H3032 H3032
cast lots (by throwing or drawing), allocate by divination
This verb appears only three times in the Hebrew Bible, all describing the casting of lots. In Joel 3:3, Obadiah 11, and Nahum 3:10, the word depicts enemies distributing plunder or captives through the ancient practice of lot-casting—a form of divination used to make decisions or allocate resources. The multilingual evidence (Spanish 'echaron', French 'jetèrent', German 'warfen') confirms the throwing or casting action, suggesting this Hebrew form specifically captures the physical act of casting lots to determine outcomes.
Senses
1. sense 1 — The verb describes the literal act of casting lots (גורל) to divide spoil or captives. Found in prophetic texts condemning enemy nations who treated God's people as commodities to be divvied up by chance. The cross-linguistic glosses emphasize the throwing motion ('they cast', 'warfen'), distinguishing this rare form from other lot-casting vocabulary. 3×
amh["ጣሉ"]·AR["ألقوا", "أَلْقَوْا"]·ben["তারা-গুলি-খেলেছে", "নিক্ষেপ-করল", "নিক্ষেপ-করা-হয়েছে"]·ces["házeli"]·dan["kastede-de"]·DE["seine-Hand", "warfen"]·ell["έριξαν"]·EN["they-cast"]·FR["jetèrent", "sa-main"]·guj["નાખ્યા"]·hat["tire"]·hau["sun-jefa"]·heb["יַדּוּ", "ידו"]·HI["उन्होंने-डाला", "डाले", "डाले-गए"]·hun["vetettek"]·ID["mereka-melempar", "mereka-membuang"]·IT["gettarono", "la-sua-mano"]·jav["ngléboni", "piyambakipun-mbucal", "sami-ngundi"]·JA["彼らは投げた"]·KO["던졌다", "던졌도다", "던지며"]·mar["टाकले"]·mya["လွဲခဲ့ကြ"]·nld["wierpen"]·nor["kastet-de"]·pnb["پائے"]·pol["rzucali"]·PT["lançaram"]·ron["aruncau"]·RU["бросали"]·ES["echaron"]·SW["walipiga"]·swe["kastade-de"]·tam["சீட்டு-போட்டார்கள்"]·tel["వేసిరి"]·tgl["nagsapalaran"]·TH["พวกเขาจับสลาก"]·TR["attılar"]·ukr["кидали"]·urd["ڈالا", "ڈالیں", "ڈالے-گئے"]·VI["họ-bắt-thăm"]·yor["wọ́n-sọ"]·yue["拿"]·ZH["他们掣"]
Related Senses
H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)H4480a 1. source or separation (1198×)H5892b 1. city, town (1093×)G1519 1. direction: into, to, toward (1061×)H3427 1. Qal: to dwell, inhabit (937×)G1537 1. from, out of (source/origin) (886×)H8034 1. Name (designation / identifier) (856×)G3361 1. subjective negation (not) (834×)G1909 1. on, upon (spatial surface) (757×)H0369 1. existential negation: there is not (738×)H5869a 1. in the eyes/sight of (evaluative) (734×)H5650 1. Servant, attendant, subject (723×)H0408 1. prohibitive negation do-not (712×)G2443 1. so that, in order that (purpose/result) (665×)G0575 1. from (649×)G1223 1. through, by means of (582×)H3541 1. thus, so, in this manner (569×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† I. [יָדַד] vb. cast a lot (cf. Ethiopic ወደደ immittere, etc. Di 935)—only Qal Pf. 3 mpl. יַדּוּ גוֹרָל עַל Na 3:10; Ob 11; יַדּוּ גוֹרָל אֶל־ Jo 4:3. (Poss. wrongly pointed pfs. of ידה Pi. q.v.)