Hebrew word · H457

אֱלִיל

'elilei

idol

As an adjective: worthless, empty, of no value. Job 13:4 has 'physicians of worthlessness', i.e. useless doctors, and Zechariah 11:17 has 'the worthless shepherd'. As a noun: a worthless thing, and specifically a false god or idol.

Appears 20 times in 18 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) of nought, good for nothing, worthless

1a) of physicians, a shepherd, a divination

1b) of false gods

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 2:20

Range of meaning

As an adjective: worthless, empty, of no value. Job 13:4 has 'physicians of worthlessness', i.e. useless doctors, and Zechariah 11:17 has 'the worthless shepherd'. As a noun: a worthless thing, and specifically a false god or idol. It may be related to Akkadian and Syriac words meaning 'weak' or 'feeble'.

Against the English

English 'idol' just means a cult image or statue. The Hebrew word is itself a put-down. It sounds like ʾēl / ʾĕlōhîm ('God') and means 'nothing', so 'godlets', 'nonentities' or 'no-gods' come closer to its sneer.

How it drifted

The insult was lost once translators settled on 'idol', a neutral word for an image. Today 'idol' also means a celebrity, or anything a person loves too much, which moves even further from the physical statue Isaiah means.

Used elsewhere in the period

The word is especially frequent in Isaiah: 2:8, 18, 20; 10:10–11; 19:1, 3; 31:7. It also appears in Leviticus 19:4 and 26:1 and in Psalm 96:5 (= 1 Chronicles 16:26): 'all the gods of the peoples are ʾĕlîlîm, but the LORD made the heavens.' That psalm line sets the gods' 'nothingness' against the LORD's work as creator. The Septuagint has various renderings, including 'handmade things' and 'abominations'.

From the study of Isaiah 2:8

Range of meaning

Basic sense: 'weakness, worthlessness, nothing.' It is used as an adjective or noun for worthless things: 'worthless physicians' (Job 13:4), the 'worthless shepherd' (Zech 11:17), 'worthless divination' (Jer 14:14). In the plural it is a contemptuous name for other gods and their images (Lev 19:4; 26:1; Ps 96:5; Hab 2:18). Lexicons (BDB, HALOT) link it to Semitic words for 'weak, feeble' (Syriac ʾallîl) and possibly to the negative particle ʾal, 'not.'

Against the English

'Idols' correctly names what the objects were: cult images. But the English word is neutral and descriptive, while the Hebrew is a sneer. Isaiah does not say 'images' or 'gods'. He calls them 'nothings', 'good-for-nothings'.

How it drifted

English 'idol' came through Latin idolum from Greek eidōlon, 'image, phantom.' It names the object without passing judgment on it. In modern English it has also come to mean a celebrity ('pop idol') or, loosely, anything a person puts first. Both senses lose the physical object and the mockery.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isaiah uses the word more than any other prophet (2:8, 18, 20; 10:10–11; 19:1, 3; 31:7). Psalm 96:5 shows the wordplay at work: 'all the gods (ʾĕlōhîm) of the peoples are ʾĕlîlîm', which plays on the sound of the word for gods. Leviticus 19:4: 'Do not turn to the ʾĕlîlîm.' The Septuagint, the ancient Greek translation, renders the word in different ways, including words meaning 'handmade things' and 'abominations.' This shows that ancient translators understood it as a hostile term, not a neutral one.

From the study of Isaiah 19:1

Range of meaning

Worthless thing, nothingness (Job 13:4, 'worthless physicians'; Zech 11:17, 'worthless shepherd'; Jer 14:14, 'worthless divination'). In the plural, especially in Isaiah, it means other nations' gods or their images: 'nothings, non-gods'.

Against the English

English 'idols' is accurate about the reference, cult images and the gods they stand for. But it is a neutral word. The Hebrew is a contemptuous pun: it sounds like 'ĕlōhîm ('God/gods') but means 'nobodies'. 'Godlets' or 'no-gods' gets closer to the tone.

Used elsewhere in the period

The word is concentrated in Isaiah (2:8, 18, 20; 10:10–11; 19:1, 3; 31:7) and the Psalms (96:5, 'all the gods of the peoples are 'ĕlîlîm', where the sound-play with 'ĕlōhîm is explicit). Some connect it to a Semitic root for 'weak' (compare Syriac ʾlīl). The LXX translates it here as τὰ χειροποίητα, 'the handmade things', which stresses that they are manufactured.

Where it appears

Leviticus · 2

  1. Leviticus 19:4 הָ֣אֱלִילִ֔ים <the> worthless idols

    Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves molten gods. I am the LORD your God.

    Here: 'The nothings.' This is a mocking label for other gods and their cult objects. Elsewhere the same word is an adjective meaning 'worthless' (Job 13:4; Zech 11:17). It sounds like the Hebrew words for God and god (ʾel, ʾelohim), so it works as a sneering pun: 'godlets' or 'no-gods.' This verse is its first appearance in the Bible.

  2. Leviticus 26:1 אֱלִילִ֗ם worthless idols

    “You must not make idols for yourselves or set up a carved image or sacred pillar; you must not place a sculpted stone in your land to bow down to it. For I am the LORD your God.

    Here: Literally "nothings, worthless things". A mocking term for other gods and their images that sounds like ʾĕlōhîm ("God/gods") at the end of the verse. The idols are named for what they are worth: nothing.

1 Chronicles · 1

  1. 1 Chronicles 16:26 אֱלִילִ֔ים [are] worthless idols

    For all the gods of the nations are idols, but it is the LORD who made the heavens.

    Here: The punchline. It sounds almost like ʾelohim ('gods') but means 'nothings, worthless ones.' The verb 'are' is implied, as is normal in Hebrew. Saying 'gods… are no-gods' is a deliberate sound-play.

Job · 1

  1. Job 13:4 אֱלִ֣ל worthlessness

    You, however, smear with lies; you are all worthless physicians.

    Here: Here it means 'nothingness, worthlessness', not 'idol'. 'Healers of nothing' are healers whose remedies are empty. The word is often used to mock idols as 'nothings', so it carries contempt.

Psalms · 2

  1. Psalm 96:5 אֱלִילִ֑ים [are] worthless idols

    For all the gods of the nations are idols, but it is the LORD who made the heavens.

    Here: The punchline. It sounds almost like ʾelohim ('gods') but means 'weak, worthless nothings'. The verse says the gods are not gods at all but 'no-gods', empty and powerless. The main point is that they are nothing, more than that they are statues.

  2. Psalm 97:7 בָּאֱלִילִ֑ים in <the> worthless idols

    All worshipers of images are put to shame—those who boast in idols. Worship Him, all you gods!

    Here: 'In the nothings.' The word means 'worthless, empty' (Job 13:4 'worthless physicians'), and it sounds almost like ʾĕlōhîm, 'gods'. Calling the gods 'godlets' or 'nothings' is a deliberate insult.

Isaiah · 10

  1. Isaiah 2:8 אֱלִילִ֑ים idols

    Their land is full of idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their fingers have made.

    Here: The climax of the list. The word basically means 'nothing, worthless thing' and is used as a sneering name for cult images and the gods they stood for: the land is full of 'nothings.' It sits in the sentence with no preposition, as the thing the land is filled with.

  2. Isaiah 2:18 וְהָאֱלִילִ֖ים and the idols

    and the idols will vanish completely.

  3. Isaiah 2:20 אֱלִילֵ֣י אֱלִילֵ֣י [the] idols of

    In that day men will cast away to the moles and bats their idols of silver and gold—the idols they made to worship.

    Here: Isaiah's mocking word for idols. As an adjective it means 'worthless, nothing', and it sounds like ʾēl / ʾĕlōhîm ('God'). Roughly: 'godlets', 'nothings'.

  4. Isaiah 10:10 הָאֱלִ֑יל the idol

    As my hand seized the idolatrous kingdoms whose images surpassed those of Jerusalem and Samaria,

  5. Isaiah 10:11 וְלֶאֱלִילֶ֑יהָ and to idols its

    and as I have done to Samaria and its idols, will I not also do to Jerusalem and her idols?”

  6. Isaiah 19:1 אֱלִילֵ֤י [the] idols of

    This is the burden against Egypt: Behold, the LORD rides on a swift cloud; He is coming to Egypt. The idols of Egypt will tremble before Him, and the hearts of the Egyptians will melt within them.

    Here: Isaiah's favourite mocking word for other gods. It means 'nothings' or 'worthless ones' and sounds like 'El/Elohim' (God). The idea is something like 'the godlets of Egypt' or 'Egypt's no-gods'.

  7. Isaiah 19:3 הָֽאֱלִילִים֙ the idols

    Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be emptied out from among them, and I will frustrate their plans, so that they will resort to idols and spirits of the dead, to mediums and spiritists.

    Here: "The idols": Isaiah's mocking word for foreign gods. It sounds like el/elohim ('god') but means 'nothing, worthless'. These are the same 'idols of Egypt' that tremble before the LORD in 19:1.

  8. Isaiah 31:7 אֱלִילֵ֣י וֶאֱלִילֵ֖י [the] idols of, and [the] idols of

    For on that day, every one of you will reject the idols of silver and gold that your own hands have sinfully made.

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 14:14 וֶֽאֱלִיל֙ and an idol

    “The prophets are prophesying lies in My name,” replied the LORD. “I did not send them or appoint them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a false vision, a worthless divination, the futility and delusion of their own minds.

    Here: Something of no value, "a nothing." The same word is a common mocking name for idols, so the message is as empty as an idol.

Ezekiel · 1

  1. Ezekiel 30:13 אֱלִילִים֙ worthless idols

    This is what the Lord GOD says: I will destroy the idols and put an end to the images in Memphis. There will no longer be a prince in Egypt, and I will instill fear in that land.

Habakkuk · 1

  1. Habakkuk 2:18 אֱלִילִ֥ים idols

    What use is an idol, that a craftsman should carve it—or an image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak.

    Here: A contemptuous word for idols meaning 'nonentities, nothings'. It likely sounds like a belittling form of 'el / elohim' ('god'). Psalm 96:5 says 'all the gods of the peoples are elilim.'

Zechariah · 1

  1. Zechariah 11:17 הָֽאֱלִיל֙ <the> worthlessness

    Woe to the worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock! May a sword strike his arm and his right eye! May his arm be completely withered and his right eye utterly blinded!”

    Here: 'The nothingness': a shepherd who is empty and good for nothing. The word is the same one used for idols as 'nothings', so it carries a sneer: he is a hollow sham of a shepherd.

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