pa.lal most often denotes addressing God in prayer, including petitions for oneself or for others, while a few Piel contexts are less clear.

The Hithpael forms predominantly occur where a person or people address the LORD or another deity in prayer: requests may concern healing, deliverance, forgiveness, restoration, or another person's welfare. A small set of Piel occurrences stands in clauses the APB presents as interceding, judging, or expecting; Their precise contribution remains less certain.

1. Addressing God with petition or supplication · dominant

   The Hithpael forms mark prayer directed to the LORD in individual and communal appeals. In 1 Kings 8:30 the plural imperfect occurs in the request that God hear the servant and Israel when they pray toward the house and forgive; in 2 Kings 6:17 the APB renders Elisha's appeal, "O the LORD, open his eyes so that he may see." Requests can also be made for another person, as the imperative in Genesis 20:7 concerns a prophet praying for Abimelech.

   1 Kings 8:302 Kings 6:17Genesis 20:71 Samuel 1:27Daniel 9:20Jeremiah 29:7
2. Interceding in a dispute or appeal · rare

   In 1 Samuel 2:25, a Piel sequential perfect occurs in the conditional contrast between one person sinning against another and sinning against the LORD; the APB renders the relevant action as "intercede for him." The verse's following Hithpael form is likewise rendered "intercede," but the two forms should not be treated as identical solely from the translation.

   1 Samuel 2:25
3. Piel uses in judgment or expectation contexts · rare

   Two Piel perfects occur outside the supplied prayer clauses. In Genesis 48:11, Israel says he had not "expected" to see Joseph's face; in Ezekiel 16:52, the APB places the form in a statement about what the addressee "judged against" her sister. The whole-verse translation leaves the lemma's exact contribution in these clauses uncertain.

   Genesis 48:11Ezekiel 16:52

In the Anselm Project Bible: Across the Hithpael occurrences, the APB commonly uses "pray" and also places prayer beside cries, supplication, confession, and requests. In the Piel contexts it uses "intercede," "expected," and "judged," but these renderings describe whole translated clauses rather than establishing word-for-word equivalents.