אֱלֹהַּ

Deuteronomy 32:15 אֱל֣וֹהַ God

But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked—becoming fat, bloated, and gorged. He abandoned the God who made him and scorned the Rock of his salvation.

Here: The rare singular form of the common word for God, mostly found in poetry. It returns in v. 17, where Israel sacrifices to demons, 'not to Eloah' — the God it abandons here.

Deuteronomy 32:17 אֱלֹ֔הַ [are] God

They sacrificed to demons, not to God, to gods they had not known, to newly arrived gods, which your fathers did not fear.

Here: The rare singular 'Eloah', a word found mostly in poetry. 'Not Eloah' either says Israel's sacrifices did not go to God, or brands the shedim as 'no-god', unworthy of the name. Verse 21 uses 'no-god' (lōʾ ʾēl) in the same way.

2 Chronicles 32:15 אֱל֙וֹהַ֙ god of

So now, do not let Hezekiah deceive you, and do not let him mislead you like this. Do not believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to deliver his people from my hand or from the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God deliver you from my hand!”

Here: The singular form, fairly rare outside Job and poetry: 'any single god'. It sets up the contrast with 'your God' at the end, which the speaker treats as just one more member of the class.

Nehemiah 9:17 אֱל֨וֹהַּ [are] a God

They refused to listen and failed to remember the wonders You performed among them. They stiffened their necks and appointed a leader to return them to their bondage in Egypt. But You are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in loving devotion, and You did not forsake them.

Here: The rare singular form of the word for God, used mostly in poetry and late books. It is linked to the next word: 'a God of…'.

Job 3:4 אֱל֣וֹהַּ God

If only that day had turned to darkness! May God above disregard it; may no light shine upon it.

Job 3:23 אֱל֣וֹהַּ God

Why is life given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in?

Job 4:9 אֱל֣וֹהַ God

By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of His anger they are consumed.

Here: The singular form of the word for God. It is rare elsewhere but very common in Job's poetry. It has an old, solemn sound and suits the book's setting outside Israel, where the name YHWH is mostly avoided in the speeches.

Job 4:17 מֵאֱל֣וֹהַ from God

‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God, or a man more pure than his Maker?

Here: ʾĔlôah is the singular, poetic name for God, and Job uses it far more than any other book. The prefix mē- ('from') can mean 'than' (comparison) or 'before, in the judgment of'. That is the main interpretive question in this verse.

Job 5:17 אֱל֑וֹהַּ God

Blessed indeed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.

Here: The singular poetic word for God. It is rare elsewhere in the Bible but very common in Job, where it fits the book's archaic, non-Israelite setting.

Job 6:4 אֱל֣וֹהַּ God

For the arrows of the Almighty have pierced me; my spirit drinks in their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against me.

Here: The singular word for 'God'. It is rare outside Job but very common in its poetry. It pairs with Shaddai, so the same God is named twice.

Job 6:8 אֱלֽוֹהַּ׃ God

If only my request were granted and God would fulfill my hope:

Job 6:9 אֱ֭לוֹהַּ God

that God would be willing to crush me, to unleash His hand and cut me off!

Job 9:13 אֱ֭לוֹהַּ God

God does not restrain His anger; the helpers of Rahab cower beneath Him.

Job 10:2 אֱ֭לוֹהַּ God

I will say to God: Do not condemn me! Let me know why You prosecute me.

Here: The singular, poetic word for God. It is far more common in Job than anywhere else in the Bible and gives the speeches an old, elevated tone. Job uses it for the one high God who is both his opponent and his judge.

Job 11:5 אֱל֣וֹהַּ God

But if only God would speak and open His lips against you,

Job 11:6 אֱ֝ל֗וֹהַ God

and disclose to you the secrets of wisdom, for true wisdom has two sides. Know then that God exacts from you less than your iniquity deserves.

Here: The singular poetic word for God. It is a favourite of the book of Job, which uses it far more than any other book. It gives the speeches an old-fashioned, non-Israelite tone that suits the setting.

Job 11:7 אֱל֣וֹהַ God

Can you fathom the deep things of God or discover the limits of the Almighty?

Here: The singular, poetic word for God. Job uses it far more than any other book. It gives the speech an old, solemn sound and fits the book's setting outside Israel.

Job 12:4 לֶ֭אֱלוֹהַּ to God

I am a laughingstock to my friends, though I called on God, and He answered. The righteous and upright man is a laughingstock.

Here: Eloah is the singular, poetic word for God. Job's speeches use it far more than any other biblical book. It is not a different deity. It is the old, lofty way the book's non-Israelite speakers name the one God.

Job 12:6 אֱל֣וֹהַּ God

The tents of robbers are safe, and those who provoke God are secure—those who carry their god in their hands.

Here: This poetic divine name is common in Job. It can be the subject ('God brought') or the object ('brought God/a god'). Hebrew allows both readings.

Job 15:8 אֱל֣וֹהַ God

Do you listen in on the council of God or limit wisdom to yourself?

Here: The singular, old poetic name for God that the book of Job prefers. It suits the speakers' setting outside Israel and gives the debate a formal, lofty tone.

Job 16:20 אֱ֝ל֗וֹהַ God

My friends are my scoffers as my eyes pour out tears to God.

Job 16:21 אֱל֑וֹהַּ God

Oh, that a man might plead with God as he pleads with his neighbor!

Here: The singular, poetic word for God that Job favors. In the dialogue it stands for the high God who has, as Job sees it, turned into his opponent at law.

Job 19:6 אֱל֣וֹהַּ God

then understand that it is God who has wronged me and drawn His net around me.

Job 19:21 אֱ֝ל֗וֹהַּ God

Have pity on me, my friends, have pity, for the hand of God has struck me.

Here: The singular, poetic word for God. It is a favorite of the book of Job, whose speeches mostly avoid the name YHWH. Job names God as the one behind his suffering.

Job 19:26 אֱלֽוֹהַּ׃ God

Even after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God.

Here: Eloah, the singular, poetic name for God that the book of Job uses far more than any other book. It names the very God Job is accusing of wronging him. Job expects to see his opponent in court face to face.

Job 21:9 אֱל֣וֹהַּ God

Their homes are safe from fear; no rod of punishment from God is upon them.

Job 21:19 אֱל֗וֹהַּ God

It is said that God lays up one’s punishment for his children. Let God repay the man himself, so he will know it.

Job 22:12 אֱ֭לוֹהַּ [is] God

Is not God as high as the heavens? Look at the highest stars, how lofty they are!

Job 22:26 אֱל֣וֹהַּ God

Surely then you will delight in the Almighty and lift up your face to God.

Here: The singular, poetic and old-sounding word for God. The book of Job uses it far more than any other book. It parallels Shaddai in the first half of the line.

Job 24:12 וֶ֝אֱל֗וֹהַּ and God

From the city, men groan, and the souls of the wounded cry out, yet God charges no one with wrongdoing.

Job 27:3 אֱל֣וֹהַּ God

as long as my breath is still within me and the breath of God remains in my nostrils,

Here: The singular word for 'God'. It is rare in most of the Bible but is the book of Job's favorite. Calling the breath God's marks it as God's gift on loan.

Job 27:8 אֱל֣וֹהַּ God

For what is the hope of the godless when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?

Here: Eloah, the singular and poetic word for God that the book of Job prefers. He is the one who does both the cutting off and the drawing out.

Job 27:10 אֱל֣וֹהַּ God

Will he delight in the Almighty? Will he call upon God at all times?

Here: The singular, poetic word for God. It is a favourite of the book of Job (about 41 times) and here pairs with Shaddai in the parallel line.

Job 29:2 אֱל֣וֹהַּ <of> [when] God

“How I long for the months gone by, for the days when God watched over me,

Job 29:4 אֱ֝ל֗וֹהַּ God

when I was in my prime, when the friendship of God rested on my tent,

Job 31:2 אֱל֣וֹהַּ God

For what is the allotment of God from above, or the heritage from the Almighty on high?

Job 31:6 אֱ֝ל֗וֹהַּ God

let God weigh me with honest scales, that He may know my integrity.

Here: The singular, poetic and old-sounding word for God that Job's speeches favor. The book uses it far more than any other book, and the speakers in the dialogue avoid Israel's covenant name YHWH. Job names the weigher only in the second line, so God becomes the subject of both lines.

Job 33:12 אֱ֝ל֗וֹהַ God

Behold, you are not right in this matter. I will answer you, for God is greater than man.

Job 33:26 אֱל֨וֹהַּ׀ God

He prays to God and finds favor; he sees God’s face and shouts for joy, and God restores His righteousness to that man.

Here: The singular, poetic word for God that the book of Job uses again and again (about forty times). Fitting for speakers set outside Israel, it names the one high God without using the covenant name YHWH.

Job 35:10 אֱל֣וֹהַּ [is] God

But no one asks, ‘Where is God my Maker, who gives us songs in the night,

Here: The singular, poetic name for God that the book of Job prefers. It sounds old and lofty, and it suits the book's setting outside Israel and before Moses.

Job 36:2 לֶאֱל֣וֹהַּ [are] for God

“Bear with me a little longer, and I will show you that there is more to be said on God’s behalf.

Job 37:15 אֱל֣וֹהַּ God

Do you know how God dispatches the clouds or makes the lightning flash?

Here: Eloah, the singular, old-sounding poetic word for God that the speakers in Job prefer. It names the high God of all the earth, not one storm-spirit among many.

Job 37:22 אֱ֝ל֗וֹהַּ God

Out of the north He comes in golden splendor; awesome majesty surrounds Him.

Here: The singular, poetic name for God that is typical of the book of Job. The book mostly avoids the name Yahweh in the speeches of Job, the friends and Elihu. It is the same name used in Habakkuk 3:3, where God comes in a blaze of splendor (hôd).

Job 39:17 אֱל֣וֹהַּ God

For God has deprived her of wisdom; He has not endowed her with understanding.

Job 40:2 אֱל֣וֹהַּ God

“Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty? Let him who argues with God give an answer.”

Here: The singular, poetic form of the more common Elohim. Most of its occurrences in the Bible are in Job. Placed beside Shaddai, it balances the two halves of the line: Shaddai / Eloah.

Psalm 18:31 אֱ֭לוֹהַּ [is] God

For who is God besides the LORD? And who is the Rock except our God?

Psalm 50:22 אֱל֑וֹהַּ <of> God

Now consider this, you who forget God, lest I tear you to pieces, with no one to rescue you:

Here: A rare singular, poetic word for God, common in Job and found only a few times in the Psalms. It echoes the Song of Moses (Deut 32:15, 17), another poem where God takes his people to court for forgetting him.

Psalm 114:7 אֱל֣וֹהַּ [the] God of

Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob,

Here: The rare singular form of the common word for God (ʾĕlōhîm), which is mostly found in Job and in old poetry. It sounds archaic and elevated, and here it is tied to one family line: the God of Jacob.

Psalm 139:19 אֱל֥וֹהַּ׀ O God

O God, that You would slay the wicked—away from me, you bloodthirsty men—

Here: Addressed directly: "O God." The rare singular form of the word for God, mostly found in Job and in poetry, giving the line a solemn, elevated tone. The vertical stroke after it is a Masoretic pause mark that keeps "God" and "wicked" from running together.

Proverbs 30:5 אֱל֣וֹהַּ God

Every word of God is flawless; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.

Here: The rare singular form of 'Elohim', used mostly in poetry and very often in Job. It gives Agur's words a solemn, wisdom-poetry tone. The verse he is echoing (Psalm 18:30) has the divine name YHWH here.

Isaiah 44:8 אֱל֙וֹהַּ֙ a god

Do not tremble or fear. Have I not told you and declared it long ago? You are My witnesses! Is there any God but Me? There is no other Rock; I know not one.”

Here: The rarer singular word for 'god', mostly found in poetry (very common in Job). Here it means 'any deity at all'.

Daniel 11:37 אֱל֖וֹהַּ god

He will show no regard for the gods of his fathers, nor for the one desired by women, nor for any other god, because he will magnify himself above them all.

Here: This is the singular "god", a rarer and more poetic word that is common in Job. "Any god whatever" sweeps up every deity not already named.

Daniel 11:38 וְלֶאֱלֹ֙הַּ֙ וְלֶאֱל֜וֹהַּ and <to> a god of, and <to> a god

And in their place, he will honor a god of fortresses—a god his fathers did not know—with gold, silver, precious stones, and riches.

Here: This is the rare singular 'Eloah', used three times in vv. 37–39 for the gods this king deals with. The prefix 'to' marks who receives the honor. It sets up a contrast: he ignores 'any god' (v. 37), yet now gives honor to one particular god.

Daniel 11:39 אֱל֣וֹהַּ a god of

He will attack the strongest fortresses with the help of a foreign god and will greatly honor those who acknowledge him, making them rulers over many and distributing the land for a price.

Here: 'A god (of)'. This is the rare singular form of the word for god. It is common in Job and late poetry, and Daniel uses it four times in vv. 37–39 for the gods the king rejects or adopts.

Habakkuk 1:11 לֵאלֹהֽוֹ׃ [becomes] <into> god his

Then they sweep by like the wind and pass through. They are guilty; their own strength is their god.”

Habakkuk 3:3 אֱל֙וֹהַ֙ God

God came from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah His glory covered the heavens, and His praise filled the earth.

Here: This is the rare singular form, not the usual plural ʾĕlōhîm. It sounds old and poetic: it occurs about 57 times, mostly in Job and in old poems such as Deuteronomy 32. Choosing it gives the opening line the feel of an ancient hymn.