וּבְלוּלִּים U-B-LUL-YIM 1Kings 6:8

[Isaac Fried]

We read there
וּבְלוּלִּים יַעֲלוּ עַל הַתִּיכֹנָה וּמִן הַתִּיכֹנָה אֶל הַשְּׁלִשִׁים
NIV: "a stairway led up to the middle level and from there to the third."

It is a common practice to to read the word as U-BE-LUL-IYM to emphasize the fact that the letter B is not radical, and that the root of this word is לוּל = על-הוּא-על, 'ladder', and not בלל, 'mixed up'. Otherwise, I would have read it as U-BLUL-IYM.

Isaac Fried, Boston University

[Isaac Fried]

The word is evidently but a slight mutation of לוּלָאָה = על-הוּא-על-היא, 'loop, noose', essentially whatever (הוּא-היא) goes up and up, על and על, as in Ex. 26: 4-6
וְעָשִׂיתָ לֻלְאֹת תְּכֵלֶת עַל שְׂפַת הַיְרִיעָה הָאֶחָת מִקָּצָה בַּחֹבָרֶת וְכֵן תַּעֲשֶׂה בִּשְׂפַת הַיְרִיעָה הַקִּיצוֹנָה בַּמַּחְבֶּרֶת הַשֵּׁנִית. חֲמִשִּׁים לֻלָאֹת תַּעֲשֶׂה בַּיְרִיעָה הָאֶחָת וַחֲמִשִּׁים לֻלָאֹת תַּעֲשֶׂה בִּקְצֵה הַיְרִיעָה אֲשֶׁר בַּמַּחְבֶּרֶת הַשֵּׁנִית מַקְבִּילֹת הַלֻּלָאֹת אִשָּׁה אֶל אֲחֹתָהּ. וְעָשִׂיתָ חֲמִשִּׁים קַרְסֵי זָהָב וְחִבַּרְתָּ אֶת הַיְרִיעֹת אִשָּׁה אֶל אֲחֹתָהּ בַּקְּרָסִים וְהָיָה הַמִּשְׁכָּן אֶחָד
NIV: "Make loops of blue material along the edge of the end curtain in one set, and do the same with the end curtain in the other set. Make fifty loops on one curtain and fifty loops on the end curtain of the other set, with the loops opposite each other. Then make fifty gold clasps and use them to fasten the curtains together so that the tabernacle is a unit."

Isaac Fried, Boston University

[Isaac Fried]

Against לוּל = על-הוּא-על LUL, 'ladder', we find לַיִּל = על-היא-על LAYIL, 'night', named for the darkness descending and hovering upon the face of the earth.

Isaac Fried, Boston University