Strongs for Greek (TBESG). STEPBible. Available at: https://www.stepbible.org. [CC BY 4.0]
- Tyndale House, Cambridge (n.d.) Translators Formatted full LSJ (TFLSJ). STEPBible. Available at: https://www.stepbible.org. [CC BY 4.0]
- Thayer, J.H. (1889) A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. [Public Domain]
- Gesenius, W. (1846) Gesenius' Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament. [Public Domain]
- Dodson, J. (2010) Greek Lexicon. Biblical Humanities. [CC0]