Original Word: דַּלָּה
Part of Speech: Noun Feminine
Transliteration: dallah
Pronunciation: dal-lah'
Phonetic Spelling: (dal-law')
KJV: hair, pining sickness, poor(-est sort)
Word Origin: [from H1802 (דָּלָה - To draw)]

1. (properly) something dangling, i.e. a loose thread or hair
2. (figuratively) indigent

hair, pining sickness, poorest sort

From dalah; properly, something dangling, i.e. A loose thread or hair; figuratively, indigent -- hair, pining sickness, poor(-est sort).

see HEBREW dalah

I. דַּלָּה noun feminine collective, hair, thrum (both front hanging down) — דַּלָּה Isaiah 38:12; construct דַּלַּת Cant 7:6; — hair, ראשׁך ׳ד Cant 7:6; thrum (threads of warp hanging in loom) in simile of premature death מִדַּלָּה יְבַצְּעֵנִי Isaiah 38:12.

II. [דַּלָּה] noun feminine the poor — construct דַּלַּת Jeremiah 40:7 2t.; plural דַּלּוֺת Jeremiah 52:15,16; — the poor (collective, weak, helpless ones) Jeremiah 40:7; 2 Kings 24:14; 2 Kings 25:12 (in "" Jeremiah 52:16, as also Jeremiah 52:15, ᵑ0 has strangely the plural)

Scope and Nuances of דַּלָּה

The term describes what is slight, frail, meager, or hanging loosely. Scripture applies it to livestock, social classes, strands of hair, and the fragile thread of life, each context stressing insufficiency or tenuousness.

Genesis 41:19 – Emblem of Famine

“Then behold, seven other cows came up after them—weak, very ugly, and thin, such as I had never seen in all the land of Egypt for ugliness.”

Pharaoh’s dream uses דַּלָּה to portray cattle so wasted that Egypt’s prosperity is under mortal threat. Their skeletal appearance foreshadows seven years of famine that no human policy could avert. Joseph’s interpretation and God-given strategy highlight that only divine wisdom can sustain nations when visible resources grow “thin.”

2 Kings 24:14; 25:12 – The Poorest of the Land

Nebuchadnezzar “carried into exile all Jerusalem… none remained except the poorest people of the land” (2 Kings 24:14; cf. 25:12). דַּלָּה identifies those with no military value and negligible economic worth in Babylon’s eyes. Their very insignificance became preservation: they tilled Judah’s soil and maintained a remnant presence until the return. God again shows regard for what the world calls slight (Psalm 113:7).

Jeremiah repeats the scene (Jeremiah 40:7; 52:15-16), underlining covenant faithfulness. The frail remain; the mighty depart. History turns on the weak whom God chooses to keep.

Song of Solomon 7:5 – Delicate Beauty

“Your head crowns you like Carmel, and the hair of your head is like purple; the king is captivated by its tresses.”

Here דַּלָּה pictures soft, flowing locks. What is slight and hanging becomes an object of royal delight. The same word that marks destitution elsewhere can, in the sanctity of marital love, denote elegance—testimony to the Creator’s power to transform the meager into glory.

Isaiah 38:12 – Life Cut from the Loom

“I have rolled up my life like a weaver; He cuts me off from the loom.”

Hezekiah likens his mortality to a weaver who winds the unfinished cloth and severs it. The thread is דַּלָּה—thin, easily snapped. The king’s recovery magnifies the Lord who alone can reinforce life’s fragile strand (Isaiah 38:16).

Theological Threads

• Human frailty: Whether cattle, common folk, or kings, all strength can dwindle to thinness apart from God (Psalm 39:5).
• Divine reversal: What is slight becomes God’s instrument—Joseph the slave, Judean farmers, remnant believers (1 Corinthians 1:27-28).
• Covenant hope: The poor left in the land anticipate the beatitude, “Blessed are the poor in spirit” (Matthew 5:3).
• Beauty from weakness: Marital imagery in Song of Solomon prefigures Christ’s love, wherein the Church’s very vulnerability draws the Bridegroom’s affection (Ephesians 5:25-27).

Ministry Implications

1. Shepherd the overlooked. דַּלָּה reminds pastors that the seemingly insignificant are often God’s strategic remnant.
2. Offer famine-time counsel. Joseph’s stewardship amid thin cows models prudent, faith-filled planning.
3. Comfort the dying. Hezekiah’s loom metaphor validates the fear of life’s brevity while directing hope to the One who can extend the thread.
4. Celebrate redeemed beauty. Teach couples to see one another as the Song sees the bride—grace transforming fragility into splendor.

Summary

Across narrative, prophecy, and poetry, דַּלָּה exposes the thinness of human resources but also showcases God’s habit of working through what appears slight, ensuring that glory belongs to Him alone.

דַּלַּ֥ת דַּלּ֨וֹת דלות דלת וְדַלַּ֥ת וּמִדַּלַּ֣ת וּמִדַּלּ֣וֹת וּמִדַּלּ֨וֹת ודלת ומדלות ומדלת מִדַּלָּ֣ה מדלה dal·laṯ dal·lō·wṯ dalLat dallaṯ dalLot dallōwṯ mid·dal·lāh middalLah middallāh ū·mid·dal·laṯ ū·mid·dal·lō·wṯ umiddalLat ūmiddallaṯ umiddalLot ūmiddallōwṯ vedalLat wə·ḏal·laṯ wəḏallaṯInterlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel Texts