Word Study · Strong's H423 · Hebrew
אָלָה
alah
aw-law'
Strong's 1890 spelling: ʼâlâh
“an imprecation”
Strong's Dictionary · 1890 · public domain
an imprecation
Rendered in the KJV as
curse, cursing, execration, oath, swearing.
- 35occurrencesin the Old Testament
- 15 of 39Old Testament bookswhere the word stands
- 29inflected formsdistinct spellings
Across 35 occurrences
The word itself
Inflected forms · 29
- אָלָ֖ה4
- אָלָה֙2
- בְּאָלָ֣ה2
- לְאָלָ֤ה2
- אָלָ֛ה1
- אָלָ֤ה1
- אָלָ֔ה1
- אָלָ֥ה1
- אָל֣וֹת1
- אָ֣לָת֔וֹ1
- אָֽלָתִי֙1
- בְּאָלָ֔ה1
and 17 more spellings in the ledger below.
How it is rendered · 20
- an oath6
- a curse3
- into a curse3
- the oath3
- from oath my2
- into an curse2
- the curse2
- the curses2
- [is] the curse1
- [the] oath1
- [the] oaths of1
- and from a curse1
The sense the word carries at each spot — how the translators read it there, not a fixed translation.
How it parses · 11
- noun · feminine singular10
- preposition + noun · feminine singular8
- the definite article (“the”) + noun · feminine singular6
- the definite article (“the”) + noun · feminine plural3
- preposition + noun · feminine singular · in construct (“…of”) + pronoun suffix · 1st person masculine or feminine singular2
- conjunction (“and”) + preposition + noun · feminine singular1
- conjunction (“and”) + preposition + noun · feminine singular · in construct (“…of”) + pronoun suffix · 3rd person masculine singular1
- noun · feminine plural · in construct (“…of”)1
- noun · feminine singular · in construct (“…of”) + pronoun suffix · 1st person masculine or feminine singular1
- noun · feminine singular · in construct (“…of”) + pronoun suffix · 3rd person masculine singular1
- preposition + verb · causative (hiphil), infinitive (“to…”) + pronoun suffix · 3rd person masculine singular1
Show the grammar codes as tagged
- HNcfsa · 10
- HR/Ncfsa · 8
- HTd/Ncfsa · 6
- HTd/Ncfpa · 3
- HR/Ncfsc/Sp1bs · 2
- HC/R/Ncfsa · 1
- HC/R/Ncfsc/Sp3ms · 1
- HNcfpc · 1
- HNcfsc/Sp1bs · 1
- HNcfsc/Sp3ms · 1
- HR/Vhcc/Sp3ms · 1
All 35, in canonical order
The ledger of occurrences
Where this word lives
- Deuteronomy6 of 35 · 17%
- Ezekiel5 of 35 · 14%
- Numbers4 of 35 · 11%
- Jeremiah4 of 35 · 11%
- Genesis3 of 35 · 9%
Deuteronomy carries the most and opens below; every other book is one click.
Genesis3 occurrences
- Genesis 24:41מֵאָ֣לָתִ֔יmealatipreposition + noun · feminine singular · in construct (“…of”) + pronoun suffix · 1st person masculine or feminine singularAnd when you go to my kindred, if they refuse to give her to you, then you will be released from my oath.’here: from oath my
- Genesis 24:41מֵאָלָתִֽי׃mealatipreposition + noun · feminine singular · in construct (“…of”) + pronoun suffix · 1st person masculine or feminine singularAnd when you go to my kindred, if they refuse to give her to you, then you will be released from my oath.’here: from oath my
- Genesis 26:28אָלָ֛הʾalahnoun · feminine singular“We can plainly see that the LORD has been with you,” they replied. “We recommend that there should now be an oath between us and you. Let us make a covenant with youhere: an oath
Numbers4 occurrences
- Numbers 5:21הָאָלָה֒haalahthe definite article (“the”) + noun · feminine singularand the priest shall have the woman swear under the oath of the curse—‘then may the LORD make you an attested curse among your people by making your thigh shrivel and your belly swell.here: the curse
- Numbers 5:21לְאָלָ֥הlealahpreposition + noun · feminine singularand the priest shall have the woman swear under the oath of the curse—‘then may the LORD make you an attested curse among your people by making your thigh shrivel and your belly swell.here: into a curse
- Numbers 5:23הָאָלֹ֥תhaalotthe definite article (“the”) + noun · feminine pluralAnd the priest shall write these curses on a scroll and wash them off into the bitter water.here: the curses
- Numbers 5:27לְאָלָ֖הlealahpreposition + noun · feminine singularWhen he has made her drink the water, if she has defiled herself and been unfaithful to her husband, then the water that brings a curse will enter her and cause bitter suffering; her belly will swell, her thigh will shrivel, and she will become accursed among her people.here: into a curse
Deuteronomy6 occurrences
- Deuteronomy 29:12וּבְאָלָת֑וֹuvealatoconjunction (“and”) + preposition + noun · feminine singular · in construct (“…of”) + pronoun suffix · 3rd person masculine singularso that you may enter into the covenant of the LORD your God, which He is making with you today, and into His oath,here: and in oath his
- Deuteronomy 29:14הָאָלָ֖הhaalahthe definite article (“the”) + noun · feminine singularI am making this covenant and this oath not only with you,here: the oath
- Deuteronomy 29:19הָֽאָלָ֜הhaalahthe definite article (“the”) + noun · feminine singularbecause when such a person hears the words of this oath, he invokes a blessing on himself, saying, ‘I will have peace, even though I walk in the stubbornness of my own heart.’ This will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry.here: the oath
- Deuteronomy 29:20הָ֣אָלָ֔הhaalahthe definite article (“the”) + noun · feminine singularThe LORD will never be willing to forgive him. Instead, His anger and jealousy will burn against that man, and every curse written in this book will fall upon him. The LORD will blot out his name from under heavenhere: the oath
- Deuteronomy 29:21אָל֣וֹתʾalotnoun · feminine plural · in construct (“…of”)and single him out from all the tribes of Israel for disaster, according to all the curses of the covenant written in this Book of the Law.here: [the] oaths of
- Deuteronomy 30:7הָאָל֖וֹתhaalotthe definite article (“the”) + noun · feminine pluralThen the LORD your God will put all these curses upon your enemies who hate you and persecute you.here: the oaths
2 Chronicles3 occurrences
- 2 Chronicles 6:22אָלָ֖הʾalahnoun · feminine singularWhen a man sins against his neighbor and is required to take an oath, and he comes to take an oath before Your altar in this temple,here: an oath
- 2 Chronicles 6:22לְהַֽאֲלֹת֑וֹlehaalotopreposition + verb · causative (hiphil), infinitive (“to…”) + pronoun suffix · 3rd person masculine singularWhen a man sins against his neighbor and is required to take an oath, and he comes to take an oath before Your altar in this temple,here: to put under an oath him
- 2 Chronicles 34:24הָאָלוֹת֙haalotthe definite article (“the”) + noun · feminine pluralthat this is what the LORD says: I am about to bring calamity on this place and on its people, according to all the curses written in the book that has been read in the presence of the king of Judah,here: the curses
Psalms2 occurrences
- Psalms 10:7אָלָ֤הʾalahnoun · feminine singularHis mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and violence; trouble and malice are under his tongue.here: a curse
- Psalms 59:12וּמֵאָלָ֖הumealahconjunction (“and”) + preposition + noun · feminine singularBy the sins of their mouths and the words of their lips, let them be trapped in their pride, in the curses and lies they utter.here: and from a curse
Proverbs1 occurrence
Jeremiah4 occurrences
- Jeremiah 23:10אָלָה֙ʾalahnoun · feminine singularFor the land is full of adulterers— because of the curse, the land mourns and the pastures of the wilderness have dried up— their course is evil and their power is misused.here: a curse
- Jeremiah 29:18לְאָלָ֤הlealahpreposition + noun · feminine singularI will pursue them with sword and famine and plague. I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth—a curse, a desolation, and an object of scorn and reproach among all the nations to which I banish them.here: into a curse
- Jeremiah 42:18לְאָלָ֤הlealahpreposition + noun · feminine singularFor this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘Just as My anger and wrath were poured out on the residents of Jerusalem, so will My wrath be poured out on you if you go to Egypt. You will become an object of cursing and horror, of vilification and disgrace, and you will never see this place again.’here: into an curse
- Jeremiah 44:12לְאָלָ֣הlealahpreposition + noun · feminine singularAnd I will take away the remnant of Judah who have resolved to go to the land of Egypt to reside there; they will meet their end. They will all fall by the sword or be consumed by famine. From the least to the greatest, they will die by sword or famine; and they will become an object of cursing and horror, of vilification and reproach.here: into an curse
Ezekiel5 occurrences
- Ezekiel 16:59אָלָ֖הʾalahnoun · feminine singularFor this is what the Lord GOD says: I will deal with you according to your deeds, since you have despised the oath by breaking the covenant.here: an oath
- Ezekiel 17:13בְּאָלָ֔הbealahpreposition + noun · feminine singularHe took a member of the royal family and made a covenant with him, putting him under oath. Then he carried away the leading men of the land,here: in an oath
- Ezekiel 17:16אָ֣לָת֔וֹʾalatonoun · feminine singular · in construct (“…of”) + pronoun suffix · 3rd person masculine singular‘As surely as I live,’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘he will die in Babylon, in the land of the king who enthroned him, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke.here: oath his
- Ezekiel 17:18אָלָ֖הʾalahnoun · feminine singularHe despised the oath by breaking the covenant. Seeing that he gave his hand in pledge yet did all these things, he will not escape!’here: [the] oath
- Ezekiel 17:19אָֽלָתִי֙ʾalatinoun · feminine singular · in construct (“…of”) + pronoun suffix · 1st person masculine or feminine singularTherefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘As surely as I live, I will bring down upon his head My oath that he despised and My covenant that he broke.here: oath my
Same headword in Strong's