Original Word: תְּעָלָה
Part of Speech: Noun Feminine
Transliteration: t`alah
Pronunciation: tah-ah-LAH
Phonetic Spelling: (teh-aw-law')
KJV: conduit, cured, healing, little river, trench, watercourse
Word Origin: [from H5927 (עָלָה - went)]

1. a channel (into which water is raised for irrigation)
2. also a bandage or plaster (as placed upon a wound)

conduit, cured, healing, little river, trench, watercourse

From alah; a channel (into which water is raised for irrigation); also a bandage or plaster (as placed upon a wound) -- conduit, cured, healing, little river, trench, watercourse.

see HEBREW alah

I. תְּעָלָה noun feminine water-course; — ׳ת Jeremiah 30:13 +; construct תְּעָלַת Isaiah 7:3 2t.; plural suffix תְּעָלֹתֶיהָ Ezekiel 31:4; —

1. a. water-course, conducted for irrigation Ezekiel 31:4; hence in poetry, channel for rain Job 38:25

b. conduit, 2 Kings 18:17 = Isaiah 36:2; Isaiah 7:3, compare 2 Kings 20:20.

c. trench, 1 Kings 18:32,35,38.

II. תְּעָלָה noun feminine healing (of new flesh and skin forming over wound); — (figurative) Jeremiah 30:13; Jeremiah 46:11.

Meaning and Range of Use

The Hebrew noun תְּעָלָה denotes an artificial or natural channel created to convey water—or, by extension, something designed to carry relief or healing. Scripture presents it in literal, symbolic, prophetic, and pastoral settings, revealing both practical ingenuity and spiritual truth.

Representative Occurrences

• Elijah’s trench on Carmel: “So the water ran all around the altar and even filled the trench” (1 Kings 18:35).
• Assyrian envoys at Jerusalem: “They stood at the conduit of the upper pool” (2 Kings 18:17; Isaiah 36:2).
• Hezekiah’s engineering feat: “He made the pool and the conduit and brought water into the city” (2 Kings 20:20).
• Divine sovereignty in creation: “Who cuts a channel for the flood or a path for the thunderbolt?” (Job 38:25).
• Futile remedies for sin-wounds: “There is no one to plead your cause, no remedy for your wound” (Jeremiah 30:13; cf. 46:11).
• Nile-fed greatness of Assyria’s cedar: “The rivers surrounded its planting, sending out their channels to all the trees of the field” (Ezekiel 31:4).

Water Management in Ancient Israel

The word highlights Israel’s ongoing challenge of harnessing water in an arid land. Hezekiah’s tunnel (2 Kings 20:20), stretching some 533 m through bedrock from the Gihon Spring to the Pool of Siloam, exemplifies royal foresight in preparing for siege. The “upper pool” (Isaiah 7:3; 36:2) lay along a main aqueduct, making it a strategic and symbolic setting for prophetic confrontation. Such works illustrate the covenant ideal of wise stewardship over creation and reliance on the Lord, who ultimately controls the sources of life-giving water.

Demonstrations of Divine Power

At Carmel, Elijah’s saturated altar and surrounding תְּעָלָה left no doubt that fire from heaven, not human artifice, consumed the sacrifice (1 Kings 18:32-38). The trench became a stage on which the LORD’s supremacy over Baal—the supposed storm god—was publicly vindicated.

Symbol of Sovereign Providence

Job 38:25 places the cutting of global watercourses solely in God’s hands, underscoring His authority over the elemental forces that sustain or judge His creation. Likewise, Ezekiel 31:4 portrays Assyria’s greatness as derived from divinely supplied “channels,” reminding readers that political might flows only as God allows.

Metaphorical Use for Healing

Jeremiah twice employs תְּעָלָה for “remedy” or “medicine” when denouncing incurable national apostasy (Jeremiah 30:13; 46:11). Just as an aqueduct can fail to deliver water, human schemes cannot deliver spiritual healing. True restoration requires the Lord’s own gracious intervention (Jeremiah 30:17).

Pastoral and Ministry Insights

1. Dependence over self-reliance: Hezekiah’s conduit shows responsible preparation, yet the prophets insist that trust rest finally in God, not in engineering or diplomacy.
2. Holiness over spectacle: Elijah’s water-filled trench magnified God’s glory, cautioning ministers against manipulating outcomes for effect; God alone brings the fire.
3. Living water over empty cisterns: Jeremiah’s imagery challenges modern readers to seek the gospel’s living water rather than broken “channels” of humanistic solutions.
4. Divine order over chaos: Job 38 anchors hope in a Creator who directs both storm and stream; pastoral care can point struggling believers to this sovereign control.

Teʿalah, whether trench, aqueduct, or medicinal poultice, consistently draws attention to the Source behind every channel. Its varied appearances remind the church that all physical provisions and all spiritual remedies flow from the hand of the Lord, who invites His people to drink deeply of His grace and to become faithful conduits of blessing to others.

בִּתְעָלַת֙ בַּתְּעָלָ֖ה בתעלה בתעלת הַתְּעָלָ֔ה הַתְּעָלָ֖ה התעלה תְּעָלַת֙ תְּעָלָ֑ה תְּעָלָ֖ה תְּעָלָ֗ה תְּעָלֹתֶ֣יהָ תעלה תעלת תעלתיה bat·tə·‘ā·lāh battə‘ālāh batteaLah biṯ‘ālaṯ biṯ·‘ā·laṯ bitaLat hat·tə·‘ā·lāh hattə‘ālāh hatteaLah tə‘ālāh tə‘ālaṯ tə‘ālōṯehā tə·‘ā·lāh tə·‘ā·laṯ tə·‘ā·lō·ṯe·hā teaLah teaLat tealoTeihaInterlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel Texts