5536. sal
Lexical Summary
sal: Basket

Original Word: סַל
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: cal
Pronunciation: sal
Phonetic Spelling: (sal)
KJV: basket
NASB: basket, baskets
Word Origin: [from H5549 (סָלַל - build)]

1. (properly) a willow twig (as pendulous), i.e. an osier
2. but only as woven into a basket

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
basket

From calal; properly, a willow twig (as pendulous), i.e. An osier; but only as woven into a basket -- basket.

see HEBREW calal

NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
from an unused word
Definition
basket
NASB Translation
basket (13), baskets (2).

Brown-Driver-Briggs
סַל noun masculineGenesis 40:16 basket; — ׳ס absolute Genesis 40:17 +; construct Exodus 29:23 +; plural סַלִּים Genesis 40:18; construct סַלֵּי Genesis 40:16; — basket Genesis 40:16,17 (twice in verse); Genesis 40:18 (E) Judges 6:19; Exodus 29:3 (twice in verse); Exodus 29:28,32; Leviticus 8:2,26,31; Numbers 6:15,17,19.

Topical Lexicon
Overview

The Hebrew noun סַל (sal) denotes a woven basket. Scripture employs the term fifteen times, spanning patriarchal history, priestly legislation, Nazarite ritual, and prophetic encounter. While the object is ordinary, its contexts consistently underscore divine provision, consecration, and covenant fellowship.

Narrative Uses

1. Genesis 40:16-18. The chief baker’s dream features “three baskets of white bread” on his head. The dream foretells judgment, contrasting Joseph’s exaltation with the baker’s demise. The basket here serves as a vivid image of human vocation evaluated by God.

2. Judges 6:19. Gideon, fearful yet obedient, places prepared meat in a basket before the Angel of the LORD. The humble vessel carries an offering that receives supernatural fire, linking commonplace utensils with divine revelation.

These two accounts frame the basket within personal encounters where God tests or calls individuals, showing that ordinary settings become arenas of redemptive purpose.

Priestly and Levitical Usage

Exodus 29 and Leviticus 8 record the consecration of Aaron and his sons. A “basket of unleavened bread” accompanies the ram of ordination:

Exodus 29:3 – “Put them in a basket and present them in the basket, along with the bull and the two rams.”
Leviticus 8:26 – “He put all these in the palms of Aaron and his sons and waved them as a wave offering before the LORD.”

The basket safeguards bread set apart for holy service, distinguishing it from common fare. Its woven structure allows air to circulate, keeping the loaves fresh during the lengthy ordination rite. By enclosing unleavened cakes—symbolic of sincerity and truth—the basket visually separates sanctified provision from Egypt’s leavened corruption (Exodus 12:15).

Role in the Nazarite Vow

Numbers 6:15-19 introduces the Nazarite’s “basket of unleavened bread.” Upon completing the vow, the Nazarite presents hair, peace offerings, and bread together:

Numbers 6:17 – “He shall offer the basket of unleavened bread beside the ram.”
Numbers 6:19 – “The priest shall take the boiled shoulder of the ram… together with one unleavened cake from the basket.”

The basket becomes a portable altar, gathering the symbols of separated life to be waved before the LORD. Its presence emphasizes holistic devotion—body (hair), sustenance (bread), and fellowship (peace offering) united in worship.

Historical and Cultural Background

Ancient Near Eastern baskets were typically woven from palm leaves, reeds, or rushes. Lightweight yet sturdy, they allowed transportation of grain, bread, or produce on the head (Genesis 40:16-17), freeing the hands for balance. Egyptian wall paintings depict multi-tiered baskets similar to the baker’s dream, corroborating the historicity of the Genesis narrative.

Within Israel, baskets also featured during harvest (Deuteronomy 26:2) and wilderness provisioning (Numbers 11:8, though a different Hebrew term). סַל, however, is reserved for bread-related contexts, highlighting its culinary and ritual function.

Symbolic Threads

1. Provision and Dependence. Whether in prison, a threshing floor, or the Tabernacle courtyard, the basket carries bread—a staple that points to God as Sustainer (Psalm 104:15).

2. Mediated Holiness. Bread in a basket must be brought by priest or Nazarite, teaching that access to the holy requires ordained mediation until the ultimate High Priest arrives.

3. Judgment and Salvation. Two officials dream of baskets; one is restored, one condemned. Later, Gideon’s basketed meal signals deliverance from Midian. The same vessel thus illustrates both covenant blessing and curse, depending on relational stance toward God.

Foreshadowing Christ

The consecration bread “without yeast” anticipates the sinless Messiah, “the bread of God… who comes down from heaven” (John 6:33). The basket, enclosing and presenting this bread, prefigures the incarnation in which divine life is carried within a humble, earthly vessel. Furthermore, New Testament feedings utilize baskets (though Greek words differ), echoing Old Testament scenes where God satisfies multitudes through sanctified bread.

Ministry Applications

• Worship leaders can employ the image of the basket to teach about orderly presentation of offerings, stressing both purity (unleavened) and gratitude.
• Pastoral counseling may draw on Gideon’s basket to encourage believers that simple resources, when surrendered, become vehicles of divine encounter.
• Discipleship courses on consecration can link Nazarite regulations with Romans 12:1, urging presentation of the whole self—symbolized by hair, meat, and bread within the basket—to God.

Conclusion

The סַל is more than a utility item; it is a theological metaphor woven through Torah and narrative. Whether cradling consecration bread, bearing prophetic symbolism in a dream, or conveying a modest meal to the Angel of the LORD, the basket silently proclaims that all sustenance and service belong in God’s hands.

Forms and Transliterations
בְּסַ֣ל בַּסַּ֔ל בַּסָּ֑ל בסל הַסַּ֔ל הַסַּ֖ל הַסַּלִּ֔ים הסל הסלים וְסַ֣ל וּבַסַּ֣ל וּמִסַּ֨ל ובסל ומסל וסל מִסַּל֙ מסל סַ֣ל סַ֥ל סַלֵּ֥י סל סלי bas·sal bas·sāl bassal bassāl bə·sal beSal bəsal has·sal has·sal·lîm hassal hassalLim hassallîm mis·sal missal sal sal·lê sallê salLei ū·ḇas·sal ū·mis·sal ūḇassal umisSal ūmissal uvasSal veSal wə·sal wəsal
Links
Interlinear GreekInterlinear HebrewStrong's NumbersEnglishman's Greek ConcordanceEnglishman's Hebrew ConcordanceParallel Texts
Englishman's Concordance
Genesis 40:16
HEB: וְהִנֵּ֗ה שְׁלֹשָׁ֛ה סַלֵּ֥י חֹרִ֖י עַל־
NAS: [there were] three baskets of white bread
KJV: white baskets on my head:
INT: and behold three baskets of white on

Genesis 40:17
HEB: וּבַסַּ֣ל הָֽעֶלְי֔וֹן מִכֹּ֛ל
NAS: and in the top basket [there were] some
KJV: And in the uppermost basket [there was] of all manner
INT: basket the top of all

Genesis 40:17
HEB: אֹתָ֛ם מִן־ הַסַּ֖ל מֵעַ֥ל רֹאשִֽׁי׃
NAS: were eating them out of the basket on my head.
KJV: did eat them out of the basket upon
INT: were eating some of the basket upon my head

Genesis 40:18
HEB: פִּתְרֹנ֑וֹ שְׁלֹ֙שֶׁת֙ הַסַּלִּ֔ים שְׁלֹ֥שֶׁת יָמִ֖ים
NAS: the three baskets are three
KJV: thereof: The three baskets [are] three
INT: interpretation the three baskets are three days

Exodus 29:3
HEB: אוֹתָם֙ עַל־ סַ֣ל אֶחָ֔ד וְהִקְרַבְתָּ֥
NAS: them in one basket, and present
KJV: them into one basket, and bring
INT: shall put and basket one and present

Exodus 29:3
HEB: וְהִקְרַבְתָּ֥ אֹתָ֖ם בַּסָּ֑ל וְאֶ֨ת־ הַפָּ֔ר
NAS: and present them in the basket along with the bull
KJV: and bring them in the basket, with the bullock
INT: one and present the basket with the bull

Exodus 29:23
HEB: וְרָקִ֣יק אֶחָ֑ד מִסַּל֙ הַמַּצּ֔וֹת אֲשֶׁ֖ר
NAS: wafer from the basket of unleavened bread
KJV: wafer out of the basket of the unleavened bread
INT: wafer and one the basket of unleavened which

Exodus 29:32
HEB: הַלֶּ֖חֶם אֲשֶׁ֣ר בַּסָּ֑ל פֶּ֖תַח אֹ֥הֶל
NAS: and the bread that is in the basket, at the doorway
KJV: and the bread that [is] in the basket, [by] the door
INT: and the bread is in basket the doorway of the tent

Leviticus 8:2
HEB: הָֽאֵילִ֔ים וְאֵ֖ת סַ֥ל הַמַּצּֽוֹת׃
NAS: rams and the basket of unleavened bread,
KJV: rams, and a basket of unleavened bread;
INT: and the two rams and the basket of unleavened

Leviticus 8:26
HEB: וּמִסַּ֨ל הַמַּצּ֜וֹת אֲשֶׁ֣ר ׀
NAS: From the basket of unleavened bread
KJV: And out of the basket of unleavened
INT: the basket of unleavened that was

Leviticus 8:31
HEB: הַלֶּ֔חֶם אֲשֶׁ֖ר בְּסַ֣ל הַמִּלֻּאִ֑ים כַּאֲשֶׁ֤ר
NAS: which is in the basket of the ordination offering,
KJV: it with the bread that [is] in the basket of consecrations,
INT: the bread which the basket of the ordination which

Numbers 6:15
HEB: וְסַ֣ל מַצּ֗וֹת סֹ֤לֶת
NAS: and a basket of unleavened cakes
KJV: And a basket of unleavened bread,
INT: basket of unleavened of fine

Numbers 6:17
HEB: לַֽיהוָ֔ה עַ֖ל סַ֣ל הַמַּצּ֑וֹת וְעָשָׂה֙
NAS: together with the basket of unleavened cakes;
KJV: unto the LORD, with the basket of unleavened bread:
INT: to the LORD together the basket of unleavened offer

Numbers 6:19
HEB: אַחַת֙ מִן־ הַסַּ֔ל וּרְקִ֥יק מַצָּ֖ה
NAS: cake out of the basket and one
KJV: cake out of the basket, and one
INT: and one out of the basket wafer unleavened

Judges 6:19
HEB: הַבָּשָׂר֙ שָׂ֣ם בַּסַּ֔ל וְהַמָּרַ֖ק שָׂ֣ם
NAS: the meat in a basket and the broth
KJV: he put in a basket, and he put
INT: the meat put A basket and the broth put

15 Occurrences

Strong's Hebrew 5536
15 Occurrences


bas·sāl — 3 Occ.
bə·sal — 1 Occ.
has·sal — 2 Occ.
has·sal·lîm — 1 Occ.
mis·sal — 1 Occ.
sal — 3 Occ.
sal·lê — 1 Occ.
ū·mis·sal — 1 Occ.
ū·ḇas·sal — 1 Occ.
wə·sal — 1 Occ.

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