1524. giyl
Lexical Summary
giyl: To rejoice, be glad, exult

Original Word: גִּיל
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: giyl
Pronunciation: geel
Phonetic Spelling: (gheel)
KJV: X exceedingly, gladness, X greatly, joy, rejoice(-ing), sort
Word Origin: [from H1523 (גִּיל גּוּל - rejoice)]

1. a revolution (of time, i.e. an age)
2. also joy

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
exceedingly, gladness, greatly, joy, rejoicing, sort

From giyl; a revolution (of time, i.e. An age); also joy -- X exceedingly, gladness, X greatly, joy, rejoice(-ing), sort.

see HEBREW giyl

Brown-Driver-Briggs
I. גִּיל noun [masculine] rejoicingJob 3:22 6t., גִּו֯ל Proverbs 23:24; suffix גִּילִי Psalm 43:4; — rejoicing Psalm 65:13; Proverbs 23:24; "" שׂמחה Psalm 45:16; Isaiah 16:10; Jeremiah 48:33; Joel 1:16, שִׂמְחַת גִילִי Psalm 43:4, שׂמח אל גיל glad unto rejoicing Hosea 9:1; Job 3:22.

II. [גִּיל] noun [masculine] circle, age, מן הילדים אשׁר כְּ גִלְכֶם of the youths which are of your age Daniel 1:10 (compare Arabic Samaritan גיל = Hebrew דור = γενεά, Talmud בן גילו one born at the same time, a contemporary).

Topical Lexicon
Overview

Gil denotes a vigorous, overflowing gladness that breaks into audible or visible celebration. It is never casual; it is the kind of delight that insists on expression—dancing, shouting, song, or festal procession. In Scripture its presence signals divine blessing, its absence divine displeasure, and its perversion human sin and despair.

Occurrences and Contexts

1. Job 3:22 – perverted rejoicing over anticipated death.
2. Psalm 43:4 – the worshiper’s supreme joy before God’s altar.
3. Psalm 45:15 – bridal procession into the royal palace.
4. Psalm 65:12 – hills personified as wearing joy in a well-watered land.
5. Isaiah 16:10 – harvest songs silenced in Moab.
6. Jeremiah 48:33 – presses tread without shouts in national judgment.
7. Daniel 1:10 – a court official fears the loss of his own “head,” an ironic twist on the usual happy connotation.
8. Hosea 9:1 – Israel forbidden to rejoice like the nations because of spiritual adultery.
9. Joel 1:16 – joy cut off from the house of God amid drought and locusts.

Personal Worship

Psalm 43:4 centers gil in direct communion with God: “Then I will go to the altar of God, to God, my greatest joy; and I will praise You with the harp, O God, my God.” Here joy is neither self-generated nor dependent on circumstance; it flows from God Himself and finds appropriate outlet in musical praise. The verse models authentic devotion: approach, acknowledgment, and artistic expression.

Covenantal Celebration

Psalm 45:15 portrays the bride “led in with joy and gladness” into the king’s palace. Gil marks covenantal union, prefiguring the marriage of the Lamb (Revelation 19:7). Likewise, Psalm 65:12 pictures creation’s hills “robed with joy,” underscoring that covenant blessing extends from humanity to the land (Genesis 1:28; Romans 8:19–21).

Agrarian and National Festivity

At vintage time vineyards echoed with jubilant cries. Isaiah 16:10 and Jeremiah 48:33 lament, “Joy and gladness are removed... no one treads the wine in the presses.” The silencing of gil is a barometer of divine wrath. Hosea 9:1 intensifies the warning: “Do not rejoice, O Israel, with exultation like the nations!” Israel’s unfaithfulness empties festival of legitimacy; celebration without covenant obedience becomes mockery.

Prophetic Withdrawal

Joel 1:16 asks, “Has not the food been cut off before our eyes, joy and gladness from the house of our God?” The removal of gil from worship precipitates national crisis. Prophets employ the term rhetorically, awakening consciences by highlighting the vacuum where exuberance once stood.

Irony and Inversion

Job 3:22 reverses gil into dark relief: sufferers “rejoice exceedingly... when they find the grave.” Daniel 1:10 shows a steward dreading the forfeiture of his own life; the word usually announcing gladness accompanies mortal fear. Such inversions expose the futility of joy severed from divine favor.

Theological Significance

1. Joy as Gift: True gil is God-given, not self-manufactured (Psalm 4:7; Galatians 5:22).
2. Joy as Witness: Visible rejoicing advertises the goodness of the Lord to the nations (Psalm 126:2–3).
3. Joy as Indicator: Its presence signals life in covenant; its absence warns of judgment (Isaiah 24:7–11).
4. Joy and Holiness: Festivity divorced from righteousness draws prophetic rebuke (Amos 5:23–24).

Christological Trajectory

The bride’s procession of Psalm 45 anticipates Christ and His Church. Isaiah speaks of One anointed “with the oil of gladness” (Isaiah 61:1–3), fulfilled in Jesus’ inaugural sermon (Luke 4:18–19). New-covenant joy flows from union with the risen Lord: “These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you and your joy may be complete” (John 15:11).

Practical Ministry Implications

• Worship Planning: Root corporate joy in redemptive truths, not mere atmosphere.
• Preaching: Use prophetic passages to show that sin steals joy; repentance restores it (Psalm 51:12).
• Pastoral Care: Encourage sufferers that biblical joy coexists with trials (2 Corinthians 6:10; James 1:2).
• Mission: Radiant joy validates the gospel before a cynical world (Philippians 4:4–5).

Summary

Gil embodies God-centered exultation. It flourishes where covenant faithfulness, divine blessing, and hopeful anticipation converge, and it withers where sin, judgment, or despair prevail. Scripture invites believers to seek the deeper fountain of joy in God Himself, celebrating His saving acts while longing for their consummation in the eternal kingdom.

Forms and Transliterations
גִ֑יל גִּ֫ילִ֥י גִּיל֙ גיל גילי וְ֝גִ֗יל וָגִ֑יל וָגִ֛יל וָגִֽיל׃ וָגִיל֙ וגיל וגיל׃ כְּגִֽילְכֶ֔ם כגילכם gî·lî Gil gîl ḡîl giLi gîlî kə·ḡî·lə·ḵem kegileChem kəḡîləḵem vaGil veGil wā·ḡîl wāḡîl wə·ḡîl wəḡîl
Links
Interlinear GreekInterlinear HebrewStrong's NumbersEnglishman's Greek ConcordanceEnglishman's Hebrew ConcordanceParallel Texts
Englishman's Concordance
Job 3:22
HEB: הַשְּׂמֵחִ֥ים אֱלֵי־ גִ֑יל יָ֝שִׂ֗ישׂוּ כִּ֣י
KJV: Which rejoice exceedingly, [and] are glad,
INT: cheer up about exceedingly exult when

Psalm 43:4
HEB: אֵל֮ שִׂמְחַ֪ת גִּ֫ילִ֥י וְאוֹדְךָ֥ בְכִנּ֗וֹר
KJV: my exceeding joy: yea, upon the harp
INT: God my exceeding joy shall praise the lyre

Psalm 45:15
HEB: תּ֭וּבַלְנָה בִּשְׂמָחֹ֣ת וָגִ֑יל תְּ֝בֹאֶ֗ינָה בְּהֵ֣יכַל
NAS: with gladness and rejoicing; They will enter
KJV: With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought:
INT: will be led gladness and rejoicing will enter palace

Psalm 65:12
HEB: נְא֣וֹת מִדְבָּ֑ר וְ֝גִ֗יל גְּבָע֥וֹת תַּחְגֹּֽרְנָה׃
NAS: gird themselves with rejoicing.
KJV: and the little hills rejoice on every side.
INT: the pastures of the wilderness rejoicing and the hills gird

Isaiah 16:10
HEB: וְנֶאֱסַ֨ף שִׂמְחָ֤ה וָגִיל֙ מִן־ הַכַּרְמֶ֔ל
NAS: Gladness and joy are taken away
KJV: is taken away, and joy out of the plentiful field;
INT: are taken Gladness and joy from the fruitful

Jeremiah 48:33
HEB: וְנֶאֶסְפָ֨ה שִׂמְחָ֥ה וָגִ֛יל מִכַּרְמֶ֖ל וּמֵאֶ֣רֶץ
NAS: So gladness and joy are taken away
KJV: And joy and gladness is taken
INT: are taken gladness and joy the fruitful the land

Daniel 1:10
HEB: הַיְלָדִים֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר כְּגִֽילְכֶ֔ם וְחִיַּבְתֶּ֥ם אֶת־
NAS: who are your own age? Then you would make me forfeit
KJV: than the children which [are] of your sort? then shall ye make [me] endanger
INT: the youths who exceedingly endanger my head

Hosea 9:1
HEB: יִשְׂרָאֵ֤ל ׀ אֶל־ גִּיל֙ כָּֽעַמִּ֔ים כִּ֥י
NAS: O Israel, with exultation like the nations!
KJV: not, O Israel, for joy, as [other] people:
INT: Israel with exultation the nations for

Joel 1:16
HEB: אֱלֹהֵ֖ינוּ שִׂמְחָ֥ה וָגִֽיל׃
NAS: Gladness and joy from the house
KJV: [yea], joy and gladness from the house
INT: angels Gladness and joy

9 Occurrences

Strong's Hebrew 1524
9 Occurrences


ḡîl — 2 Occ.
gî·lî — 1 Occ.
kə·ḡî·lə·ḵem — 1 Occ.
wā·ḡîl — 4 Occ.
wə·ḡîl — 1 Occ.

1523
Top of Page
Top of Page