What does אֱלָהּ (ʾĕlāh) mean in the Bible?
אֱלָהּ (elah) is a Biblical Aramaic noun for God or a god. Its H-code and current source directory preserve Strong's routing conventions, but the record's language is Aramaic, not Hebrew.
Aramaic · H426
אֱלָהּ
God
Reading a lexicon entry
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אֱלָהּ H426
Pronunciation ʾĕlāh
What does אֱלָהּ (ʾĕlāh) mean in the Bible?
אֱלָהּ (elah) is a Biblical Aramaic noun for God or a god. Its H-code and current source directory preserve Strong's routing conventions, but the record's language is Aramaic, not Hebrew.
Reader summary
Full entry for אֱלָהּ (H426) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H426?
The BSB source-word alignment has 95 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include of God (19), God (15), the God (13), of your God (7), gods (4).
Where does אֱלָהּ (ʾĕlāh) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Ezra 4:24. Its strongest book concentrations include Daniel (51), Ezra (43), Jeremiah (1).
What This Word Actually Means
אֱלָהּ (elah) is a Biblical Aramaic noun for God or a god. Its H-code and current source directory preserve Strong's routing conventions, but the record's language is Aramaic, not Hebrew. The noun occurs in the Aramaic portions of Ezra and Daniel, where context identifies whether it refers to the God of Israel or to other gods. Ezra uses it in official correspondence about the rebuilt temple and in the elders' confession that they serve the God of heaven and earth.
Daniel and his friends seek mercy from the God of heaven, confess His ability to deliver, and announce the kingdom He will establish. Foreign kings also use the noun in decrees and acknowledgments. Their words must be read in their narrative setting; use of elah does not by itself prove covenant faith, conversion, or full theological understanding. The Aramaic vocabulary allows these books to speak faithfully within imperial courts and documents, but divine sovereignty comes from the passages' claims and actions, not from the language choice or noun alone.
How the Bible Uses It
אֱלָהּ is Aramaic for God or a god. In Ezra and Daniel, modifiers, speakers, and narrative context identify the referent. The H-code is a routing convention and does not make this a Hebrew entry.
- Ezra.4.24
Thus the construction of the house of God in Jerusalem ceased, and it remained at a standstill until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.
The Aramaic narrative names the Jerusalem temple as the house of God while describing imperial opposition and delay. The noun's referent is established by the temple and narrative context.
- Ezra.5.11
And this is the answer they returned: “We are servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the temple that was built many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and completed.
The elders identify themselves before Persian officials as servants of the God of heaven and earth. The title belongs to their covenant confession within an official Aramaic exchange.
- Dan.2.18
Urging them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his friends would not be killed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
Daniel directs his friends to seek mercy from the God of heaven. Prayer, revelation, and the preservation of life identify the God confessed in the scene.
- Dan.2.44
In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will shatter all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, but will itself stand forever.
Daniel contrasts temporary human kingdoms with the enduring kingdom established by the God of heaven. The sovereignty claim comes from the prophecy, not from a special meaning hidden in the noun.
- Dan.3.17
If the God whom we serve exists, then He is able to deliver us from the blazing fiery furnace and from your hand, O king.
The three Judeans confess God's ability before the king while the next verse preserves their faithfulness even if deliverance does not come. The passage resists guarantees that faith always produces rescue.
- Dan.6.26
I hereby decree that in every part of my kingdom, men are to tremble in fear before the God of Daniel: For He is the living God, and He endures forever; His kingdom will never be destroyed, and His dominion will never end.
Darius issues an imperial acknowledgment after Daniel's deliverance. The decree witnesses to God's endurance and rule, but the narrative does not require readers to equate royal acknowledgment with saving faith.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It of God 19× Ezra 4:24, Ezra 5:2, Ezra 5:13, Ezra 5:14
God 15× Ezra 5:2, Ezra 5:8, Daniel 2:20, Daniel 2:45
the God 13× Ezra 5:12, Ezra 7:12, Ezra 7:19, Ezra 7:23
of your God 7× Ezra 7:14, Ezra 7:17, Ezra 7:18, Ezra 7:19
gods 4× Daniel 4:8, Daniel 4:9, Daniel 4:18, Daniel 5:11
of the God 4× Ezra 5:1, Ezra 5:11, Ezra 6:14, Ezra 7:21
of the gods 3× Daniel 3:25, Daniel 5:11, Daniel 5:14
to the God 3× Ezra 6:9, Ezra 6:10, Ezra 7:15
his God 2× Daniel 6:10, Daniel 6:11
of their God 2× Ezra 5:5, Ezra 7:16
your God 2× Ezra 7:26, Daniel 2:47
your gods 2× Daniel 3:12, Daniel 3:18
. . . 1× Ezra 7:23
[their] gods 1× Daniel 5:4
[These] gods 1× Jeremiah 10:11
[your] gods 1× Daniel 5:23
a God 1× Daniel 2:28
be the God 1× Daniel 3:28
has your God 1× Daniel 6:20
in his God 1× Daniel 6:23
May God 1× Ezra 6:12
May your God 1× Daniel 6:16
means that God 1× Daniel 5:26
My God 1× Daniel 6:22
my gods 1× Daniel 3:14
O God 1× Daniel 2:23
of gods 1× Daniel 2:47
of his God 1× Daniel 6:5
of my god 1× Daniel 4:8
the gods 1× Daniel 2:11
their own God 1× Daniel 3:28
Show sample aligned rows
Ezra 4:24 אֱלָהָ֔א to of God Noun - masculine singular determinate Ezra 5:1 אֱלָ֥הּ to of the God Noun - masculine singular construct Ezra 5:2 אֱלָהָ֖א to of God Noun - masculine singular determinate Ezra 5:2 אֱלָהָ֖א to God Noun - masculine singular determinate Ezra 5:5 אֱלָהֲהֹ֗ם to of their God Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine plural Ezra 5:8 אֱלָהָ֣א to God Noun - masculine singular determinate Ezra 5:11 אֱלָ֨הּ to of the God Noun - masculine singular construct Ezra 5:12 לֶאֱלָ֣הּ to the God Preposition-l | Noun - masculine singular construct Ezra 5:13 אֱלָהָ֥א to of God Noun - masculine singular determinate Ezra 5:14 אֱלָהָא֮ to of God Noun - masculine singular determinate
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Ezra 4:24
Aligned rows 95
Books represented 3
Ezra 43 Jeremiah 1 Daniel 51
Source forms
אֱלָ֣הּ 7x ’ĕ·lāh Ezra 6:14, Ezra 7:21, Ezra 7:23, Daniel 2:18
אֱלָהָ֖א 7x ’ĕ·lā·hā Ezra 5:2, Ezra 5:15, Ezra 5:16, Ezra 6:18
אֱלָהָ֣א 7x ’ĕ·lā·hā Ezra 5:8, Ezra 6:7, Ezra 6:8, Ezra 6:17
אֱלָהָ֥א 7x ’ĕ·lā·hā Ezra 5:13, Ezra 5:17, Ezra 6:7, Ezra 6:12
אֱלָ֨הּ 4x ’ĕ·lāh Ezra 5:11, Daniel 2:44, Daniel 6:7, Daniel 6:12
אֱלָ֥הּ 3x ’ĕ·lāh Ezra 5:1, Ezra 7:19, Daniel 2:45
אֱלָהָ֗ךְ 3x ’ĕ·lā·hāḵ Ezra 7:26, Daniel 6:16, Daniel 6:20
לֶאֱלָ֣הּ 3x le·’ĕ·lāh Ezra 5:12, Ezra 6:10, Ezra 7:15
Parsing patterns
Noun - masculine singular determinate 29x Ezra 4:24, Ezra 5:2, Ezra 5:8, Ezra 5:13
Noun - masculine singular construct 13x Ezra 5:1, Ezra 5:11, Ezra 6:14, Ezra 7:12
Noun - masculine plural 9x Daniel 2:11, Daniel 2:47, Daniel 3:25, Daniel 4:8
Noun - masculine singular construct | second person masculine singular 8x Ezra 7:14, Ezra 7:19, Ezra 7:20, Ezra 7:25
Noun - masculine singular 7x Daniel 2:28, Daniel 2:45, Daniel 3:15, Daniel 3:28
Preposition-l | Noun - masculine singular construct 5x Ezra 5:12, Ezra 6:9, Ezra 6:10, Ezra 7:15
Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine plural 4x Ezra 5:5, Ezra 7:16, Daniel 3:28, Daniel 3:29
Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine singular 4x Daniel 6:5, Daniel 6:10, Daniel 6:11, Daniel 6:26
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Use the court and exile narratives to encourage faithful worship under pressure, not triumphalism or reckless confrontation.
- Distinguish God's sovereignty from approval of every action taken by rulers whom He directs, humbles, or uses.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that H426 is Hebrew or that all H-coded lexical records share one language.
- Do not claim that royal acknowledgment of אֱלָהּ proves personal conversion, complete doctrine, or covenant membership.
Evidence Summary
Aramaic word. God
Source Gloss
God
Extended definition Source: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
God BDB: god Usage: God, god.
Word Origins
אֱלָהּ is built from this root:
Cross-Language Connections
Greek words that correspond to or develop the meaning of this Hebrew word in the New Testament.
G1682 LXX equivalent Greek
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
Elah shows Scripture speaking about God in Biblical Aramaic without changing the identity of Israel's God. In Ezra, temple correspondence and the elders' confession place the word inside the contested work of rebuilding. In Daniel, exiles pray to the God of heaven, refuse idolatry, receive revelation, survive royal violence, and announce a kingdom no empire can destroy.
The same noun can also refer to gods, so grammar and context must identify the referent. Foreign kings sometimes acknowledge the God of Daniel in decrees, but their public words should not be made to say more than the narrative says about their hearts. The pastoral force comes from God's actions and the faithful witness of His servants: He hears, reveals, delivers according to His will, judges proud rule, and establishes His kingdom.
The Aramaic setting strengthens the books' exile and court context, but the noun itself is not a political program or a proof of conversion.
Anchor passage
Dan.2.18-23
Doctrinal connections
- Ezra 4-6 places temple rebuilding, opposition, official correspondence, and service to the God of heaven and earth in an Aramaic setting.
- Daniel 2 joins prayer for mercy, revealed mystery, praise, and God's rule over kings and kingdoms.
- Daniel 3 presents faithful worship under coercion and trusts God's ability without demanding deliverance.
- Daniel 4 confronts royal pride and confesses that the Most High rules the kingdom of men.
- Daniel 6 joins faithful prayer, state violence, deliverance, and a royal acknowledgment of the living God's enduring rule.
- Revelation 11:15 and 19:6-16 develop the canonical hope of God's final reign without treating the Aramaic noun as a direct lexical bridge.
אֱלָהּ is an Aramaic noun with absolute, emphatic, construct, and suffixed forms in Ezra and Daniel. The noun may refer to the true God or to gods, so determiners, modifiers, possessive forms, speakers, and narrative setting must identify the referent. Its Strong's H-code is a catalog convention, not a language label.
From Old to New Testament
The New Testament does not continue this entry through the same Aramaic lexeme, but it proclaims the same God as Lord of heaven and earth and announces His kingdom in Christ. Canonical continuity rests on the identity and acts of God across Scripture, not on treating Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek words as interchangeable.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain