A deity or the Deity
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The Hebrew noun ʾĕlwōha names God or, in some contexts, a deity. It is a singular form used heavily in Hebrew poetry and wisdom, especially in Job, but its presence does not by itself settle who is speaking truthfully about God.
Reader summary
Full entry for אֱלוֹהַּ (H433) · Open the biblical lexicon
The Hebrew noun ʾĕlwōha names God or, in some contexts, a deity. It is a singular form used heavily in Hebrew poetry and wisdom, especially in Job, but its presence does not by itself settle who is speaking truthfully about God.
The BSB source-word alignment has 58 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include god (21), of God (9), a god (2), [It is said that] God (1), [whom] God (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Deuteronomy 32:15. Its strongest book concentrations include Job (41), Daniel (4), Psalms (4), Deuteronomy (2).
The Hebrew noun ʾĕlwōha names God or, in some contexts, a deity. It is a singular form used heavily in Hebrew poetry and wisdom, especially in Job, but its presence does not by itself settle who is speaking truthfully about God. Deuteronomy names the God who made Israel and contrasts Him with false allegiance. Nehemiah confesses the forgiving God who remains gracious despite rebellion.
Psalms and Isaiah ask whether any God exists besides the Lord, while Habakkuk sings of God's majestic coming. Job repeatedly places the noun in lament, accusation, counsel, and dispute, so each speech must be read within the whole book rather than treated as the narrator's direct verdict. The noun is not a secret name, pronunciation formula, or proof that every speaker has sound theology.
Responsible teaching attends to speaker, literary genre, covenant identity, surrounding divine names, and canonical context. It also leaves room for honest lament, refuses to blame sufferers by quoting Job's counselors carelessly, and does not weaponize divine-language questions against Jewish readers or people from other cultures.
ʾĔlwōha appears in covenant warning, communal confession, exclusive worship, wisdom affirmation, poetic theophany, and the contested speeches of Job. The singular noun identifies God or a deity, while speaker and context determine the claim being made.
They refused to listen and failed to remember the wonders You performed among them. They stiffened their necks and appointed a leader to return them to their bondage in Egypt. But You are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in loving devotion, and You did not forsake them.
The community's confession contrasts ancestral rebellion with God's forgiving, compassionate, patient, and covenantally faithful character.
For who is God besides the Lord? And who is the Rock except our God?
The psalm places ʾĕlwōha beside the covenant name and Rock imagery in praise of the Lord's unique protection.
Do not tremble or fear. Have I not told you and declared it long ago? You are My witnesses! Is there any God but Me? There is no other Rock; I know not one.”
The Lord addresses His witnesses and denies any rival deity or Rock within Isaiah's sustained critique of idols.
But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked—becoming fat, bloated, and gorged. He abandoned the God who made him and scorned the Rock of his salvation.
The song describes covenant prosperity followed by abandonment of the maker and rejection of the saving Rock.
I will say to God: Do not condemn me! Let me know why You prosecute me.
Job addresses God directly from anguish and seeks an account of his suffering rather than presenting detached doctrine.
Every word of God is flawless; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.
The wisdom saying joins the tested reliability of God's word with refuge rather than with speculative mastery.
God came from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah His glory covered the heavens, and His praise filled the earth.
Habakkuk's prayer uses poetic theophany to portray the Holy One's majestic coming and creation-filling glory.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Hebrew word. Singular form of God emphasizing divine majesty or power, often used in poetic or formal contexts rather than narrative prose
Singular form of God emphasizing divine majesty or power, often used in poetic or formal contexts rather than narrative prose
a deity or the Deity BDB: god Usage: God, god. See 430.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
אֱלוֹהַּ is built from this root:
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
ʾĔlwōha is a real Hebrew designation for God, but faithful interpretation requires more than spotting the noun. Nehemiah's confession anchors the title in forgiveness, compassion, patience, and loving devotion toward a rebellious people. Psalm 18 and Isaiah 44 place it beside the Lord and Rock language to confess that no rival shares His identity or saving power.
Deuteronomy 32 shows the tragedy of abandoning the God who made Israel after receiving abundance. Proverbs 30 joins God's flawless word to refuge, not to human possession of every answer. Habakkuk's poetry announces the Holy One's majestic coming. Job supplies the largest concentration of the noun, yet its speakers lament, accuse, defend, and sometimes misjudge.
A lexical label cannot turn each speech into a final theological verdict, nor should teachers use it to silence a sufferer's protest. Christian readers may connect these texts with New Testament confession of the one God, but they should not erase Israel's Scriptures, invent a sacred-pronunciation technique, or use exclusive worship as permission for contempt.
The title invites careful confession of who God reveals Himself to be and humble attention to how each passage speaks.
Neh.9.17
ʾĔlwōha is a masculine singular Hebrew noun related to other Semitic terms for deity and to the more frequent Hebrew forms ʾēl and ʾĕlōhîm. It occurs especially in poetry and Job, and context identifies whether the referent is the Lord or a claimed rival.
The New Testament continues Israel's confession of one God while presenting Jesus and the Spirit within its witness. Those later texts should be read canonically and carefully, not treated as permission to detach ʾĕlwōha from its Hebrew speakers, genres, or covenant settings.