Hebrew verb · H422
אָלָה
alahaw-law'
to swear
7 uses in the Hebrew text, one for each word STEP Bible has tagged with this key
Concordance spelling: ʼâlâh
Word page · Part of the concordance, one page for every word of the Hebrew and Greek text. Strong's H422is this word's number in James Strong's 1890 index of the King James Bible.
- 5 of 39Old Testament books
- 6spellings
The definition in full
Strong's key (1890) · H422
properly, to adjure, i.e. (usually in a bad sense) imprecate
The King James renders it: adjure, curse, swear.
James Strong, The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890), public domain. Strong indexed the King James text, and this site quotes his entry as that index.
Summary
alah is rendered "to swear". It stands 7 times in the Hebrew text, across five books.
- Two of the uses stand in 1 Kings, more than in any other book.
- Its first use in canonical order opens the ledger below.Judges 17:2said to his mother, “The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from you and about which I heard you utter a curse—I have the silver here with me; I took it.” Then his mother said, “Blessed be my son by the LORD!”
- The Greek text spells it six different ways.
The first use
said to his mother, “The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from you and about which I heard you utter a curse—I have the silver here with me; I took it.” Then his mother said, “Blessed be my son by the LORD!”
Judges 17:2אָלִית֙
The first use, in the order of the Old Testament's books.
Where the word stands
Two of the word's seven uses are in 1 Kings.
What the word means
Each meaning, and the words it is translated by
How the Greek text is glossed, word by word
- he will swear an oath2
- and he had put under oath1
- cursing1
- they have sworn an oath1
- to put under an oath him1
- you cursed1
The words built on the same word-part
Each word below begins with the same letters this one begins with. A shared word-part shows a family. It does not settle what any one of them means, so each word carries its own uses on its own page. Scholars call that shared part the stem.
Other numbers on this spelling
Strong gave these words the same spelling and different numbers, so the site counts and defines them apart.
All 7, in canonical order
Every use, in order
Every use, grouped by book, with its verse.
6 spellings and their grammar
STEP Bible tags every word of the Hebrew and Greek text with its spelling and its grammar. Both lists below count the rows printed underneath, written out in English, with the code beside each one as it was tagged.
How it is spelled
- אָלָ֛ה2
- אָלֹ֣ה1
- אָל֥וֹת1
- אָלִית֙1
- וַיֹּאֶל֩1
- לְהַֽאֲלֹת֑וֹ1
The grammar of each form
- verb · simple (qal), infinitive absolute2HVqaa
- verb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person masculine singular2HVqp3ms
- Hc/Vhw3ms1Hc/Vhw3ms
- preposition + verb · causative (hiphil), infinitive (“to…”) + pronoun suffix · 3rd person masculine singular1HR/Vhcc/Sp3ms
- verb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 2nd person feminine singular1HVqp2fs
Judges
one use
said to his mother, “The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from you and about which I heard you utter a curse—I have the silver here with me; I took it.” Then his mother said, “Blessed be my son by the LORD!”
- אָלִית֙ʾalitverb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 2nd person feminine singulartagged: you cursed
1 Samuel
one use
Now the men of Israel were in distress that day, for Saul had placed the troops under an oath, saying, “Cursed is the man who eats any food before evening, before I have taken vengeance on my enemies.” So none of the troops tasted any food.
- וַיֹּאֶל֩vaiyoelHc/Vhw3mstagged: and he had put under oath
1 Kings
two uses
When 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,
- לְהַֽאֲלֹת֑וֹlehaalotopreposition + verb · causative (hiphil), infinitive (“to…”) + pronoun suffix · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: to put under an oath him
- אָלָ֛הʾalahverb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: he will swear an oath
2 Chronicles
one use
When 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,
- אָלָ֛הʾalahverb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: he will swear an oath
Hosea
two uses
Cursing and lying, murder and stealing, and adultery are rampant; one act of bloodshed follows another.
- אָלֹ֣הʾalohverb · simple (qal), infinitive absolutetagged: cursing
They speak mere words; with false oaths they make covenants. So judgment springs up like poisonous weeds in the furrows of a field.
- אָל֥וֹתʾalotverb · simple (qal), infinitive absolutetagged: they have sworn an oath
Where it leads
How the numbers are counted
Every count on this page comes from STEP Bible's tagged Hebrew and Greek text, the same text the ledger prints. A use is counted once each time the tagging marks a word with this key.
Spellings are counted as the Greek text spells them, with the sentence's own punctuation taken off the word first, so a form that ends a clause is not counted as a second spelling.
The family is read from the lexicon by the stem the two words share, with the accents off, and a person or a place named on the stem is left out.