יָאַלyâʼal

be foolish

Pronunciation: yaw-al' · Hebrew/Aramaic (Old Testament) · H2973

Meanings

Niph`al: do or act foolishly (Isaiah 19:3; Jeremiah 5:4; Jeremiah 50:36)

1. shew wicked folly, = sin (Numbers 12:11; Jeremiah 5:4)

2. become fools, lacking insight and judgment (Isaiah 19:13; Isaiah 19:11; Jeremiah 50:36)

Same root

יָאַלyâʼal · H2974properly, to yield, especially assent; hence (pos.) to undertake as an act of volition

Where it appears

Appears 4 times in the Bible.

Numbers 12:11 he cried out to Moses, “Oh, my master! Please don’t punish us for this sin we have so foolishly committed.
Isaiah 19:13 The officials of Zoan are fools, and the officials of Memphis are deluded. The leaders of the people have led Egypt astray.
Jeremiah 5:4 Then I said, “But what can we expect from the poor? They are ignorant. They don’t know the ways of the Lord. They don’t understand God’s laws.
Jeremiah 50:36 The sword will strike her wise counselors, and they will become fools. The sword will strike her mightiest warriors, and panic will seize them.

Source: Brown, Driver and Briggs, Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain; markup by unfoldingWord, CC BY (github.com/unfoldingWord/Brown-Driver-Briggs-Enhanced).