בַּעֲלִיל (ba'alil) — manifestly / openly
Etymology
The phrase "בלתי-חוקי בעליל" (manifestly unlawful) is one of the most important expressions in Israeli military law, yet the word עָלִיל embedded in it is an ancient mystery whose original meaning may never have been "openly/clearly" at all.
The word appears in three ancient sources — Psalms, the Mishnah, and the Tosefta — and in none of them can the meaning "openly" be convincingly demonstrated. In Psalms 12:7, the phrase "כֶּסֶף צָרוּף בַּעֲלִיל לָאָרֶץ" (silver refined in עליל to the earth) defied the ancient translators; all ancient versions glossed עליל as "crucible/furnace," but there is no linguistic evidence connecting the word to smelting. The Mishnah uses "בעליל" in the context of reporting the new moon to the Sanhedrin, and the Tosefta in the context of measuring distances from a found corpse — neither passage allows derivation of the meaning "openly."
The Talmud itself questioned the word's meaning. The Jerusalem Talmud answers: "מפורסם" (well-known/famous). The Babylonian Talmud traces the interpretation to Rabbi Abahu, who derived the meaning "revealed/open" from the Psalms verse. The author of this column argues this interpretation fits only the Mishnah passage adequately, not the others.
A more satisfying reconstruction: the root ע.ל.ל in Aramaic (and in one verse in Job 16:15) carries the sense "to enter." This suggests עֲלִיל originally meant "entrance/gateway." Reading all three ancient passages through this lens works cleanly: in Psalms, silver refined at/by the gateway to the earth; in the Tosefta, a corpse found at the gateway of a city; in the Mishnah, the new moon sighted at the gateway of the city (outside).
The meaning "clearly/manifestly" — derived from the Talmudic interpretation — was not enshrined in Israeli law by the legislature. The 1936 Criminal Code Ordinance (from the British Mandate) and the 1955 Military Justice Law both used the phrase "ברור וגלוי" (clear and evident). It was Judge Benjamin HaLevi who, in his landmark 1957 verdict on the Kafr Qasim massacre, coined the phrase "בלתי-חוקי בעליל" as Hebrew for "manifestly unlawful," giving the word its modern legal weight.
Key Quotes
"אִמְרוֹת ה׳ אֲמָרוֹת טְהֹרוֹת כֶּסֶף צָרוּף בַּעֲלִיל לָאָרֶץ מְזֻקָּק שִׁבְעָתָיִם" — Psalms 12:7
"סימן היכרה של פקודה ׳בלתי חוקית בעליל׳ - מן הדין שיתנוסס כדגל שחור מעל לפקודה הנתונה, ככתובת אזהרה האומרת: ׳אסור!׳" — Judge Benjamin HaLevi, Kafr Qasim verdict, 1957
Timeline
- Biblical period: בַּעֲלִיל appears in Psalms 12:7; meaning already unclear to ancient translators
- Early 3rd century CE: Word appears in Mishnah (Rosh Hashana 1:5) and Tosefta (Sotah 9:1)
- Talmudic period: Rabbi Abahu establishes meaning as "openly/clearly" (Jerusalem Talmud, Rosh Hashana 57b)
- 1717: British House of Lords establishes principle that "manifestly unlawful" orders need not be obeyed
- 1936: British Mandate Criminal Code Ordinance section 19b uses "ברור וגלוי" (not בעליל)
- 1955: Israeli Military Justice Law section 125 uses "ברור וגלוי"
- October 29, 1956: Kafr Qasim massacre
- 1957: Judge Benjamin HaLevi introduces "בלתי-חוקי בעליל" in the verdict, cementing the phrase in Israeli legal language
Related Words
- עֲלִילָה — plot, deed (from root ע.ל.ל in its sense of "doing")
- עוֹלֵלָה — gleanings left after harvest (same root)
- לְהִתְעַלֵּל — to abuse, mistreat (same root)
- גָּלוּי — open, revealed (modern synonym for the meaning attributed to בעליל)