King James Bible
King James Version (KJV)
STRONGS NUMBER H4912
Transliteration: mashal
Phonetic Spelling: (maw-shawl')
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Short Definition: a proverb, parable
Meaning: a pithy maxim, a simile
Word Summary
mashal: a proverb, parable
Original Word: מָשָׁלTransliteration: mashal
Phonetic Spelling: (maw-shawl')
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Short Definition: a proverb, parable
Meaning: a pithy maxim, a simile
Strong's Concordance
byword, like, parable, proverb Apparently from mashal in some original sense of superiority in mental action; properly, a pithy maxim, usually of metaphorical nature; hence, a simile (as an adage, poem, discourse) -- byword, like, parable, proverb.
see HEBREW mashal
Brown-Driver-Briggs
H4912. mashal
II. מָשָׁל noun masculineIsaiah 14:4 proverb, parable (of sentences constructed in parallelism, usually of Hebrew Wisdom, but occasionally of other types); — absolute ׳מ Ezekiel 17:2 20t.; construct מְשַׁל 1 Samuel 24:14; suffix מְשָׁלוֺ Numbers 23:7-8t.; plural מְשָׁלִים Ecclesiastes 12:9 2t.; construct מִשְׁלֵי Proverbs 1:1 3t.; —
1 proverbial saying, brief terse sentence of popular sagacity 1 Samuel 10:12; Ezekiel 12:22-23, 18:2-3, ׳מ הַקַדְמֹנִי 1 Samuel 24:14 proverb of the ancients.
2 by-word Psalm 44:15; 69:12; וְלִשְׁנִינָה לְמָשָׁל Deuteronomy 28:37; 1 Kings 9:7; 2 Chronicles 7:20; Jeremiah 24:9; וּלְמָשָׁל לְאוֺת Ezekiel 14:8
3 prophetic figurative discourse: מָשָׁל נָשָׂא lift up, utter a ׳מ Numbers 23:7, 18; 24:3, 15, 20, 21, 23 (all of Balaam); Isaiah 14:4; Micah 2:4 ("" נהי) Habakkuk 2:6 ("" חידה), (compare Job 27:1; 29:1 for same phrase under 6).
4 similitude, parable, Ezekiel 17:2; 21:5; 24:3.
5 poem, of various kinds: the ode (Numbers 21:27-30), the 3, 000 pieces traditionally ascribed to Solomon 1 Kings 5:12, didactic psalms Psalm 49:5; 78:2.
6 sentences of ethical wisdom חֲכָמִים דִּבְרֵי collected in the שְׁלֹמֹה מִשְׁלֵי Proverbs 10:1; 25:1 (10:1-22:16 consisting of 376 couplets chiefly antithetical; Proverbs 25-29 chiefly couplets of an emblematic type, but also occasional tristichs, tetrastichs, pentastichs, and decastichs. To these are appended דְּבָרִים of a more mixed character as to size and content 22:7-24:22, 23-34; 30:1-14; 30:15-33; 31:1-9; 31:10-31; the Praise of Wisdom 1:8-9 is prefixed, and an introduction to the whole 1:1-7, in which the whole contents are represented as) משׁלים 1:1, compare 1:6. The references in Job 13:12; 27:1; 29:1; Proverbs 26:7, 9; Ecclesiastes 12:9 are to the same type of wisdom.