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# אלה

Biblical Hebrew

**wail** — used 1 times in the Hebrew Bible. Below: its meanings with their sources, MACULA's glosses, and 1 verse word for word and in JPS 1917.

## Meaning

### OpenScriptures lexical index

wail [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1488/lemma_3a_5d0_5dc_5d4/#m1)

### Brown–Driver–Briggs 1906

**The whole BDB entry:** (assumed as √ of אֵל, (אֱלוֹהַּ) אֱלֹהִים god, God, but question intricate, & conclusions dub. It is uncertain whether אֵל & אֱלֹהִים are from the same √. Following are the chief theories: 1. a. Thes makes אֵל & אֱלֹהִים distinct, and both really primitive, but associates אֵל in treatment with אֵל strong, Pt. of √אול; strong, according to Thes, being derived from meaning be in front of; (different order in Lex. Man., RobGes); b. אֵל & אֱלֹהִים distinct; former from אול strong; latter pl. of אֱלֹהַּ from √\[אלהּ\] = أَلِهَ (وَلِهَ) go to and fro in perplexity or fear, hence אֱלֹהַּ fear & object of fear, reverence, revered one; أَلِهَ إِلَى = פחד אל trepide confugere ad Ho 3:5; אלהים = פחד Gn 31:42 = מוֹרָא Is 8:13 DeGn 1887, 48 (cf. σἐβασμα, postB. Heb. יִרְאָה NHWB; Aramaic דַּחֲלָא CWB); so De following Fl in DeGn ed. 4, 57, cf. MV. 2. אֵל & אֱלֹהִים possibly connected; אֵל = leader, lord, from √ אול be in front; so Nömbak 1880, 760 f; sbak 1882, 1175 f. 3. a. אֵל & אֱלֹהִים connected, & both from a √ אלה (= אלהּ) to which is assigned meaning strong; so Ew§ 146 d, 178 b (v. also Jahrbücher d. bibl. Wiss. x. 11, Bibl. Theol. ii. 330); b. אֵל from √אלה strong (not אלהּ), & אֱלֹהִים expanded from אֵל, cf. pl. אֲמָהוֹת from אמה etc.; so Di on Gn 1:1; he supports meaning strong by ref. to phrase יֵשׁ לְאֵל יָדִי Gn 31:29 al.; c. similarly, אֵל, being very early & common Shemitic word, formed pl. אלהים, fr. which sing. אֱלוֹהַּ was afterwards inferred, NesTheol. Stud. a. Württ., 1882, 243 (criticized by NöSBA l.c.). 4. אֵל (אֱלוֹהַּ, אֱלֹהִים disregarded) from √אלה stretch out to, reach after (cf. prep. אֶל, אֱלֵי, also אָלָה swear), God as the one whom men strive to reach, ‘das Ziel aller Menschensehnsucht und alles Menschenstrebens,’ LagOr. ii. 3; GN 1882, 173 = M 96.—Cf. SpurrellHeb. Text of Gn., App. ii, where all these views are stated somewhat more fully, & briefly criticized; on the use of אֵל & אֱלֹהַּ in Shemitic languages vid., exhaustively, Nömbak, sbak, l.c.).

Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech not compared, 0 of its verses cited, 0 words shared with the glosses (14 candidates); OSHB: same consonants, part of speech agrees, 0 words shared with the BDB entry, 0 with the glosses (12 candidates)

## Glosses

MACULA's English glosses of the word in the text, with how often each is used: he undertook (1).

## In the verses

[1 Samuel 17:39](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/1SA.17.39/) · [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/1SA.17.39/#tree)

וַיַּחְגֹּ֣ר דָּוִ֣ד אֶת־חַ֠רְבּוֹ מֵעַ֨ל לְמַדָּ֜יו וַיֹּ֣אֶל לָלֶכֶת֮ כִּ֣י לֹֽא־נִסָּה֒ וַיֹּ֨אמֶר דָּוִ֜ד אֶל־שָׁא֗וּל לֹ֥א אוּכַ֛ל לָלֶ֥כֶת בָּאֵ֖לֶּה כִּ֣י לֹ֣א נִסִּ֑יתִי וַיְסִרֵ֥ם דָּוִ֖ד מֵעָלָֽיו׃

*Word for word:* and he.girded David (et) sword his (from) over (to) garments his and he.undertook to walk (dm) not he.had.put.to.the.test and he.said David to Saul not I.will.be.able to walk in these.\[things\] (dm) not I.have.put.to.the.test and he removed.them David from on himself

*JPS 1917:* And David girded his sword upon his apparel, and he essayed to go, but could not; for he had not tried it. And David said unto Saul: 'I cannot go with these; for I have not tried them.' And David put them off him.

## On Mova

- [This word in the Tanakh dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/w/lemma_3a_5d0_5dc_5d4.html) on Mova free.
- [Trees and pragmatics of its meanings](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1488/lemma_3a_5d0_5dc_5d4/): every English meaning parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.

Sources. The words, their counts, glosses and the word-for-word renderings: MACULA Hebrew (the Westminster Leningrad Codex; Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0). Meanings: the OpenScriptures lexical index (CC BY 4.0), Brown–Driver–Briggs 1906 and Jastrow 1903 (public domain, via Sefaria); Targum Onkelos from Sefaria (public domain). Translation: JPS 1917 (public domain, from eBible.org).