עֵילָם
Elam
BDB lists 9 entries for ‘Elam’ 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.
Noun type
- Proper
- A name of a specific person, place, or people (e.g. Abraham, Zion, Israel).
- Common
- A common noun — a general class of person, place, or thing (“king,” “city,” “water”), not a specific name.
State
- Absolute
- The independent form of a noun, not bound to a following word.
Gender
- Masculine
- Grammatically masculine.
Number
- Singular
- One.
Every verse where H5867 appears in the Book of Ezekiel — 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.
Ezekiel
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.
At its core, עילם (ʻÊylâm) means “Elam.” Scripture first uses it in Genesis 10:22. Spanning 27 verses in 8 books, it ranks among the moderately common words of the Hebrew Bible. Its uses concentrate in Jeremiah (26% of all occurrences). Each statement above links to its evidence; the full detail follows below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H5867 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 →
- 27
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 27 distinct verses.
- 8 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 8 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #1,139
- by frequency
- Top 2500 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 1,139 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 27 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 27 distinct verses.
- Writings (Ketuvim) 13 verses · 48%
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 11 verses · 41%
- Torah (Pentateuch) 3 verses · 11%
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 2 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†: Elam 25×
- American Standard Version†: Elam 25×
- Berean Standard Bible†: Elam 25×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text†: Elam 21×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H5867 across 28† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 3 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 H5867 across 28† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 3 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 H5867 across 26† 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. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 1 further occurrence.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H5867 across 23† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 2 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
8 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 8 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.
עילם I Elam, Αιλαμ, Ἐλαμεῖται, well-known country and people NE. of Lower Tigris (Assyrian Elamtu DlPa 320 ff. COT Gn 10
עילם II
- 1. heads of families of returned exiles:
- a. Ezr 2:7 = Ne 7:12. e.g. Ezra 2:7
- b. Ezr 2:31 = Ne 7:34. e.g. Ezra 2:31
- c. Ezr 8:7; 10:2 (Qr; Kt עולם), v 26. e.g. Ezra 8:7
- 2. a chief of people Ne 10:15. e.g. Nehemiah 10:15
- 3. name in Benjamin 1 Ch 8:24. e.g. 1 Chronicles 8:24
- 4. Levite name 1 Ch 26:3. e.g. 1 Chronicles 26:3
- 5. a priest Ne 12:42. e.g. Nehemiah 12:42
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.pr.gent. et terr. Elam, Αιλαμ, Ἐλαμεῖται, well-known country and people NE. of Lower Tigris (Assyrian Elamtu DlPa 320 ff. COT Gn 10:22);—as early invaders of Palestin Gn 14:1, 9, allies of Assyrian Is 22:6; foe of Babylon 21:2; abode of dispersed Israelites 11:11; prophesied against Je 49:34, 35, 36(×2) (Qr, Kt עולם), v 37, 38, 39 Ez 32:24, cf. כָּל־מַלְכֵי ע׳ Je 25:25; called ‘son’ of Shem Gn 10:22 (P) = 1 Ch 1:17; purely local designation ע׳ הַמְּדִינָה Dn 8:2.
II. n.pr.m. Ηλαμ, Αιλαμ:
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Derived from עלם (ʻâlam) (H5956) — to hide.
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.
עִילַּם
- strong, v. עֲלֵם.
עִילָם
- (b. h.) pr. n. Elam (Susiana), south of Assyria (v. Schr. KAT2, p. 111). Gen. R. s. 42 ע׳ זה מדי Elam (Gen. XIV, 1) is Media. Snh. 89ᵃ; a. e.—Denom. עֵילָמִי; f. עילָמִית Elamite, Elamitic. Meg. 18ᵃ קראה … ע׳ if he read the Book of Esther in Elamitic.—Pl. m. עֵילָמִים. Ib. עילמית לע׳ (if he read the Book of Esther) in Elamitic to Elamites. e.g. Genesis 14:1
עָלַם I
- (v. אָלַם)
- 1. to surround, tie up.
- 2. to be strong.
- to tie up. Yalk. Prov. 946 quot. fr. Y’lamd. (ref. to וחושך, Prov. X, 19) לא אמרתי שתְּעַלֵּם פיך וכ׳ I did not say that thou must tie up thy mouth and sit in silence, but restrain thy lips from &c.; Yalk. Num. 738 שתְּאַלֵּים. Num. R. s. 14 (ref. to Gen. XLIX, 22) שעי׳ עינו מאשת וכ׳ he closed his eye not to look at the wife &c. (v. עָלַם II, Hif.). e.g. Proverbs 10:19
עָלַם II
- v. preced.) [to surround, tie up,] to conceal. Yalk. Cant. 981, v. infra.—Part. pass. עָלוּם; f. עֲלוּמָה; pl. עֲלוּמִים, עֲלוּמִין; עֲלוּמוֹת. Ab. Zar. 35ᵇ (play on עֲלָמוֹת, Cant. I, 3) קרי ביה עלומות read it ʿălumoth (secret things). e.g. Song of Solomon 1:3
- same. Part. pass. מְעוּלָּם; f. מְעוּלֶּמֶת; pl. מְעוּלָּמִים, מְעוּלָּמִין; מְעוּלָּמוֹת. Midr. Till. to Ps. XLVI, 1 (play on עלמות, ib.) מע׳ הן הדברים וכ׳ the things we saw are hidden, we know not what we saw.
- , Nithpa. נִתְעַלֵּם to be concealed, to escape; to hide one’s self. Num. R. s. 20 אין כל דבר נ׳ ממך nothing is unknown to thee. Y. Pes. VI, beg. 33ᵃ נֶעֶלְמָה הלכה ממנו the law escaped his memory; Bab. Pes. 66ᵃ נִתְעַלְּמָה. Y. Yoma III, 40ᵈ bot. לא … מִתְעַלֵּם מהן they did not move from there before it (the pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton) escaped their memory again. Y. Ab. Zar. IV, 44ᵇ top עד שיִתְעַלֵּם מעיניהם until he is left out of their sight. Y. Ber. IV, 8ᵃ ואל תִּתְעַלֵּם מתחינתנו do not hide thyself (turn away) from our prayer; a. fr.
- 1. to conceal. Ex. R. s. 1 (ref. to העלמה Ex. II, 8) שהֶעֱלִימָה וכ׳ she kept her own secret. Cant. R. to I, 3 (play on עלמות, ib.) על שהֶעֱלַמְתָּ מהם יום וכ׳ because thou hast concealed from them the day of death and the day of consolation, they love thee; על שהעלמת מתן וכ׳ because thou hast concealed from them the reward of the righteous &c.; Yalk. ib. 981 שעָלַמְתָּ (Kal); Midr. Till. to Ps. IX; a. fr. e.g. Exodus 2:8
- 2. (v. עָלַם I) הע׳ עינים to close the eyes, to lose sight of. Y. Ab. Zar. IV, 44ᵃ bot. Sot. 10ᵇ ואל תַּעֲלֵם עיניך ממני do not avert thy eyes from me. Tosef. Peah IV, 20; B. Bath. 10ᵃ, a. e. המעלים … מן הצדקה who closes his eyes to charity; a. fr.
- to be concealed. Koh. R. to III, 11 (play on הָעֹלָם ib.) ה׳ מהם שם וכ׳ the pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton was concealed from them.
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 18 distinct written forms H5867 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| עֵילָ֔ם | Noun, Proper | Ezra 2:7 | 5 |
| עֵילָ֣ם | Noun, Proper | Ezra 2:31 | 4 |
| עֵילָ֑ם | Noun, Proper | Ezra 10:26 | 3 |
| עֵילָם֙ | Noun, Proper | Ezekiel 32:24 | 3 |
| עולם | Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | Jeremiah 49:36 | 2 |
| בְּ/עֵילָ֑ם | Noun, Proper | Jeremiah 49:38 | 1 |
| בְּ/עֵילָ֣ם | Noun, Proper | Daniel 8:2 | 1 |
| וְ/עֵילָ֖ם | Noun, Proper | 1 Chronicles 8:24 | 1 |
| וְ/עֵילָ֣ם | Noun, Proper | Nehemiah 12:42 | 1 |
| וְ/עֵילָם֙ | Noun, Proper | Isaiah 22:6 | 1 |
| וּ/מֵ/עֵילָ֤ם | Noun, Proper | Isaiah 11:11 | 1 |
| עֵ֠ילָם | Noun, Proper | Jeremiah 49:37 | 1 |
| עֵילָ֖ם | Noun, Proper | Jeremiah 49:39 | 1 |
| עֵילָ֗ם | Noun, Proper | Genesis 14:9 | 1 |
| עֵילָ֜ם | Noun, Proper | Jeremiah 49:36 | 1 |
| עֵילָ֤ם | Noun, Proper | 1 Chronicles 26:3 | 1 |
| עֵילָ֥ם | Noun, Proper | Nehemiah 10:14 | 1 |
| עֵילָֽם | Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | Jeremiah 49:36 | 1 |
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H5867, 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
- עולם ʻôwlâm H5769 forever
- עלום ʻâlûwm H5934 youth
- עלם ʻelem H5958 young man
- תעלמה taʻălummâh H8587 secret
Proper names from this root
People and places named from this root — a name, not an additional meaning of the word.
- יעלם Yaʻlâm H3281 Jaalam
- עלמון ʻAlmôwn H5960 Almon
- עלמת ʻÂlemeth H5964 Alemeth
- Ελαμιτης Elamítēs G1639 Elamite
- עלמי ʻAlmîy H5962 Elamite
Compare all same-root words → Showing 4 of 11 — not the complete family. 5 of the same-root words are proper names (people or places). They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Bible dictionary
Public-domain dictionary articles matched to this entry by name (Elam). A biblical name can be shared by more than one person or place, so an article may treat several.
Easton's Bible Dictionary · M. G. Easton, 1897
Highland, the son of Shem (Gen. 10:22), and the name of the country inhabited by his descendants (14:1, 9; Isa. 11:11; 21:2, etc.) lying to the east of Babylonia, and extending to the shore of the Mediterranean, a distance in a direct line of about 1,000 miles. The name Elam is an Assyrian word meaning "high."
"The inhabitants of Elam, or the Highlands,' to the east of Babylon, were called Elamites. They were divided into several branches, speaking different dialects of the same agglutinative language. The race to which they belonged was brachycephalic, or short-headed, like the pre-Semitic Sumerians of Babylonia.
"The earliest Elamite kingdom seems to have been that of Anzan, the exact site of which is uncertain; but in the time of Abraham, Shushan or Susa appears to have already become the capital of the country. Babylonia was frequently invaded by the Elamite kings, who at times asserted their supremacy over it (as in the case of Chedorlaomer, the Kudur-Lagamar, or servant of the goddess Lagamar,' of the cuneiform texts).
"The later Assyrian monarchs made several campaigns against Elam, and finally Assur-bani-pal (about B.C. 650) succeeded in conquering the country, which was ravaged with fire and sword. On the fall of the Assyrian Empire, Elam passed into the hands of the Persians" (A.H. Sayce).
This country was called by the Greeks Cissia or Susiana.
Smith's Bible Dictionary · William Smith, 1863
(eternity).
+ This seems to have been originally the name of a man, the son of Shem. (Genesis 10:22; 1 Chronicles 1:17) Commonly, however, it is used as the appellation of a country. (Genesis 14:1,9; Isaiah 11:11; 21:2) The Elam of Scripture appears to be the province lying south of Assyria and east of Persia proper, to which Herodotus gives the name of Cissia (iii. 91, v. 49, etc.), and which is termed Susis or Susiana by the geographers. Its capital was Susa. This country was originally people by descendants of Shem. By the time of Abraham a very important power had been built up in the same region. It is plain that at this early time the predominant power in lower Mesopotamia was Elam, which for a while held the place possessed earlier by Babylon, (Genesis 10:10) and later by either Babylon or Assyria. + A Korhite Levite in the time of King David. (1 Chronicles 26:3) (B.C. 1014.) + A chief man of the tribe of Benjamin. (1 Chronicles 8:24) + "Children of Elam," to the number of 1254, returned with Zerubbabel from Babylon. (Ezra 2:7; Nehemiah 7:12) 1Esd. 5:12. (B.C. 536 or before.) Elam occurs amongst the names of the chief of the people who signed the covenant with Nehemiah. (Nehemiah 10:14) + In the same lists is a second Elam, whose sons, to the same number as in the former case, returned with Zerubbabel, (Ezra 2:31; Nehemiah 7:34) and which for the sake of distinction is called "the other Elam." + One of the priests who accompanied Nehemiah at the dedication of the new wall of Jerusalem. (Nehemiah 12:42)
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary · Roswell D. Hitchcock, 1869
a young man; a virgin; a secret
Classic public-domain reference works; full attribution on Sources.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 16 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 27 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.
