אל

See also: ﭏ

Arabic

Noun

אל • (ʔāl)

1. Judeo-Arabic spelling of آل (ʔāl, “family”)‎‎
   • c. 10th century, Saadia Gaon, Tafsir‎^[1], Exodus 1:1:

     הדׄה אסמא בני אסראיל אלדאכׄלין אלי מצר מע יעקוב רגׄל ואלה דכׄלו׃

     hāḏihi ʔasmāʔu banī ʔisrāʔīla d-dāḵilīna ʔilā miṣra maʕa yaʕqūba rajulun wa-ʔāluhu daḵalū.

     These are the names of the sons of Israel entering Egypt. With Jacob, man and his kin entered:

Hebrew

Etymology 1

Root
א־ל (ʾ-l)

From Proto-Semitic *ʾil-. Cognate with Akkadian 𒀭 (ilum), Arabic إِل (ʔil), إِلَٰه (ʔilāh), Aramaic אלה (aláh).

Pronunciation

• (Biblical Hebrew) IPA^(key): /ʔil/
• (Tiberian Hebrew) IPA^(key): /ˈʔeːl/, [ˈʔeː.el]
• (Yemenite Hebrew) IPA^(key): /ˈʔel/, [ˈʔeːl]
• (Persian Hebrew) IPA^(key): /(ʔ)el/
• (Ashkenazi Hebrew) IPA^(key): /ejl/
• (Modern Israeli Hebrew) IPA^(key): /(ʔ)el/

Noun

אֵל • (el) m (plural indefinite אלים, singular construct אל־, feminine counterpart אֵלָה)

1. god (a deity or supreme being; a supernatural, typically immortal, being with superior powers, to which personhood is attributed)

Declension

Declension of אֵל

Number	Isolated forms		With possessive pronouns
	State	Form	Person	singular		plural
				m.	f.	m.	f.
singular	indefinite	אֵל	first	אֵלִי		אֵלֵנוּ
	definite	הָאֵל	second	אֵלְךָ	אֵלֵךְ	אֵלְכֶם	אֵלְכֶן
	construct	אֵל־	third	אֵלוֹ	אֵלָהּ	אֵלָם	אֵלָן
plural	indefinite	אֵלִים	first	אליי / אֵלַי		אֵלֵינוּ
	definite	הָאֵלִים	second	אֵלֶיךָ	אלייך / אֵלַיִךְ	אֵלֵיכֶם	אֵלֵיכֶן
	construct	אֵלֵי־	third	אֵלָיו	אֵלֶיהָ	אֵלֵיהֶם	אֵלֵיהֶן

Proper noun

אֵל • (el) m

1. God, the God of Israel.

Derived terms

• אֶלְעָד (el'ad)
• אֶלְעָזָר ('el'azár)
• אֲרִיאֵל (ariél)
• גַּבְרִיאֵל (gavri'él)
• מִיכָאֵל (mikha'él)

See also

• אלוה
• אל שדי
• אלישבע

Etymology 2

Etymology unclear, perhaps related to אֵל (“a god”).

Pronunciation

• (Tiberian Hebrew) IPA^(key): /ˈʔeːl/, [ˈʔeː.el]
• (Yemenite Hebrew) IPA^(key): /ˈʔel/, [ˈʔeːl]
• (Persian Hebrew) IPA^(key): /(ʔ)el/
• (Ashkenazi Hebrew) IPA^(key): /ejl/
• (Modern Israeli Hebrew) IPA^(key): /(ʔ)el/
• Rhymes: -el

Noun

אֵל • (el) m

1. strength; (only in the phrase יש לאל ידי (“it is in my power”)).

Etymology 3

See etymology for אייל / אַיִל.

Pronunciation

• (Tiberian Hebrew) IPA^(key): /ˈʔeːl/, [ˈʔeː.el]
• (Yemenite Hebrew) IPA^(key): /ˈʔel/, [ˈʔeːl]
• (Persian Hebrew) IPA^(key): /(ʔ)el/
• (Ashkenazi Hebrew) IPA^(key): /ejl/
• (Modern Israeli Hebrew) IPA^(key): /(ʔ)el/, /(ʔ)ejl/
• Rhymes: -el

Noun

אֵל • (el) m

1. defective spelling of אֵיל: singular construct state form of אַיִל (“pillar of an archway”)‎ (Ezekiel 40:48).

Etymology 4

From Proto-Semitic *ʾila (“towards, nigh”), cognate with Akkadian 𒀀𒈾 (ana), Arabic إِلَى (ʔilā).

Pronunciation

• (Tiberian Hebrew) IPA^(key): /ʔɛl/, [ʔɛl]
• (Yemenite Hebrew) IPA^(key): /ʔal/, [ʔæl]
• (Persian Hebrew) IPA^(key): /(ʔ)el/
• (Ashkenazi Hebrew) IPA^(key): /ɛl/
• (Modern Israeli Hebrew) IPA^(key): /(ʔ)el/

Preposition

אֶל • (el)

1. to, towards, into
2. at, by

Inflection

Inflection table

Non-personal-pronoun-including form				אֶל (el)
Personal-pronoun- including forms	Singular		Plural
	Masculine	Feminine	Masculine	Feminine
First person	אליי / אֵלַי (elái)		אֵלֵינוּ (eléinu)
Second person	אֵלֶיךָ (elékha)	אלייך / אֵלַיִךְ (eláyikh)	אֲלֵיכֶם (aleikhém)1	אֲלֵיכֶן (aleikhén)1
Third person	אֵלָיו (eláv)	אֵלֶיהָ (eléha)	אֲלֵיהֶם (aleihém)1	אֲלֵיהֶן (aleihén)1
Notes	In Modern Hebrew, the second- and third-person plural forms are usually pronounced with leading /e/ rather than /a/.

See also

• אל נכון
• El Al on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Etymology 5

Cognate with Phoenician 𐤀𐤋 (ʾl), Ugaritic 𐎀𐎍 (ảl), Akkadian 𒌑𒌌 (ul).

Pronunciation

• (Tiberian Hebrew) IPA^(key): /ʔal/, [ʔal]
• (Yemenite Hebrew) IPA^(key): /ʔal/, [ʔæl]
• (Persian Hebrew) IPA^(key): /(ʔ)æl/
• (Ashkenazi Hebrew) IPA^(key): /al/
• (Modern Israeli Hebrew) IPA^(key): /(ʔ)al/
• Rhymes: -al

Adverb

אַל • ('ál)

1. not, do not

   אַל תִּדְאַג. ― 'ál tid'ág. ― Don’t worry.

   • 2014, Daniela Spektor, אגם קפוא:

     אז אל תבוא אליי ותבקש את מה שכבר מזמן אינו שלי

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Usage notes

• In the Bible, this form is followed by a verb in the jussive; in later forms of Hebrew, including Modern Hebrew, it is followed by the future tense. For example, “do not do” is in Biblical Hebrew אַל תַּעַשׂ ('al tá'as) and in Modern Hebrew אַל תַּעֲשֶׂה ('al ta'asé).
• In older texts, לֹא may be used instead, that is, as a negative participle followed by a jussive verb.

Further reading

• H409 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible

Prefix

אַל • ('ál)

1. -less

   מָוֶת (mávet, “death”) → אַלְמָוֶת (álmávet, “immortality”)

   חוּט (ḥút, “wire”) → אַלְחוּטי (alḥutí, “wireless”)

Alternative forms

• אַל־

Derived terms

Hebrew terms prefixed with אל־

Noun

אַל • ('ál)

1. naught, nothing; (only in the phrase שָׂם לְאַל (“bring to naught”)).

Anagrams

• לא