to boast: praise
ha.lal denotes giving acclaim, especially to the LORD, and can also describe boasting or becoming mad.
The predominant use is public acclaim, often directed toward the LORD and sometimes toward people or other recipients. Reflexive forms describe boasting in oneself, possessions, or the LORD, while a small group of forms occurs in clauses about madness or frantic action.
Senses in use
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Giving public acclaim · dominant
Piel forms repeatedly occur in calls or actions of acclaim: in Psalm 113:1 the imperatives address the LORD's servants and his name, while in Psalm 107:32 the people are to exalt him in the assembly and before elders. Passive participles mark the LORD as the one receiving such acclaim in 2 Samuel 22:4, and Genesis 12:15 places the sequential imperfect in the rulers' report about the woman to Pharaoh.
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Boasting or glorying · common
Hithpael forms place the action with the subject: 1 Kings 20:11 contrasts the one girding himself with the one opening, and Jeremiah 9:23 forbids boasting in wisdom, might, or riches. In Isaiah 41:16 the subject is to boast in the Holy One of Israel, while Proverbs 25:14 describes a man boasting in a deceptive gift.
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Madness or frenzied action · rare
A smaller set of forms appears in statements of madness or disordered movement. In Ecclesiastes 2:2 the passive participle is used of laughter in the clause the APB renders "It is mad," and Ecclesiastes 7:7 says oppression drives a wise man mad; Jeremiah 46:9 uses an imperative in the command concerning horses and chariots.
In the Anselm Project Bible: Across the supplied verses, the APB commonly uses "praise" for clauses of acclaim and "boast" or "glory" for reflexive forms. It also renders the smaller madness cluster with expressions such as "mad" and "madly"; these are verse-level renderings rather than definitions.