Hebrew word · H423

אָלָה

'alah

oath

(1) An oath sworn under penalty: the conditional self-curse a person takes on when he swears ("may X happen to me if I break this"). (2) The curse itself as a penalty that comes into force when the oath is broken. (3) By extension, the curse as a force that acts on its own.

Appears 35 times in 32 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) oath

2) oath of covenant

3) curse

3a) from God

3b) from men

4) execration

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Isaiah 24:6

Range of meaning

(1) An oath sworn under penalty: the conditional self-curse a person takes on when he swears ("may X happen to me if I break this"). (2) The curse itself as a penalty that comes into force when the oath is broken. (3) By extension, the curse as a force that acts on its own. In the Bible it is used again and again of the sanctions attached to the covenant.

Against the English

English "curse" now suggests a magic spell, an angry outburst or bad language. None of those fits. ʾālâ is closer to a legal penalty clause that the guilty party agreed to when entering the covenant.

How it drifted

In English 'curse' moved toward magic and profanity, and lost the sense of an oath-bound legal sanction.

Used elsewhere in the period

Deut 29:12, 14, 19–21 (Hebrew 29:11, 13, 18–20): Israel enters "the covenant and its ʾālâ," and "all the ʾālâ written in this book" will settle on the one who breaks it. Dan 9:11: "the curse (ʾālâ) and the oath written in the law of Moses has been poured out on us." Zech 5:3–4: the ʾālâ goes out "over the face of the whole land," enters the thief's house and consumes it. Jer 23:10: "because of the curse the land mourns." Num 5:21–27 (the oath-curse ritual for a suspected wife). Ancient Near Eastern vassal treaties, such as Esarhaddon's succession treaties (7th century BC), end with long lists of curses the vassal accepts on oath, including drought, famine and depopulation.

From the study of Psalm 10:7

Range of meaning

An oath that has a curse built into it ("may God do so to me if…"), or a curse spoken against someone else. Ancient oaths worked this way: you swore by calling down harm on yourself if you lied. So 'oath' and 'curse' are the same word seen from two sides.

Against the English

KJV, BSB, WEB and ESV have 'cursing'. YLT has 'oaths'. Modern 'cursing' usually means foul language, which is not the sense. NIV-type renderings that drop the curse idea (e.g. 'lies and threats') keep the menace but lose the oath.

How it drifted

In English, 'cursing' and 'swearing' came to mean vulgar or blasphemous language. The ancient idea was that words invoking a deity could actually bring harm, and that idea has faded.

Used elsewhere in the period

Leviticus 5:1, 'the voice of the ʾālāh': a public adjuration requiring witnesses to come forward. Numbers 5:21–27, the 'oath of the curse'. Deuteronomy 29:12, 14, 19–21: the covenant is called an ʾālāh, a sworn agreement with curses attached. 1 Kings 8:31: oaths sworn before the altar in legal disputes. Hosea 4:2 lists ʾālāh first in a list of crimes ('swearing, lying, murder…'). Ancient Near Eastern treaties and legal texts used curse-oaths in the same way.

From the study of Zechariah 5:3

Range of meaning

(1) A sworn oath, especially one that carries a conditional self-curse ('may such-and-such happen to me if I…'). (2) The curse attached to that oath or covenant, which falls on whoever breaks it. (3) By extension, the curse as something that has happened, a person or thing that has become a byword for cursing (Jer 29:18).

Against the English

English 'curse' suggests a hex, a swear-word or an outburst of anger. 'Alah is something else: the legal penalty clause of a sworn commitment. It was agreed in advance, it is conditional, and it is triggered only when the oath is broken. YLT's 'execration' is closer in tone; 'oath-curse' is the most exact.

How it drifted

Modern English separates 'oath' (a promise) from 'curse' (ill-wishing). In Hebrew the two were halves of one thing: you swore, and the curse was what you called down on yourself if you lied or broke faith.

Used elsewhere in the period

Deut 29:12, 14, 19–21 (Heb 29:11, 13, 18–20): Israel enters 'the covenant and its 'alah', and 'all the 'alah written in this book' settles on the secret violator and blots out his name. Num 5:21–23: the priest writes the 'alot (curses) 'in a scroll' and they enter the suspected woman's body, a close parallel to a written curse doing its work inside a person's life. Lev 5:1: the public 'voice of an 'alah' that binds witnesses. 1 Kgs 8:31: an oath sworn before the altar in a dispute between neighbours. Ancient Near Eastern treaties, such as the Aramaic Sefire inscriptions and Neo-Assyrian vassal treaties, end with written curses on whoever breaks the treaty. Lexicons: HALOT and BDB, s.v.

Where it appears

Genesis · 3

  1. Genesis 24:41 מֵאָ֣לָתִ֔י מֵאָלָתִֽי׃ from oath my

    And when you go to my kindred, if they refuse to give her to you, then you will be released from my oath.’

  2. Genesis 26:28 אָלָ֛ה an oath

    “We can plainly see that the LORD has been with you,” they replied. “We recommend that there should now be an oath between us and you. Let us make a covenant with you

    Here: An oath backed by a curse. The one swearing calls down disaster on himself if he breaks his word. It is the binding force of the treaty the visitors want.

Leviticus · 1

  1. Leviticus 5:1 אָלָ֔ה an oath

    “If someone sins by failing to testify when he hears a public charge about something he has witnessed, whether he has seen it or learned of it, he shall bear the iniquity.

    Here: A solemn curse invoking God against an unknown wrongdoer and against anyone who knows the truth and keeps it back. Here it works as a public summons to witnesses, backed by a curse from God.

Numbers · 4

  1. Numbers 5:21 הָאָלָה֒ לְאָלָ֥ה the curse, into a curse

    and the priest shall have the woman swear under the oath of the curse—‘then may the LORD make you an attested curse among your people by making your thigh shrivel and your belly swell.

  2. Numbers 5:23 הָאָלֹ֥ת the curses

    And the priest shall write these curses on a scroll and wash them off into the bitter water.

  3. Numbers 5:27 לְאָלָ֖ה <into> a curse

    When he has made her drink the water, if she has defiled herself and been unfaithful to her husband, then the water that brings a curse will enter her and cause bitter suffering; her belly will swell, her thigh will shrivel, and she will become accursed among her people.

Deuteronomy · 6

  1. Deuteronomy 29:12 וּבְאָלָת֑וֹ and in oath his

    so that you may enter into the covenant of the LORD your God, which He is making with you today, and into His oath,

  2. Deuteronomy 29:14 הָאָלָ֖ה the oath

    I am making this covenant and this oath not only with you,

  3. Deuteronomy 29:19 הָֽאָלָ֜ה the oath

    because when such a person hears the words of this oath, he invokes a blessing on himself, saying, ‘I will have peace, even though I walk in the stubbornness of my own heart.’ This will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry.

    Here: The sworn oath of the covenant together with the curse the swearer calls down on himself if he breaks it. It is one word for both, which is why translations split between 'oath' and 'curse'.

  4. Deuteronomy 29:20 הָ֣אָלָ֔ה <the> oath

    The LORD will never be willing to forgive him. Instead, His anger and jealousy will burn against that man, and every curse written in this book will fall upon him. The LORD will blot out his name from under heaven

    Here: The oath sworn with a curse attached, the penalty a person calls down on himself if he breaks his word. It is the same word as 'oath' in verses 12, 14 and 19: the very oath he heard and quietly exempted himself from.

  5. Deuteronomy 29:21 אָל֣וֹת [the] oaths of

    and single him out from all the tribes of Israel for disaster, according to all the curses of the covenant written in this Book of the Law.

  6. Deuteronomy 30:7 הָאָל֖וֹת the oaths

    Then the LORD your God will put all these curses upon your enemies who hate you and persecute you.

    Here: The curses that came with the covenant oath: the disasters Israel called down on itself if it broke faith (29:12, 14, 19–21). This is not a general word for misfortune or a magic spell. It means the penalties built into a sworn agreement.

1 Kings · 1

  1. 1 Kings 8:31 אָלָ֖ה an oath

    When a man sins against his neighbor and is required to take an oath, and he comes to take an oath before Your altar in this temple,

2 Chronicles · 3

  1. 2 Chronicles 6:22 אָלָ֖ה לְהַֽאֲלֹת֑וֹ an oath, to put under an oath him

    When a man sins against his neighbor and is required to take an oath, and he comes to take an oath before Your altar in this temple,

  2. 2 Chronicles 34:24 הָאָלוֹת֙ the curses

    that this is what the LORD says: I am about to bring calamity on this place and on its people, according to all the curses written in the book that has been read in the presence of the king of Judah,

Nehemiah · 1

  1. Nehemiah 10:29 בְּאָלָ֣ה in a curse

    hereby join with their noble brothers and commit themselves with a sworn oath to follow the Law of God given through His servant Moses and to obey carefully all the commandments, ordinances, and statutes of the LORD our Lord.

    Here: "Into a curse": a self-curse, calling down harm on oneself if the promise is broken. This is what gives the oath its teeth.

Job · 1

  1. Job 31:30 בְּאָלָ֣ה by a curse

    I have not allowed my mouth to sin by asking for his life with a curse—

Psalms · 2

  1. Psalm 10:7 אָלָ֤ה a curse

    His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and violence; trouble and malice are under his tongue.

    Here: A spoken oath that calls down harm, either on oneself if the oath is false or on someone else. Placed first in the Hebrew for emphasis: 'curse' is the first thing his mouth is full of.

  2. Psalm 59:12 וּמֵאָלָ֖ה and from a curse

    By the sins of their mouths and the words of their lips, let them be trapped in their pride, in the curses and lies they utter.

    Here: 'And from/because of a curse.' An ʾālāh is a curse spoken against someone, or the curse a person calls down on himself when swearing an oath. It does not mean foul language. The 'from' (min) gives the cause: on account of the curses.

Proverbs · 1

  1. Proverbs 29:24 אָלָ֥ה an oath

    A partner to a thief hates his own soul; he receives the oath but does not testify.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 24:6 אָלָה֙ a curse

    Therefore a curse has consumed the earth, and its inhabitants must bear the guilt; the earth’s dwellers have been burned, and only a few survive.

    Here: The curse a person brings on himself when he swears an oath and then breaks it. It is not a random hex. It is the penalty clause of the broken covenant from v.5, now carried out.

Jeremiah · 4

  1. Jeremiah 23:10 אָלָה֙ a curse

    For the land is full of adulterers—because of the curse, the land mourns and the pastures of the wilderness have dried up—their course is evil and their power is misused.

    Here: The sworn curse attached to a covenant oath, the penalty you call down on yourself if you break it (Deut 29:12–21). It may also hint at the people's false swearing (KJV 'swearing'). See the studies below.

  2. Jeremiah 29:18 לְאָלָ֤ה into a curse

    I will pursue them with sword and famine and plague. I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth—a curse, a desolation, and an object of scorn and reproach among all the nations to which I banish them.

    Here: 'Into a curse.' This is the oath-curse that sealed a covenant. Their name will become a byword people use when they call down disaster ('may you end up like them').

  3. Jeremiah 42:18 לְאָלָ֤ה <into> an curse

    For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘Just as My anger and wrath were poured out on the residents of Jerusalem, so will My wrath be poured out on you if you go to Egypt. You will become an object of cursing and horror, of vilification and disgrace, and you will never see this place again.’

    Here: 'Into a curse-oath': their fate will be quoted in curse formulas ('May God do to you what he did to the Judeans in Egypt'). Ironically, ʾālâ is also the word for the sworn oath they had just taken (42:5).

  4. Jeremiah 44:12 לְאָלָ֣ה <into> an curse

    And I will take away the remnant of Judah who have resolved to go to the land of Egypt to reside there; they will meet their end. They will all fall by the sword or be consumed by famine. From the least to the greatest, they will die by sword or famine; and they will become an object of cursing and horror, of vilification and reproach.

    Here: A sworn curse. They will become the example people name when swearing an oath: 'May God do to me what he did to the Judeans in Egypt if I…'

Ezekiel · 5

  1. Ezekiel 16:59 אָלָ֖ה an oath

    For this is what the Lord GOD says: I will deal with you according to your deeds, since you have despised the oath by breaking the covenant.

  2. Ezekiel 17:13 בְּאָלָ֔ה in an oath

    He took a member of the royal family and made a covenant with him, putting him under oath. Then he carried away the leading men of the land,

  3. Ezekiel 17:16 אָ֣לָת֔וֹ oath his

    ‘As surely as I live,’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘he will die in Babylon, in the land of the king who enthroned him, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke.

  4. Ezekiel 17:18 אָלָ֖ה [the] oath

    He despised the oath by breaking the covenant. Seeing that he gave his hand in pledge yet did all these things, he will not escape!’

  5. Ezekiel 17:19 אָֽלָתִי֙ oath my

    Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘As surely as I live, I will bring down upon his head My oath that he despised and My covenant that he broke.

Daniel · 1

  1. Daniel 9:11 הָאָלָ֣ה the curse

    All Israel has transgressed Your law and turned away, refusing to obey Your voice; so the oath and the curse written in the Law of Moses the servant of God has been poured out on us, because we have sinned against You.

    Here: "The curse", with "the": a specific, known curse. This is the curse sworn into the covenant and spelled out in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28–29, not some random hex.

Zechariah · 1

  1. Zechariah 5:3 הָֽאָלָ֔ה [is] the curse

    Then he told me, “This is the curse that is going out over the face of all the land, for according to one side of the scroll, every thief will be removed; and according to the other side, every perjurer will be removed.

    Here: The curse that is built into a sworn oath or covenant, which falls on whoever breaks it. With 'the' it means the familiar, already-known curse, the covenant curse written down in Israel's law.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.