ba.dal marks setting people or things apart, dividing one realm from another, and distinguishing contrasting categories.

The verb most often marks the placing of a person, group, or place apart for a stated destination, service, possession, or exclusion. It also describes dividing physical realms or spaces, distinguishing contrasting classifications such as clean and unclean, and withdrawing from a group.

1. Set apart for a designated status or purpose · dominant

   In 1 Chronicles 25:1, the Hiphil form occurs where David and the commanders set apart musicians for service. In Numbers 8:14, the command sets the Levites apart from the sons of Israel so that they belong to the speaker; 1 Kings 8:53 similarly places a people apart as an inheritance.

   1 Chronicles 25:11 Kings 8:53Numbers 8:14Numbers 16:9Leviticus 20:24Leviticus 20:26
2. Divide spaces, elements, or material parts · common

   In Genesis 1:4, the sequential imperfect marks God's division of light from darkness, while Genesis 1:7 divides waters below the expanse from waters above it. Exodus 26:33 applies the action to the curtain standing between the holy place and the most holy place; Leviticus 1:17 and Leviticus 5:8 concern not severing parts of a bird.

   Genesis 1:4Genesis 1:7Genesis 1:14Exodus 26:33Leviticus 1:17Leviticus 5:8
3. Distinguish one classification from another · occasional

   Leviticus 10:10 and Leviticus 11:47 use infinitive constructs for distinguishing holy from common and unclean from clean. Ezekiel 22:26 condemns priests because they made no such distinction, and Ezekiel 42:20 describes a wall intended to separate holy from common.

   Leviticus 10:10Leviticus 11:47Leviticus 20:25Ezekiel 22:26Ezekiel 42:20
4. Withdraw or exclude from a group · occasional

   In Ezra 10:11, the Niphal imperative calls the audience to separate themselves from the peoples of the land and foreign women. Nehemiah 9:2 describes the seed of Israel separating from foreigners, while Numbers 16:21 commands withdrawal from the midst of a congregation.

   Ezra 10:11Ezra 6:21Ezra 9:1Nehemiah 9:2Nehemiah 13:3Numbers 16:21

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB commonly presents the relevant clauses with “set apart,” “separate,” or “separated,” and uses “distinguish” or “make a distinction” for category contrasts. Because it translates whole verses rather than aligning individual words, those renderings only indicate the clause-level presentation.