אֶ֫לֶף
cattle
‘cattle’ is one of 3 main senses 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
- Noun
- A naming word — a person, place, thing, or idea.
- Adjective
- A word that describes or qualifies a noun.
Noun type
- Common
- A common noun — a general class of person, place, or thing (“king,” “city,” “water”), not a specific name.
State
- Construct
- A noun bound to a following noun in a possessive / “of” relationship (the construct chain).
- Absolute
- The independent form of a noun, not bound to a following word.
Gender
- Masculine
- Grammatically masculine.
- Both
- Attested as both masculine and feminine.
Number
- Plural
- More than one (in Hebrew, generally three or more).
- Singular
- One.
Every verse where H504 appears in the Book of Judges — 1 distinct verse. 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.
Judges
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.
“cattle” is the headline sense of the Hebrew noun אלף (ʼeleph). It clusters heavily in Deuteronomy, which alone accounts for 50% of its uses. It turns up in 8 verses across 5 books, an uncommon footprint. Its earliest occurrence is Deuteronomy 7:13. Its meaning spans more than one sense — see its full sense range. The sections below give every sense, occurrence, and version rendering.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H504 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 →
- 8
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 8 distinct verses.
- 5 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 5 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #2,625
- by frequency
- Top 5000 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 2,625 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 8 occurrences in the concordance →
Most concentrated in
- Deuteronomy 4 verses 50%
- Judges 1 verse 13%
- Psalms 1 verse 13%
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 8 distinct verses.
- Torah (Pentateuch) 4 verses · 50%
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 2 verses · 25%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 2 verses · 25%
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).
BDB lists this Strong’s number as 3 distinct words (homographs). Each count above pools all of them and is not split by sense — see the Senses section below. A low-frequency rendering may belong to a different one of those words, not the primary meaning.
- King James Version†: Kine 4×, Oxen 3×
- American Standard Version†: Cattle 3×, Oxen 3×
- Berean Standard Bible†: Herds 4×, Oxen 3×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text†: Cattle 5×, Oxen 2×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H504 across 8† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 1 rendering that appears only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H504 across 7† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 1 rendering that appears only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
Renders H504 across 7† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H504 across 8† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 1 rendering that appears only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
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 6 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.
אלף I
- 1. numeral:
- a. used with noun alone; mostly before noun Nu 35:4 Jos 7:3 Ne 3:13 1 Ch 18:4 +; after noun (late) 1 Ch 12:35 + 6 times Ch Ezr Ne; א׳ בָּאַמָּה Nu 35:5(×4) Ez 47:3 (del. Co); the noun always pl. when preceding, sometimes when following, 1 S 25:2 1 K 3:4 2 K 18:23 = Is 36:8 2 Ch 30:24 ψ 90:4 Jb 42:12 Ec 6:6; elsewhere sg. אישׁ Ju 9:49; 15:15, 16 Jos 7:3 +; אַמָּה Nu 35:4 + (so SI); דּוֹר Dt 7:9 +, cf. 1 Ch 18:4; 19:6 2 K 15:19 Jb 42:12 Ct 4:4 Is 7:23, noun sometimes coll.; א׳ pl. cstr. Mi 6:7 ψ 119:72 Gn 24:60; noun not expr. (or not fully) Gn 20:16 Nu 31:5, 6 +; distrib. אֶלֶף … אֶלָף Nu 31:4; multipl. Dt 1:11 א׳ פְּעָמִים; indef. for great no. (pl.) Ex 20:6; 34:7 Dt 5:10 Je 32:18, (sg.) Dt 32:30 Ec 6:6 +. e.g. Numbers 35:4
- b. א׳ + other num. usually precedes it Ex 38:25 + often; but foll. רִבּוֹא Ezr 2:64 + 2 times; it follows also smaller no. Nu 3:50 1 K 5:12 (so SI); the noun foll. in sg. Ex 38:25 + 8 times; pl. 2 S 8:4 + 2 times; noun precedes, in pl. (late) Dn 12:12 + 2 times; noun not expr. Ex 38:28 + often e.g. Exodus 38:25
- c. א׳ × other no. always foll. Ex 12:37 +; usual order is no. × א׳ + additional no. (if any) + noun (ifexpr.) Nu. 31:52 Ju 20:35 cf. Ex 12:37 2 K 3:4(×2) +; less often noun + no. × א׳ Nu 31:33 1 K 8:63 +; (other combin. v. Ex 38:26 Nu 26:51; 31:32 Ez 48:30 1 Ch 29:7 etc.); א׳ usually sg. Nu 11:21 +; except after units, where pl. abs. Nu 1:46 Ju 20:34 + (so MI); seld. pl. cstr. Ex 32:28 Ju 4:10 Jb 1:3(×2); (noun mostly sg. when foll. Ju 4:10 1 K 12:21 +, yet pl. Jos 4:13 1 S 13:5 +; when preceding it is pl. 1 Ch 5:21 +, or coll. Nu 31:33 1 S 25:2 1 K 8:63 2 Ch 7:5 +); אֶלָף אֲלָפִים 1 Ch 21:5; 22:14 2 Ch 14:8; אַלְפֵי שִׁנְאָן ψ 68:18, cf. שִׁנְאָן; בְּהַרְרֵי אָ֑לֶף ψ 50:10, read אֵל cf. ψ 36:7, Ol Bi Che; yet v. Hup De.— e.g. Exodus 12:37
- 10,000 = עֲשֶׂרֶת אֲלָפִים etc. Ju 1:4; 3:29 1 K 5:28 1 Ch 29:7 +; less often רִבּוֹ, רְבָבָה etc. q.v. e.g. Judges 1:4
- 2. a thousand, a company of 1000 men, as united under one superior, or leader, hence שַׂר א׳ (שָׂרֵי) Ex 18:21, 25 cf. Nu 31:14 +; cf. רָאשֵׁי א׳ יִשְׂרָאֵל Nu 1:16; 10:4 Jos 22:21, 30 & v. infr.; cf. also 1 S 29:2; especially family, etc. Ju 6:15 1 S 10:19 (‖ שֵׁבֶט & cf. מִשְׁפַּחַת v 21); cf. Mi 5:1;—Nu 10:36 (רִבְבוֹת אַלְפֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל) 31:5 Jos 22:14 1 S 23:23 apparently shew transit. to this technical use. e.g. Exodus 18:21
אלף II loc. city in Benj., הָא׳ Jos 18
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
I. n.m. ψ 8:8; only pl. cattle (Ph. אלף, Assyrian alpu, COTGloss.)—אֲלָפִים Pr 14:4 Is 30:24 used in tillage; subject to man ψ 8:8 (‖ צֹנֶה); their increase שְׁגַר אֲלָפֶיךָ a blessing Dt 7:13; 28:4, 18, 51 (‖ all עַשְׁתְּרֹת צֹאנֶ֑ךָ).
II. n.m. Ju 6:15 thousand (אלף MI, SI, Sab. DHMZMG 1875, 615; Arabic أَلْفٌ, Aramaic ܐܳܠܶܦ, אֲלַף, אלפיא; cf. Ethiopic እልፍ mille, myrias)*.—(אָ֑׳)א׳ Gn 20:16 +; sf. אַלְפִּי †Ju 6:15; du. אַלְפַּיִם Nu 4:36 +; pl. אֲלָפִים Ex 18:21 +; cstr. אַלְפֵי Ex 32:28 +; אֲלָפֶיךָ Dt 7:13 + 2 times; אֲלָפָיו Qr 1 S 18:7 + 2 times (Kt ־פו)—a thousand.
III. n.pr.loc. city in Benj., הָא׳ Jos 18:28; perhaps Lifta NW. from Jerus. Surveyiii. 18.
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Derived from אלף (ʼâlaph) (H502) — to learn.
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.
אֶלֶף
- (b. h.) thousand. Du. אַלְפַּיִם.—Pl. אֲלָפִים.—א׳ אלפים a million. Gen. R. s. 8 שני א׳; a. fr.—Ex. R. s. 5 אַלְפַּיִם two thousand (men); a. e.
אֲלַף I
- Targ. O. Ex. XXXVIII, 25 אַלַּף ed. Berl. (Y. אלפא); a. fr.—Snh. 95ᵇ חד א׳ one thousand. Bekh. 8ᵇ מאה א׳ זוזי one hundred thousand zuz; a. fr.—Pl. אַלְפִין, אַלְפַיָּא. Targ. Ex. XXXVIII, 26; a. fr. Targ. I Sam. XVIII, 8; a. fr.—Y. Dem. VII, 26ᵇ bot.; a. fr.
אֲלַף II
- , √לף to join, be joined) to become used; to learn, study, train one’s self.—אֲלִיף accustomed, used to. Targ. I Sam. XVII, 39. Targ. O. Num. XXII, 30.—Targ. Deut. V, 1; a. fr. (v. also יְלֵיף).—Cant. R. to II, 2 צבי רבי דייליף would you like to study? B. Bath. 111ᵇ top גוד לית דין צבי למילף take me away from here, this man has no desire to learn (but only to argue). Taan. 4ᵃ man is bound למֵילַף נפשיה בניחותא [prob. למַלֵּיף, v. infra] to train himself to be gentle; a. fr.
- to train, teach. Targ. Ps. XVIII, 35 מַלֵּיף (= מְאַלֵּף). Targ. Prov. XI, 25; a. fr.—Koh. R. to IX, 10 thou didst emigrate למילף for the sake of studying, והוא גלי לאַלָּפָא but he emigrated for the sake of teaching. Y. Dem. I, 22ᵃ top ולא כן אַלְּפָן רבי (not איל׳) did you not teach us thus?—א׳ זכו, v. infra.
- as Pa. Lev. R. s. 30 (מַלֵּיף) מוֹלִיף עלי זכו offers arguments in my favor.
- to exercise, practice, exert one’s self. Targ. Is. II, 4; XXVI, 9.
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 6 distinct written forms H504 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| אֲלָפֶ֖י/ךָ | Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Construct | Deuteronomy 28:4 | 3 |
| אֲ֭לָפִים | Adjective, Cardinal number, Both, Plural, Absolute | Proverbs 14:4 | 1 |
| אֲלָפֶ֨י/ךָ֙ | Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Construct | Deuteronomy 7:13 | 1 |
| אַלְפִּ/י֙ | Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct | Judges 6:15 | 1 |
| וְ/הָ/אֲלָפִ֣ים | Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute | Isaiah 30:24 | 1 |
| וַ/אֲלָפִ֣ים | Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute | Psalms 8:7 | 1 |
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H504, 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.
Derives from
Shares the same root
Derived from this word
Compare all same-root words → They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 8 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 8 Hebrew verses it occurs in. You can read those verses in Greek by switching the Old Testament edition to the Septuagint.
Read these verses in the Septuagint
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.
