Hebrew noun (masculine) · H457
אֱלִיל
elilel-eel'
idol
20 uses in the Hebrew text, one for each word STEP Bible has tagged with this key
Concordance spelling: ʼĕlîyl
Word page · Part of the concordance, one page for every word of the Hebrew and Greek text. Strong's H457is this word's number in James Strong's 1890 index of the King James Bible.
- 9 of 39Old Testament books
- 17spellings
The definition in full
Strong's key (1890) · H457
good for nothing, by anal. vain or vanity; specifically an idol
The King James renders it: idol, no value, thing of nought.
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
elil is rendered "idol". It stands 20 times in the Hebrew text, across nine books.
- Ten of the uses stand in Isaiah, more than in any other book.
- Its first use in canonical order opens the ledger below.Leviticus 19:4Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves molten gods. I am the LORD your God.
- The Greek text spells it seventeen different ways.
The first use
Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves molten gods. I am the LORD your God.
Leviticus 19:4הָ֣אֱלִילִ֔ים
The first use, in the order of the Old Testament's books.
Where the word stands
Ten of the word's twenty uses are in Isaiah.
What the word means
Each meaning, and the words it is translated by
How the Greek text is glossed, word by word
- idols of4
- worthless idols4
- idols2
- and an idol1
- and idols of1
- and the idols1
- and to idols its1
- in the worthless idols1
- the idol1
- the idols1
- the worthless idols1
- the worthlessness1
and 1 more, 20 uses in all
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.
All 20, in canonical order
Every use, in order
Every use, grouped by book, with its verse.
17 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
- אֱלִילֵ֣י3
- אֱלִילִ֑ים2
- אֱלִילֵ֤י1
- אֱלִילִ֔ים1
- אֱלִילִים֙1
- אֱלִילִ֥ים1
- אֱלִילִ֗ם1
- אֱלִ֣ל1
- בָּאֱלִילִ֑ים1
- הָאֱלִ֑יל1
- הָֽאֱלִיל֙1
- הָ֣אֱלִילִ֔ים1
and 5 more spellings in the ledger below.
The grammar of each form
- noun · masculine plural6HNcmpa
- noun · masculine plural · in construct (“…of”)4HNcmpc
- the definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine plural2HTd/Ncmpa
- the definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine singular2HTd/Ncmsa
- conjunction (“and”) + noun · masculine plural · in construct (“…of”)1HC/Ncmpc
- conjunction (“and”) + noun · masculine singular1HC/Ncmsa
- conjunction (“and”) + preposition + noun · masculine plural · in construct (“…of”) + pronoun suffix · 3rd person feminine singular1HC/R/Ncmpc/Sp3fs
- conjunction (“and”) + the definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine plural1HC/Td/Ncmpa
- noun · masculine singular1HNcmsa
- preposition with the article + noun · masculine plural1HRd/Ncmpa
Leviticus
two uses
Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves molten gods. I am the LORD your God.
- הָ֣אֱלִילִ֔יםhaelilimthe definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine pluraltagged: the worthless idols
“You must not make idols for yourselves or set up a carved image or sacred pillar; you must not place a sculpted stone in your land to bow down to it. For I am the LORD your God.
- אֱלִילִ֗םʾelilimnoun · masculine pluraltagged: worthless idols
1 Chronicles
one use
For all the gods of the nations are idols, but it is the LORD who made the heavens.
- אֱלִילִ֔יםʾelilimnoun · masculine pluraltagged: worthless idols
Job
one use
You, however, smear with lies; you are all worthless physicians.
- אֱלִ֣לʾelilnoun · masculine singulartagged: worthlessness
Psalms
two uses
For all the gods of the nations are idols, but it is the LORD who made the heavens.
- אֱלִילִ֑יםʾelilimnoun · masculine pluraltagged: worthless idols
All worshipers of images are put to shame— those who boast in idols. Worship Him, all you gods!
- בָּאֱלִילִ֑יםbaelilimpreposition with the article + noun · masculine pluraltagged: in the worthless idols
Isaiah
ten uses
Their land is full of idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their fingers have made.
- אֱלִילִ֑יםʾelilimnoun · masculine pluraltagged: idols
and the idols will vanish completely.
- וְהָאֱלִילִ֖יםvehaelilimconjunction (“and”) + the definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine pluraltagged: and the idols
In that day men will cast away to the moles and bats their idols of silver and gold—the idols they made to worship.
- אֱלִילֵ֣יʾelileinoun · masculine plural · in construct (“…of”)tagged: idols of
- אֱלִילֵ֣יʾelileinoun · masculine plural · in construct (“…of”)tagged: idols of
As my hand seized the idolatrous kingdoms whose images surpassed those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
- הָאֱלִ֑ילhaelilthe definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine singulartagged: the idol
and as I have done to Samaria and its idols, will I not also do to Jerusalem and her idols?”
- וְלֶאֱלִילֶ֑יהָveleelileihaconjunction (“and”) + preposition + noun · masculine plural · in construct (“…of”) + pronoun suffix · 3rd person feminine singulartagged: and to idols its
This is the burden against Egypt: Behold, the LORD rides on a swift cloud; He is coming to Egypt. The idols of Egypt will tremble before Him, and the hearts of the Egyptians will melt within them.
- אֱלִילֵ֤יʾelileinoun · masculine plural · in construct (“…of”)tagged: idols of
Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be emptied out from among them, and I will frustrate their plans, so that they will resort to idols and spirits of the dead, to mediums and spiritists.
- הָֽאֱלִילִים֙haelilimthe definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine pluraltagged: the idols
For on that day, every one of you will reject the idols of silver and gold that your own hands have sinfully made.
- אֱלִילֵ֣יʾelileinoun · masculine plural · in construct (“…of”)tagged: idols of
- וֶאֱלִילֵ֖יveelileiconjunction (“and”) + noun · masculine plural · in construct (“…of”)tagged: and idols of
Jeremiah
one use
“The prophets are prophesying lies in My name,” replied the LORD. “I did not send them or appoint them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a false vision, a worthless divination, the futility and delusion of their own minds.
- וֶֽאֱלִיל֙veelulconjunction (“and”) + noun · masculine singulartagged: and an idol
Ezekiel
one use
This is what the Lord GOD says: I will destroy the idols and put an end to the images in Memphis. There will no longer be a prince in Egypt, and I will instill fear in that land.
- אֱלִילִים֙ʾelilimnoun · masculine pluraltagged: worthless idols
Habakkuk
one use
What use is an idol, that a craftsman should carve it—or an image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak.
- אֱלִילִ֥יםʾelilimnoun · masculine pluraltagged: idols
Zechariah
one use
Woe to the worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock! May a sword strike his arm and his right eye! May his arm be completely withered and his right eye utterly blinded!”
- הָֽאֱלִיל֙haelilthe definite article (“the”) + noun · masculine singulartagged: the worthlessness
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.