Day 25 of 75 · Perception and response
Q-B-L
qabbel: receive
מקבל
ܡܩܰܒ݁ܶܠ
The feel
Qabbel joins receiving and welcome: hands opening as a person or gift crosses a threshold. A child is taken in, a prophet given room, a reward accepted, applause pocketed. What you receive, you now hold. What does holding it ask of you?
The root family
| Form | Pattern | Transliteration | Script | Standard | Qala rendering |
|---|
| Verb, active participle | Pael | mqabel | מקבל ܡܩܰܒ݁ܶܠ | welcomes, receives | welcomes (Mt 10:40; 18:5) |
| Participle + relative | Pael | damqabel | דמקבל ܕ݁ܰܡܩܰܒ݁ܶܠ | whoever receives | whoever welcomes (Mt 10:41) |
| Verb, perfect (3pl) + relative | Pael | dqabelw | קבל ܩܒܠ | that they have received | they already have their reward (Mt 6:2) |
Paradigm forms are a teaching scaffold from standard Aramaic grammar; corpus-attested words above are drawn from the glossary and interlinears.
The verb stems
| Stem | Form | Sense | In this corpus |
|---|
| Peal | qbal | in standard Syriac lexica: to cry out against, complain, accuse | not attested in this corpus |
| Ethpeel | — | — | not attested in this corpus |
| Pael | qabbel | to receive, welcome, accept | every corpus occurrence: Mt 6:2; 10:40–41; 18:5; Mk 9:37 |
| Ethpaal | ʾetqabbal | to be received (standard grammar) | not attested in this corpus |
| Aphel | — | — | not attested in this corpus |
| Ettaphal | — | — | not attested in this corpus |
| Shaphel | — | — | not attested in this corpus |
Stem table is a grammar scaffold: how Aramaic bends one root through voice and cause. The gospel sense of this root lives entirely in the Pael.
In his voice
Matthew 10:40 · interlinear
Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the One who sent me.
mqabel , four times in one sentence: a chain of receiving, each welcome opening onto the next, all the way up.
Matthew 18:5 · interlinear
And whoever welcomes one little child like this in my name welcomes me.
mqabel , the root at its warmest: to take in the smallest person is to take in the speaker himself.
Matthew 6:2 · interlinear
So when you give to the poor, don't sound a trumpet ahead of you, the way the actors do in the gathering places and the streets, fishing for the praise of people. Amen, I tell you: they already have their reward in full.
dqabelw , "they have received": the same root, gone cold. The applause was received on the spot; the account is closed.
Practice
Hold both hands open, palms up. Recall help, praise, or correction you deflected. Receive one offered thing today, then notice what it asks of you.
Say mqabel aloud: receive, welcome, take in. Let your open hands carry the meaning.
Connections
Witness note: the forms above rest on the Peshitta as the primary witness, with Palestinian Aramaic attestation marked where a Western source carries the word.