B-ʿ-Y means to seek, want, ask, or request. The Qala varies the English to fit each scene. The merchant is searching for fine pearls, the outsiders chase after food, drink, and clothing, and the women at the tomb are looking for Yeshua.
| Form | Pattern | Transliteration | Script | Standard | Qala rendering |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The verb | peal (base stem) | bʿa | בעא ܒܥܐ | to look for | sought, looked for, asked for |
| They seek | peal participle, plural | bāʿeyn | בעין ܒ݁ܳܥܶܝܢ | they seek | chase after (Matthew 6:32) |
| Who-seeks | peal participle | dbāʿe | דבעא ܕ݁ܒ݂ܳܥܶܐ | who seeks | searching for fine pearls (Matthew 13:45) |
| You (women) seek | peal participle, feminine plural | bāʿyān | בעין ܒ݁ܳܥܝܳܢ | you seek | you're looking for (Matthew 28:5) |
| Is-needed | ethpeel participle | metbʿe | מתבעא ܡܶܬ݂ܒ݁ܥܶܐ | is sought, is needed | what you need (Matthew 6:8) |
In the Gospels the verb appears about 161 times, in the Peal, bʿa, to seek, want, or ask for (Matthew 6:32; 13:45; 28:5), and in its passive, the Ethpeel etbʿi, to be sought or needed (metbʿe, Matthew 6:8).
Before bed, go back over where your feet and thoughts went today, and write down in one line what you were actually seeking. Then say bʿa, seek, aloud.
The Palestinian Aramaic dictionary (DJPA) gives its range as "to seek, ask, request, want." The one root covers both the wanting and the search that follows it. Syriac later formed from it the noun bāʿutā, "petition," a word for supplication.