אֶל
to
also: toward, unto fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Preposition
- A relational word (e.g. “in,” “to,” “from”) governing a noun.
- Particle
- A short function word — article, negation, interrogative, the sign of the direct object, and the like.
Page 2 of 2 — showing verses 201–233 of 233 distinct verses where H413 appears in the Book of 2 Samuel. Click any verse to open its interlinear word-by-word view. Verse text shown in the World English Bible for context — . Each verse’s Hebrew form is shown with its reference; the English is not keyword-highlighted, since the data carries no word-level English alignment. Use “Compare translations” on any verse to read it across multiple English versions. This concordance covers the Hebrew Bible; Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) occurrences are not indexed here.
2 Samuel
- 2 Samuel 20:22 אֶל אֶל אֶל prep prep prep Then the woman went to all the people in her wisdom. They cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri, and threw it out to Joab. He blew the trumpet, and they were dispersed from the city, every man to his tent. Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king.
- 2 Samuel 20:23 אֶ֥ל prep Now Joab was over all the host of Israel; and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and over the Pelethites;
- 2 Samuel 21:1 אֶל וְ/אֶל prep conj + prep There was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David sought the face of Yahweh. Yahweh said, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he put to death the Gibeonites.
- 2 Samuel 21:2 אֲלֵי/הֶ֑ם prep + sfx pers 3mp The king called the Gibeonites, and said to them (now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; and the children of Israel had sworn to them: and Saul sought to kill them in his zeal for the children of Israel and Judah);
- 2 Samuel 21:3 אֶל prep and David said to the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you? And with what shall I make atonement, that you may bless the inheritance of Yahweh?
- 2 Samuel 21:5 אֶל prep They said to the king, The man who consumed us, and who devised against us, [that] we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the borders of Israel,
- 2 Samuel 21:10 אֶל prep Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for her on the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water was poured on them from the sky; and she allowed neither the birds of the sky to rest on them by day, nor the animals of the field by night.
- 2 Samuel 22:7 וְ/אֶל conj + prep In my distress I called on Yahweh; Yes, I called to my God: He heard my voice out of his temple, My cry [came] into his ears.
- 2 Samuel 22:42 אֶל prep They looked, but there was none to save; Even to Yahweh, but he didn't answer them.
- 2 Samuel 23:10 אֶל prep He arose, and struck the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand froze to the sword; and Yahweh worked a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to take spoil.
- 2 Samuel 23:13 אֶל אֶל אֶל prep prep prep Three of the thirty chief men went down, and came to David in the harvest time to the cave of Adullam; and the troop of the Philistines was encamped in the valley of Rephaim.
- 2 Samuel 23:16 אֶל prep The three mighty men broke through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: but he would not drink of it, but poured it out to Yahweh.
- 2 Samuel 23:21 אֵלָ֖י/ו prep + sfx pers 3ms He killed an Egyptian, a goodly man: and the Egyptian had a spear in his hand; but he went down to him with a staff, and plucked the spear out of the Egyptian's hand, and killed him with his own spear.
- 2 Samuel 23:23 וְ/אֶל אֶל conj + prep prep He was more honorable than the thirty, but he didn't attain to the [first] three. David set him over his guard.
- 2 Samuel 24:2 אֶל prep The king said to Joab the captain of the host, who was with him, Go now back and forth through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even to Beersheba, and number you the people, that I may know the sum of the people.
- 2 Samuel 24:3 אֶל אֶל prep prep Joab said to the king, Now Yahweh your God add to the people, however many they may be, one hundred times; and may the eyes of my lord the king see it: but why does my lord the king delight in this thing?
- 2 Samuel 24:4 אֶל prep Notwithstanding, the king's word prevailed against Joab, and against the captains of the host. Joab and the captains of the host went out from the presence of the king, to number the people of Israel.
- 2 Samuel 24:5 וְ/אֶל conj + prep They passed over the Jordan, and encamped in Aroer, on the right side of the city that is in the middle of the valley of Gad, and to Jazer:
- 2 Samuel 24:6 וְ/אֶל אֶל conj + prep prep then they came to Gilead, and to the land of Tahtim Hodshi; and they came to Dan Jaan, and round about to Sidon,
- 2 Samuel 24:7 אֶל prep and came to the stronghold of Tyre, and to all the cities of the Hivites, and of the Canaanites; and they went out to the south of Judah, at Beersheba.
- 2 Samuel 24:9 אֶל prep Joab gave up the sum of the numbering of the people to the king: and there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men who drew the sword; and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men.
- 2 Samuel 24:10 אֶל prep David's heart struck him after that he had numbered the people. David said to Yahweh, I have sinned greatly in that which I have done: but now, Yahweh, put away, I beg you, the iniquity of your servant; for I have done very foolishly.
- 2 Samuel 24:11 אֶל prep When David rose up in the morning, the word of Yahweh came to the prophet Gad, David's seer, saying,
- 2 Samuel 24:12 אֶל prep Go and speak to David, Thus says Yahweh, I offer you three things: choose you one of them, that I may do it to you.
- 2 Samuel 24:13 אֶל prep So Gad came to David, and told him, and said to him, Shall seven years of famine come to you in your land? or will you flee three months before your foes while they pursue you? or shall there be three days' pestilence in your land? now advise you, and consider what answer I shall return to him who sent me.
- 2 Samuel 24:14 אֶל prep David said to Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall now into the hand of Yahweh; for his mercies are great; and let me not fall into the hand of man.
- 2 Samuel 24:16 אֶל prep When the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, Yahweh repented him of the evil, and said to the angel who destroyed the people, It is enough; now stay your hand. The angel of Yahweh was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
- 2 Samuel 24:17 אֶל prep David spoke to Yahweh when he saw the angel who struck the people, and said, Behold, I have sinned, and I have done perversely; but these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand be against me, and against my father's house.
- 2 Samuel 24:18 אֶל prep Gad came that day to David, and said to him, Go up, rear an altar to Yahweh in the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
- 2 Samuel 24:21 אֶל prep Araunah said, Why is my lord the king come to his servant? David said, To buy the threshing floor of you, to build an altar to Yahweh, that the plague may be stayed from the people.
- 2 Samuel 24:22 אֶל prep Araunah said to David, Let my lord the king take and offer up what seems good to him: behold, the oxen for the burnt offering, and the threshing instruments and the yokes of the oxen for the wood:
- 2 Samuel 24:23 אֶל prep all this, king, does Araunah give to the king. Araunah said to the king, Yahweh your God accept you.
- 2 Samuel 24:24 אֶל prep The king said to Araunah, No; but I will most assuredly buy it of you at a price. Neither will I offer burnt-offerings to Yahweh my God which cost me nothing. So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.
About this entry
At a glance — auto-summarized from this page’s data, not written by a person. Every figure links to its source below. This summary describes the numbers; it doesn’t interpret them.
“to” is the headline sense of the Hebrew preposition אל (ʼêl). Beyond “to” it also covers “toward” and “unto” — see its full sense range. With 4,204 verses in 38 books, it is one of the most common word in the Hebrew Bible. First canonically at Genesis 1:9, it enters the text early. It clusters with אליהועיני under a shared root. See the sense tree, 4,204-verse concordance, and the renderings breakdown below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H413 catalogs a Hebrew word from the Hebrew Old Testament.
These counts are not copied from any lexicon or concordance. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged Hebrew Old Testament. What Lemma adds →
- 4,204
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 4,204 distinct verses.
- 38 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 38 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #4
- by frequency
- Top 10 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 4 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 4,204 occurrences in the concordance →
By section of the Old Testament
By traditional corpus
Conventional, traditional groupings — biblical authorship is debated, so this is a traditional corpus grouping, not an authorship claim. Each share is this word’s portion of its verses in that division of the Hebrew canon. Each figure is a share of the word’s 4,204 distinct verses.
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 2,341 verses · 56%
- Torah (Pentateuch) 1,300 verses · 31%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 563 verses · 13%
How translations render this word
Counts come from each version’s own published word-to-Strong’s tagging or interlinear alignment — an approximate guide to how each version renders this word, not a word-level alignment the data otherwise carries. Because each total is that version’s own tagged count, the per-version totals vary from one another and need not match the appearance or distinct-verse counts above. These counts may also differ from a printed concordance because Lemma counts each distinctly tagged rendering and does not collapse phrase taggings into a single head-word total. This is a fixed set of word-tagged versions (KJV, ASV, BSB, ULT) and does not change with the reading translation you choose elsewhere. Each version’s license is shown beside its name below (and on Sources).
- King James Version: Because 2×, For 2×, In 2×
- American Standard Version: In 3×, To 3×, Unto 3×
- Berean Standard Bible: To 2,001×, Me 343×, You 214×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: To 2,791×, Him 374×, Me 349×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H413 across 38 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 32 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H413 across 39 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 26 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
Renders H413 across 4,199 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 172 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 1,299 further occurrences.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H413 across 5,255 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 133 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
7 senses and sub-senses in the full BDB
What do BDB’s symbols mean?
BDB uses these scholarly abbreviations:
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 𝔊 | the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation, LXX) |
| 𝔙 | the Vulgate (the Latin translation) |
| 𝔖 | the Syriac version (the Peshitta) |
| 𝔗 | the Targum (the Aramaic translation) |
| ψ | the Psalms |
| √ | root (the underlying root or stem) |
| ‖ | parallel passage (a synonymous or contrasted parallel) |
| † | the dagger: every passage where the word occurs is cited |
The 7 senses and sub-senses the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency), with BDB’s own verbatim wording and sub-sense lettering. Shown in Hebrew script with BDB’s own scholarly abbreviations. The condensed entry is in the Lexicon Entry tab. See also the Forms in the corpus table below.
- 1. of motion to or unto a person or place Gn 2:19, 22; 3,19; 8:9; 14:22; 16;9 etc., after every kind of verb expressing motion (בּוֹא, הָלַךְ, יָצָא, etc.) So with נָתַן to give (though ל is here more common) Gn 21:14; 35:4 Dt 13:2 +; מָכַר to sell Gn 37:36, etc. Metaph. Je 2:19 וְלֹאפַחְדָּתִי אֵלַיִךְ and that my fear (cometh) not unto thee (cf. Jb 31:23).—Peculiarly Gn 6:16 אֶל אַמָּה unto the length of a cubit, etc. And metaph. in the phrase אֶל־(אֱלֵי־)גִּיל unto exultation †Ho 9:1 Jb 3:22. Once, exceptionally (si vera l.) = even: Jb 5:5 וְאֶל־מִצִּנִּים יִקָּחֵהוּ and even out of thorns he taketh it. Sometimes pregnant, as Is 66:17 Je 41:7 זָנָה אֶל commit whoredom (by going) to Nu 25:1 Ez 16:26, 28, 29; דָּרַשׁ אֶל seek (by resorting) to one (sc. for oracles) Dt 18:11 Is 8:19; 11:10 +; חָבַר אֶל join together (& come) unto Gn 14:3; הִשְׁכִּים אֶל rise early (and go) to 19:27; 24:11 הִבְרִיךְ אֶל made to kneel down at; 47:18 תַּם אֶל i.e. has been made over to; פָּחַד אֶל to come in fear to Hos 3:5 Mi 7:17. Opp. is מִן, as מִן־הַקָּצֶה אֶל־הַקָּצֶה from end to end Ex 26:28; מִפֶּה אֶל־פֶּה Ezr 9:11 (syn. 2 K 21:16 פֶּה לָפֶה). And of time (rare) מֵעֵת אֶל־עֵת †1 Ch 9:25; מִיּוֹם אֶל־יוֹם †Nu 30:15 (P) 1 Ch 16:23 (in the ‖ ψ 96:2 מִיּוֹם לְיוֹם). e.g. Genesis 2:19
- 2. Where the limit is actually entered, into, Gn 6:18 and thou shalt enter into the ark 7:1; 19:3; 41:21; 42:17; & so after verbs of throwing, casting, putting 37:22 (הִשְׁלִיךְ) 39:20 וַיִּתְּנֵהוּ אֶל־בֵּית הַסֹּהַר put him into the prison house, Ex 28:30 (Lv 8:8) Dt 23:25; so after קָבַר to bury Gn 23:19; 25:9; 49:29; שָׂחַט to squeeze 40:11; מָחָה to blot out Nu 5:23, etc.; metaph. Gn 6:6 was pained into or unto his heart, שָׂם אֶל־לֵב, הֵשִׁיב to place, bring into (= lay to) heart Dt 4:39 2 S 19:20 al. In connexion with a number or multitude into which something enters, in among: 1 S 10:22 behold he had hid himself אֶל־הַכֵּלִים in among the baggage, Je 4:3 sow not אֶל־קֹצִים in among thorns. e.g. Genesis 6:18
- 3. Of direction towards anything: (a) of physical acts or states, as Gn 30:40 נָתַן פְּנֵי הַצֹּאן אֶל, 39:7 נָשָׂא עֵינָיו אֶל, Ex 25:20, Nu 6:26 נָשָׂא פָנָיו אֶל (2 K 9:32 differently), 24:1 שָׁת פָּנָיו אֶל, Jos 8:18 ψ 28:2 1 K 8:29, 30 (to pray towards) v 38; pregn. חָרַד אֶל to tremble (turning) to Gn 42:28, תָּמַהּ אֶל to wonder (turning) towards Gn 43:33; Is 13:8, פָּחַד אֶל Je 36:16: without a vb. פָּנִים אֶל־פָּנִים face to face Gn 32:31 +; פֶּה אֶל־פֶּה Nu 12:8; כִּי־אֵינֶנּוּ אֵלַי Gn 31:5 the face of Laban, that he is not toward me; עֵינֵי י׳ אֶל־פ׳ the eyes of י׳ are towards … ψ 34:16 (cf. 33:18). (b) with words such as אָמַר to say to Gn 3:1 + often, דִּבֶּר 8:15 + often, קָרָא 19:5, הִחְפַּלֵּל 20:17 etc., שָׁמַע to hearken to 16:11, הִלֵּל to praise to 12:15 (cf. Ez 13:19 חִלֵּל אֶל to profane to), הִזְכִּיר 40:14. (c) with words expressing the direction of the mind, as קִוָּה to wait ψ 27:14 +; יִחַל to hope Is 51:5; נָשָׂא נֶפֶשׁ אֶל to lift up the soul (i.e. set the desire) towards Dt 24:15 ψ 25:1; שָׂם לֵב אֶל, שָׁת to set the heart (mind) to Ex 9:21 al.; לָמַד אֶל to accustom oneself to Je 10:2; חָרַד אֶל to shew thought for 2 K 4:13; Gn 43:30; Dt 28:32 and thy eyes כָּלוֹת אֲלֵיהֶם failing (with longing) towards them, La 4:17; Is 63:15 2 S 3:8 1 K 14:13 ψ 40:6; alone, as predic., directed or disposed towards, Gn 3:16; 4:7 2 K 6:11 who of ours is towards (i.e. favours) the king of Syria? Ho 3:3 וְגַם־אֲנִי אֵלָֽיִךְ׃ Ez 36:9 Ho 2:17 Je 15:1 (אֵין נַפְשִׁי אֶל). e.g. Genesis 30:40
- 4. Where the motion or direction implied appears from the context to be of a hostile character, אֶל = against: Gn 4:8 וַיָּקָם ק׳ אֶל־הֶבֶל and Cain rose up against Abel (so 1 S 24:8) 22:12 Ex 14:5 Nu 32:14; with נִקְבַּץ Jos 10:6, הָלַךְ Ju 1:10; 20:30; with בָּא of calamity, etc., coming to or upon any one Gn 42:21 Ju 9:57 1 S 2:34 1 K 14:10 +; Is 2:4; 3:8 their tongue and doings are אֶל־י׳ 32:6 (לְדַבֵּר אֶל) Ho 7:15 (cf. Na 1:9) 12:5 וַיָּשַׂר אֶל־מַלְאָךְ and he strove against the angel. Here also belongs in partic. the phrace הִנְנִי אֶל … Behold I am against (thee, you etc.) †Na 2:14; 3:5 Je 21:13 (23:30–32 על) 50:31; 51:25 Ez 13:8, 20; 21:8; 29:10; 30:22; 34:10; 35:3; 38:3; 39:1 (5:8; 26:3; 28:22; 29:3 על: on 36:9 v. supr.) e.g. Genesis 4:8
- 5. Unto sometimes acquires from the context the sense of in addition to, as Lv 18:18 thou shalt not take אִשָּׁה אֶל אֲחוֹתָהּ a woman to, in addition to, her sister, Jos 13:22 (‖ Nu 31:8 על; 1 S 14:34 to eat אֶל־הַדָּם together with the blood (v 32 & generally עַל); 1 K 10:7 הוֹסִיף אֶל (generally עַל); Je 25:26; Ez 7:26 שְׁמוּעָה אֶל שְׁמוּעָה (‖ על); 44:7; La 3:41 let us lift up לְבָבֵנוּ אֶל־כַּפָּ֑יִם our hearts together with the hands (cf. إِلَى, Qor 4:2; WAG ii. § 51 c). 6. Metaph. in regard to, concerning, on account of: thus הִתְאַבֵּל to mourn concerning 1 S 15:35; הִנָּחֵם to repent as regards 2 S 24:16; דָּרַשׁ to inquire 1 K 14:5; הִתְפַּלֵּל to pray with regard to 1 S 1:27 2 K 19:20 Is 37:21; צָעַק to cry 2 K 8:3 (v 5 על); נֶעֱצַב be pained 1 S 20:34; נִחַם to comfort 2 S 10:2; more gen. 1 K 16:13; 21:22; אֶל־נֶפֶשׁ on account of, for the sake of, one’s life 1 K 19:3 2 K 7:7 (Gn 19:17 על). (עַל is more common in this sense.) And specially with verbs of saying, narrating, telling, etc. with regard to, as אָמַר Gn 20:2 Is 29:22; 37:33 +; דִּבֶּר 2 S 7:19 Je 40:16b; סִפֵּר ψ 2:7; 69:27; צִוָּה Is 23:11; שָׁמַע Ez 19:4; הַשְּׁמוּעָה אֶל the report regarding … 1 S 4:19. (Not freq., except in the case of אָמַר.) 7. Of rule or standard, according to (rare): אֶל־פִּי … according to the command of, Jos 15:13; 17:4: 21:3 (generally עַל־פִּי); אֶל־נָכוֹן according to what is fixed = of a certainty †1 S 23:23; 26:4 (v. Dr): perhaps ψ 5:1; 80:1 (45:1 עַל). 8. Expressing presence at a spot, against, at, by, not merely after verbs expressing or implying motion (cf. 1, Gn 24:11), as Jos 11:5 and they came and encamped together אֶל־מֵי מֵרוֹם at the waters of Merom, 1 S 5:4 cut off (and fallen) on to the threshold, 2 S 2:23 al. and smote him אֶל־הַחֹמֶשׁ in or on the belly, Dt 33:28 Ex 29:12 Lv 4:7; but also in other cases, as Jos 5:3 and he circucmcised the Israelites אֶל against, at the hill of the foreskins, 22:11 have built an altar אֶל־גְּלִילוֹת הַיַּרְדֵּן by the districts of Jordan, Ju 12:6 2 S 3:32, 14:30 & 18:4 אֶל־יַד at the side of (elsewhere לְיַד, עַל יַד), 1 K 13:20 as they were sitting אֶל־הַשֻּׁלְחָן at the table, 2 K 11:14 אֶל־הַמֶּלֶךְ by the king, Je 41:12 and found him by the great waters, etc., 46:10 אֶל־נְהַר פְּרָת by the Euphrates, Ez 3:15; 11:11; 17:8; 31:7; 40:18; 43:3; 47:7; 48:12. 9. Prefixed to other preps. it combines with them the idea of motion or direction to: thus אֶל־אַחֲרֵי 2 S 5:23 2 K 9:18, 19 סֹב אֶל־אַחֲרַי turn to behind me, Zc 6:6 (where אֶל is pleon., prob. due to clerical error; note יצא אל before & after); אֶל־בֵּין in between Ez 31:10, 14; אֵל־בֵּינוֹת similarly Ez 10:2; אֶל־מִבֵּית לְ׳ to (the part) within (v. sub בַּיִת), in within Lv 16:15, 2 K 11:15 ‖ have her forth in within the ranks; אֶל־מוּל v. מוּל; אֶל־מִנֶּגֶב לְ׳ unto the south of Jos 15:3; אֶל־מִחוּץ לְ׳ to the outside of Lv 4:12, 21 +; אֶל־נֹכַח to the front of Nu 19:4; אֶל־תַּחַת Ju 6:19 1 K 8:6 al. (v. sub תַּחַת). e.g. Leviticus 18:18
- 1. —In Gn 20:13 אֶל־כָּל־הַמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר נָבוֹא שָׁמָּה אִמְרִי־לִי וג׳; Nu 33:54 אֶל־אֲשֶׁר וג׳; Pr 17:8 (cf. Dt 16:6);—אֶל appears to be used by a species of attraction; the idea of motion involved in the relative clause influencing illogically the beginning of the sentence and causing אֶל to be used instead of בְּ. In Ez 31:14 אֵלֵיהֶם, as pointed, can only be from אַיִל iii or iv (q.v.); if the word be taken as the pron. with suff. (Hi Ke), אֲלֵיהֶם must be read. e.g. Genesis 20:13
- 2. —There is a tendency in Hebrew, especially manifest in S K Je Ez, to use אֶל in the sense of עַל; sometimes אֶל being used exceptionally in a phrase or construction which regularly, and in acc. with analogy, has עַל; sometimes, the two preps. interchanging, apparently without discrimination, in the same or parallel sentences. Thus (a) Jos 5:14 וַיִּפֹּל אֶל־פָּנָיו; 1 S 13:13 הֵכִין י׳ אֶת־מַמְלַכְתְּךָ אֶל־יִשְׂרָאֵל; 14:34 (v. sub 5); 17:3 עֹמְדִים אֶל־הָהָר (contr. עַל Dt 11:29); 19:16 2 S 6:3; 20:23 (contr. 8:16) 1 K 13:29 18:46 (contr. 2 K 3:15 על) Je 35:15 Ez 7:18. (b) Ju 6:37 and upon (עַל) all the earth let there be dryness, v 39 let there be dryness on (אֶל) the fleece; 1 S 14:10 come up עָלֵינוּ, v 12 come up אֵלֵינוּ; 16:23 & 16; 16:13 & 18:10 צָלַח אֶל, 10:6 al. צָלַח עַל; 25:17 evil is determined אֶל־אֲדֹנֵינוּ וְעַל כָּל־בֵּיתוֹ; v 25; 27:10; 2 S 2:9 וַיַּמְלִכֵהוּ אֶל … וְאֶל … וְאֶל … וְעַל … וְעַל … וְעֶל; 3:29 יָחֻלוּ עַל … וְאֶל …; 2 K 8:3 & 5; 9:6 & 3; Je 19:15; 25:2; 26:15 ye lay innocent blood עֲלֵיכֶם וְאֶל־הָעִיר הַזֹּאת; 27:19; 28:8; 33:14; 34:7; 36:31; 37:13, 14 Ez 2:6; 18:6, 11 & 15; 21:12 etc. ψ 79:6 (Je 10:25) על twice). It is prob. that this interchange, at least in many cases, is not original, but due to transcribers. Conversely, though not with the same frequency, עַל occurs where analogy would lead us to expect אֶל, or even in juxtaposition with אֶל, as 1 S 1:10 הִתְפַּלֵּל עַל to pray to (v 26 אֶל); v 13; 25:25 אֶל … עַל; 1 K 20:43 וַיֵּלֶךְ עַל־בֵּיתוֹ (21:4 אֶל); Is 22:15 Je 11:2; 23:35; 31:12(11). Cf. DrSm i. 13(×2); ii. 8, 7; 15, 4. e.g. Joshua 5:14
Senses from the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon (Brown, Driver, Briggs; Oxford 1906 — public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). Full attribution on Sources.
Word origin
(nearly always followed by Makkeph), poet. אֱלֵי (cf. עֲלֵי, עֲדֵי), but only in Job (†3:22; 5:26; 15:22; 29:19), with suff. אֵלַי, אֵלֶיךָ, אֵלַיִךְ, etc. אֵלֵינוּ, אֲלֵיכֶם & (5 textual) אֲלֵכֶם, אֲלֵיהֶם & אֲלֵהֶם (both very often), once אֵלֵימוֹ ψ 2:5, אֲלֵיהֶן, once אֲלֵהֶן Ex 1:19 (Ar. إِلَى ), prep. denoting motion to or direction towards (whether physical or mental).
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Origin: primitive particle
Jastrow Dictionary
A second Hebrew/Aramaic lexicon for comparison, covering Aramaic and post-biblical (Talmudic, Targumic, Midrashic) usage that the biblical-Hebrew BDB does not. Matched by lemma rather than by Strong’s number, so a lemma may carry more than one Jastrow headword (shown separately below), and the entries cover usage well beyond the Bible.
אַל־
- a prefix, = עַל; e.g. אַלְתּוּסְבְּרָאוֹת (= על האוצרות) appointed over treasures, v. אַ־.
אַל
- (b. h.) not, no (according to Talmud a milder form of prohibition than לֹא; v. Y. Pes. VI, 33ᵇ). Aboth I, 3.—אל תקרי (abbr. א"ת), v. אֶלָּא. Taan. 11ᵃ א׳ יראה וכ׳ shall not live to see &c.; a. v. fr.
אֶל
- אול to turn) prep. to, toward. — Pl., with prefix מ a. suffix of pers. pron., of itself, of my (his &c.) own accord, on my (his &c.) authority. Yoma 5ᵇ לא מֵאֵלַי not on my own authority. Orlah I, 2 העולה מֵאֵלָיו growing spontaneously.—Y. Peah VII, 20ᵇ bot. its sacred character מֵאֵלָיו למדו they did derive from itself (i.e. from the wording of the law itself).—Hence מִמֵּילָא, v. מֵילָא.
אֵל
- v. אלל) God. Shebu. 35ᵃ divine names which dare not be erased are El &c. Taan. 6ᵇ bot.; a. fr.
A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (Marcus Jastrow; London, Luzac, 1903) — Public Domain. Digitized via Sefaria. Digitized via Sefaria. Full attribution on Sources.
Forms in the corpus
The 184 distinct written forms H413 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that state’s occurrences in the concordance. Hebrew forms include their vowel points and cantillation, so a single lemma takes many written forms.
| Form | Parsing | Example | Uses |
|---|---|---|---|
| אֶל | Preposition | Amos 2:7 | 3,369 |
| וְ/אֶל | Preposition | Daniel 8:9 | 277 |
| אֶֽל | Preposition | Deuteronomy 31:20 | 139 |
| אֵלַ֔/י | Preposition | Daniel 8:14 | 87 |
| אֵלָי/ו֙ | Preposition | Daniel 8:7 | 77 |
| אֵלַ֥/י | Preposition | Deuteronomy 2:2 | 73 |
| אֵלָ֔י/ו | Preposition | Deuteronomy 28:25 | 73 |
| אֵלָ֗י/ו | Preposition | Deuteronomy 26:3 | 62 |
| אֵלַ֖/י | Preposition | Daniel 8:1 | 56 |
| אֵלָ֖י/ו | Preposition | Daniel 8:6 | 55 |
| אֵלָ֑/י | Preposition | Deuteronomy 2:1 | 46 |
| אֵלַ֗/י | Preposition | Amos 7:8 | 44 |
| אֵלֶ֔י/ךָ | Preposition | Daniel 10:20 | 42 |
| אֵלֶ֖י/ךָ | Preposition | Deuteronomy 5:27 | 40 |
| אֵלַ/י֙ | Preposition | Amos 7:15 | 39 |
| אֲלֵ/הֶ֔ם | Preposition | Exodus 5:21 | 36 |
| אֲלֵי/הֶ֔ם | Preposition | Deuteronomy 18:18 | 36 |
| אֵלָ֜י/ו | Preposition | Deuteronomy 31:7 | 34 |
| אֵלָֽ/י | Preposition | Deuteronomy 5:22 | 33 |
| אֵלָ֑י/ו | Preposition | Deuteronomy 4:7 | 30 |
| וְ/אֶֽל | Preposition | Deuteronomy 23:24 | 29 |
| אֲלֵי/הֶ֗ם | Preposition | Ezekiel 12:23 | 24 |
| אֵלֶֽי/ךָ | Preposition | Exodus 6:29 | 24 |
| אֵלַ֛/י | Preposition | Deuteronomy 3:26 | 23 |
| אֲלֵ/הֶ֑ם | Preposition | Deuteronomy 29:2 | 22 |
| אֲלֵי/הֶ֖ם | Preposition | Deuteronomy 28:32 | 22 |
| אֲלֵי/הֶם֙ | Preposition | Ezekiel 3:6 | 22 |
| אֵלֶ֑י/ךָ | Preposition | Daniel 10:11 | 21 |
| אֵלָ֛י/ו | Preposition | Esther 7:7 | 21 |
| אֵלָֽי/ו | Preposition | Deuteronomy 4:7 | 21 |
| אֲלֵ/הֶ֗ם | Preposition | Deuteronomy 5:1 | 20 |
| אֲלֵ/הֶם֙ | Preposition | Deuteronomy 20:3 | 20 |
| אֵלֶ֨י/ךָ֙ | Preposition | Daniel 10:11 | 20 |
| אֵלֶ֣י/ךָ | Preposition | 2 Samuel 14:32 | 19 |
| אֲלֵי/הֶֽם | Preposition | Deuteronomy 21:18 | 18 |
| אֲלֵי/הֶ֜ם | Preposition | Ezekiel 9:7 | 17 |
| אֵלֶ֗י/ךָ | Preposition | Deuteronomy 5:31 | 16 |
| אֵלֶ֔י/הָ | Preposition | Deuteronomy 22:14 | 15 |
| אֵלָ֣י/ו | Preposition | 2 Chronicles 35:21 | 14 |
| אֲלֵי/הֶ֑ם | Preposition | Esther 3:4 | 13 |
| אֲלֵי/כֶ֔ם | Preposition | Ezekiel 13:8 | 13 |
| אֵלֶ֨י/הָ֙ | Preposition | Deuteronomy 21:13 | 13 |
| אֵלֶ֖י/הָ | Preposition | Deuteronomy 20:10 | 12 |
| אֵלַ֜/י | Preposition | Exodus 11:8 | 12 |
| אֲלֵי/כֶ֑ם | Preposition | Exodus 3:13 | 11 |
| אֲלֵי/כֶֽם | Preposition | Deuteronomy 1:45 | 11 |
| אֵלֶ֛י/ךָ | Preposition | Deuteronomy 13:1 | 11 |
| אֵלַ֣/י | Preposition | Deuteronomy 9:13 | 11 |
| אֲלֵי/כֶ֖ם | Preposition | Deuteronomy 1:43 | 10 |
| אֶ֖ל | Preposition | Ezekiel 9:3 | 10 |
| אֵלֶ֥י/ךָ | Preposition | 2 Kings 9:5 | 9 |
| אֵלָ֥י/ו | Preposition | Exodus 36:3 | 9 |
| אֲלֵ/הֶ֜ם | Preposition | Exodus 16:3 | 8 |
| אֵ֠לָי/ו | Preposition | 1 Samuel 19:4 | 8 |
| אֵלֵ֖י/נוּ | Preposition | Deuteronomy 1:6 | 8 |
| אֲלֵ/הֶ֖ם | Preposition | Ecclesiastes 8:14 | 7 |
| אֵלֵ֔י/נוּ | Preposition | Genesis 19:5 | 7 |
| אֵלֶ֜י/ךָ | Preposition | Exodus 27:20 | 7 |
| אֵלֶֽי/הָ | Preposition | Genesis 20:6 | 7 |
| וְ/אֶ֖ל | Preposition | Daniel 9:6 | 7 |
The 60 most common forms are shown; 124 rarer forms follow in the full concordance.
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H413, grouped by Strong’s listed origin. These share a root / origin per the lexicon — not necessarily a shared meaning. Each links to that word’s own entry.
Proper names from this root
People and places named from this root — a name, not an additional meaning of the word.
Compare all same-root words → 1 of the same-root words is a proper name (a person or place). They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
Most of the 4,204 Hebrew verses this word occurs in also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), so the same passages can be read in Greek by switching the Old Testament edition to the Septuagint.
Read these verses in the Septuagint
- Genesis 1:9
- Exodus 1:9
- Leviticus 1:1
- Numbers 1:1
- Deuteronomy 1:1
- Joshua 1:1
- Judges 1:1
- Ruth 1:7
- 1 Samuel 1:14
- 2 Samuel 1:2
- 1 Kings 1:11
- 2 Kings 1:2
This is a verse-level parallel only — the same verses exist in both the Hebrew and Greek Old Testaments. No word-level Hebrew↔Greek correspondence is claimed: the data carries no such alignment, so no Greek word is shown as this Hebrew word’s translation. Coverage is not total — the Septuagint omits the deuterocanon and renumbers the Psalms, so some Hebrew verses have no direct Greek parallel.
