עָגֹל
a.gol
round
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
Supported# The Hebrew Word עָגֹל (agol): "Round" The Hebrew word *agol* (H5696) denotes a circular or rounded form. With only six occurrences in the biblical text, this is a relatively uncommon descriptive term in Hebrew scripture. Its primary function appears to be adjectival, used to characterize objects or features that possess a circular shape rather than serving as an abstract concept or verb. The limited frequency of this term suggests it was employed specifically when biblical writers needed to convey the distinctive quality of roundness. Unlike more common Hebrew words for physical description, *agol* carries a narrower semantic range—it describes the shape itself without broader metaphorical extensions into the biblical corpus. The six documented uses indicate the word was available to biblical authors when precision about circular form was important, though they did not rely on it heavily in the texts that survive. Without access to the specific passages where *agol* appears, the full range of objects or contexts it modifies cannot be detailed here. Nevertheless, the term's straightforward meaning—round or circular in shape—represents a basic spatial descriptor within biblical Hebrew vocabulary, available when physical description required such precision.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
6 total occurrences across the text
He made the molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in shape. Its height was five cubits; and a line of thirty cubits encircled it.
1 Kings 7:31Its mouth within the capital and above was a cubit. Its mouth was round after the work of a pedestal, a cubit and a half; and also on its mouth were engravings, and their panels were square, not round.
1 Kings 7:31Its mouth within the capital and above was a cubit. Its mouth was round after the work of a pedestal, a cubit and a half; and also on its mouth were engravings, and their panels were square, not round.
1 Kings 7:35In the top of the base there was a round band half a cubit high; and on the top of the base its supports and its panels were the same.
1 Kings 10:19There were six steps to the throne, and the top of the throne was round behind; and there were armrests on either side by the place of the seat, and two lions standing beside the armrests.
2 Chronicles 4:2Also he made the molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim. It was round, five cubits high, and thirty cubits in circumference.