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אֲלַף

𐤀𐤋𐤐

ʼălaph

H506 adjective

SILEX Entry

Root אַלַף to group, to associate, to be familiar, to count (in context of large numbers)

Definition

'Ălaph is the Aramaic noun for the cardinal number 'one thousand'. It designates the numerical value ‘1,000’, employed for counting people, livestock, wealth, or other quantities. In certain contexts, by extension, it may refer to a military division or clan (by analogy with the Hebrew usage), but in Biblical Aramaic it is primarily a numeral.

Semantic Range

one thousand (cardinal number), a collective group of a thousand units or people, rarely (by analogy with Hebrew usage) a clan or division

Root / Etymology

Derived from the root אלף meaning 'to be familiar, to learn, to group together', but as a noun it is related to the Hebrew אֶלֶף (ʾéleph), the standard Hebrew term for 'one thousand'. The term passed into Aramaic with the same cardinal meaning. The etymological connection to the root ('to group or associate') is distant; as a numeral, the word functions independently of the underlying verbal sense.

Historical & Contextual Notes

The term appears only in the portions of the Tanakh written in Aramaic (primarily Daniel and Ezra), where it preserves the same function as Hebrew אֶלֶף: a simple cardinal number. The visual association with the head of an ox (used as the pictographic representation of the original aleph letter) explains its later use as the first letter of the alphabet and as a numeral. In Hebrew prose, especially Torah and historical books, the Hebrew form can designate a military unit or clan, but this connotation does not prominently appear in the Aramaic sections of the Bible. English translations sometimes include 'clan' or 'troop' for the Hebrew form when context demands, but in the Aramaic sections, 'thousand' is the most direct and appropriate rendering. Later Jewish and Christian tradition identified the Aramaic and Hebrew terms, and the English 'thousand' adequately captures the usage in the biblical Aramaic texts.

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

(Aramaic) or אֶלֶף; (Aramaic), corresponding to אֶלֶף; {hence (the ox's head being the first letter of the alphabet, and this eventually used as a numeral) a thousand}; thousand.

Bantu Hebrew

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Root Family

אלף (ʾ-l-p̄) — to group, to associate, to be familiar, to count large groupings

Strong's Lemma SIBI-P1
H441 אַלּוּף clan chief
H502 אָלַף the one training us
H503 אָלַף causing to multiply by thousands (feminine plural)
H504 אֶלֶף your clans
H505 אֶלֶף thousands

Word Forms

5 distinct forms

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 Occurrences
H506-04 אֶ֤לֶף elef AAcmsc thousand thousand-group 1
H506-01 אֲלַ֑ף alaf AAcmsa a thousand one thousand 1
H506-02 אַלְפִין֙ alefin AAcmpa thousands thousands 1
H506-05 אלפים lfym AAcmpa thousands thousands 1
H506-03 אַלְפָּ֖/א alepa AAcmsd/Td the thousand the thousand 1

Occurrences in Scripture

5 total occurrences

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1
H506-01 Daniel 5:1 אֲלַ֑ף alaf AAcmsa a thousand one thousand
H506-03 Daniel 5:1 אַלְפָּ֖/א alepa AAcmsd/Td the thousand the thousand
H506-04 Daniel 7:10 אֶ֤לֶף elef AAcmsc thousand thousand-group
H506-05 Daniel 7:10 אלפים lfym AAcmpa thousands thousands
H506-02 Daniel 7:10 אַלְפִין֙ alefin AAcmpa thousands thousands
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