H5528 H5528
To act foolishly, behave senselessly; to make foolish, turn to folly
The verb סָכַל covers the terrain of foolishness in both its intransitive and causative dimensions. In its Nifal and Hifil forms, it describes a person who has acted foolishly — the sting of self-indictment that Saul confesses to David: 'I have acted foolishly' (1 Sam 26:21), echoed by David himself after the census (2 Sam 24:10). The Piel stem shifts the agency outward: God 'makes foolish' the counsel of the wise (Isa 44:25), and David prays that Ahithophel's advice be 'turned to folly' (2 Sam 15:31). The Syriac cognate sakkal and Aramaic sekal confirm this as a pan-Semitic root for moral and intellectual folly.
1. act foolishly (Hifil/Nifal) — The intransitive sense of acting foolishly or behaving senselessly, expressed through the Hifil and Nifal stems. The subject is the one who has done something foolish — a self-assessment that recurs in confessional contexts. Laban accuses Jacob (Gen 31:28), Samuel rebukes Saul (1 Sam 13:13), Saul admits his own folly to David (1 Sam 26:21), and David confesses after the census (2 Sam 24:10; 1 Chr 21:8). Spanish 'has obrado neciamente' ('you have acted foolishly') and 'hice neciamente' ('I acted foolishly') consistently encode the intransitive, self-reflective character of this sense. 6×
AR["أحمَقتُ","تَحَمَّقْتَ","تَصَرَّفْتَ-جَهْلًا","جَهِلْتَ","جَهِلْتُ","حَمُقْتُ"]·ben["আপনি-মূর্খতা-করেছেন","আমি-মূর্খতা-করেছি","বোকামি-করেছি","মূর্খতা-করেছ","মূর্খতা-করেছি"]·DE["[נסכלת]","[נסכלתי]","du-handelte-toericht","hast-du-töricht-gehandelt","ich-habe-handelte-toericht","ich-handelte-toericht"]·EN["I-acted-foolishly","I-have-acted-foolishly","you-acted-foolishly","you-have-acted-foolishly"]·FR["[נסכלת]","[נסכלתי]","je-agit-foolishly","je-ai-agit-foolishly","tu-agit-foolishly","tu-avoir-acted-foolishly"]·heb["הסכלת","הסכלתי","ניסכלתי","נסכלת","נסכלתי"]·HI["मूर्खता-की-तूने","मूर्खता-की-मैंने","मूर्खता-की-है","मूर्खता-की-है-तूने","मैंने-मूर्खता-की"]·ID["Engkau-telah-berlaku-bodoh","aku-berbuat-bodoh","aku-bertindak-bodoh","engkau-bertindak-bodoh"]·IT["[נסכלת]","[נסכלתי]","io-agì-stoltamente","io-avere-agì-stoltamente","tu-agì-stoltamente","tu-avere-agì-foolishly"]·jav["kawula-sampun-tumindak-bodho","kula-bodho","kula-tumindak-bodho","panjenengan-nindakaken-bodho","panjenengan-nindakaken-kanthi-bodho","panjenengan-tumindak-bodho"]·KO["내가어리석게행하여","어리석게-했다-너는","어리석게-행하였다","어리석게-행했다-나는","어리석었다-나는","어리석었다-너는"]·PT["agi-tolamente","agiste-loucamente","agiste-tolamente","fui-tolo"]·RU["безумствовал-я","глупо-поступил-ты","поглупел-ты","поступил-глупо","поступил-глупо-ты"]·ES["Has-obrado-neciamente","actuaste-neciamente","hice-neciamente","neciamente-hiciste","obré-neciamente"]·SW["nimefanya-kijinga","nimefanya-upumbavu","nimetenda-kwa-upumbavu","umefanya-kijinga","umetenda-kwa-upumbavu","umetenda-upumbavu"]·TR["Aptallık-ettin","akılsızca-davrandım","akılsızca-davrandın","aptallık-ettim","aptallık-ettin"]·urd["بیوقوفی-کی-تُو-نے","بےوقوفی-کی-میں-نے","تُو-نے-بے-وقوفی-کی","تُو-نے-حماقت-کی","حماقت-کی-میں-نے","میں-نے-بےوقوفی-کی"]
▼ 1 more sense below
Senses
2. make foolish, turn to folly (Piel) — The causative Piel sense of making someone or something foolish, rendering counsel senseless, or turning wisdom to folly. Only two occurrences attest this transitive meaning: David's prayer that the LORD 'make foolish' Ahithophel's counsel (2 Sam 15:31), and Isaiah 44:25 where God frustrates diviners and 'makes their knowledge foolish.' The shift from intransitive experience to active causation is confirmed by the transitive syntax — the subject acts upon another's wisdom or advice — and by Spanish 'enloquece' ('he drives mad'). 2×
AR["حَمِّق-","يُحَمِّقُ"]·ben["ব্যর্থ-করো-","মূর্খ-করি"]·DE["[ישכל]","mache-toericht"]·EN["He-makes-foolish","make-foolish"]·FR["[ישכל]","fais-insensé"]·heb["ישכל","סכל"]·HI["मूर्ख-बना","मूर्खता-बनाता-है"]·ID["Ia-membuat-bodoh","buatlah-bodoh"]·IT["[ישכל]","fa-stolto"]·jav["Panjenenganipun-ndadosaken-bodho","ndamelna-bodho-"]·KO["미련하게-하소서-","어리석게-만드는"]·PT["torna-louca","torna-tolo"]·RU["обрати-в-глупость-","оглупляющий"]·ES["enloquece"]·SW["anayafanya-upuuzi","geuza-kuwa-upumbavu"]·TR["ahmaklaştır-","aptalliga-ceviren"]·urd["بیوقوفی-بنانے-والا","بے-وقوفی-بنا"]
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† [סָכַל] vb. be foolish, or a fool, usually in moral or spiritual sense (Syriac ܣܟܰܠ,, Aph. act foolishly; ܣܰܟܠܴܐ foolish, etc., 𝔗 סְכַל der. species, act foolishly; סַכְלָא fool; Chr Pal Aramaic ܣܟܠ, Aph. = ἁμαρτάνω, also deriv. SchwallyIdiot. 62; Assyrian saklu, perhaps foolish, DlHWB 498; Aramaic ܣܟܰܠ, סְכַל know, be intelligent, cause to understand, etc. (der. species), cf. שׂכל; MeChrest.…