Aramaic word · H5943

עִלַּי

ilaya'

Most High

'The Most High, the Supreme One'. It is the Aramaic counterpart of Hebrew ʿElyon. In Daniel's Aramaic it is the standard title for God in the mouths of foreigners and of Daniel (3:26; 4:2, 17, 24, 25, 32, 34; 5:18, 21; 7:25).

A Biblical Aramaic word, from the parts of the Old Testament written in Aramaic. Why Aramaic?

Appears 10 times in 10 verses of the Aramaic of the Old Testament. ·

What it means

highest, the Most High

Aramaic of il.li (עִלִּי "upper" H5942)

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 Daniel 4:34

Range of meaning

'The Most High, the Supreme One'. It is the Aramaic counterpart of Hebrew ʿElyon. In Daniel's Aramaic it is the standard title for God in the mouths of foreigners and of Daniel (3:26; 4:2, 17, 24, 25, 32, 34; 5:18, 21; 7:25). The related plural ʿelyonin appears in 'the holy ones of the Most High' (7:18, 22, 25, 27).

Against the English

All the major versions render it 'Most High'. English carries the sense well.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the Old Aramaic Sefire treaty (8th century BC), 'El and Elyan' appear in a list of divine witnesses. In the Bible the title is often used with or by non-Israelites: Melchizedek (Genesis 14:18–20), Balaam (Numbers 24:16). In Isaiah 14:13–14 the king of Babylon boasts, 'I will ascend to heaven… I will make myself like the Most High.'

From the study of Daniel 3:26

Range of meaning

Aramaic adjective “high, highest”, used as a title: “the Most High”. It is the Aramaic equivalent of Hebrew ʿelyôn. In both languages it is a long-standing title for the supreme god at the top of the divine world, and Israel applied it to its own God. It describes rank: the god above all other powers.

Against the English

English “Most High God” is accurate. But modern readers tend to hear it as a full monotheistic confession, as if the king were saying “there is only one God”. The title itself claims supremacy. It does not by itself deny that other gods exist.

How it drifted

Readers familiar with the Psalms hear “Most High” as a purely Israelite, devotional title. In the ancient world it was a title shared across cultures, which is exactly why a foreign king could use it.

Used elsewhere in the period
  • An 8th-century BC Aramaic treaty from Sefire names “El and Elyon” among the divine witnesses, so the title was in Aramaic use long before Daniel.
  • In the Bible, Melchizedek, a non-Israelite priest, blesses Abram by “God Most High” (Gen 14:18–22). See also Num 24:16 (Balaam, another non-Israelite) and Deut 32:8.
  • Daniel uses ʿillāy again in 3:32 (Eng. 4:2), throughout ch. 4 (4:17, 24, 25, 32, 34 Eng.), 5:18, 21 and 7:25. It is often the title used when gentile kings learn who rules.
  • The Greek Bible translates it hypsistos. In the Greek-speaking world, “Theos Hypsistos” (Highest God) was a common way for outsiders to refer to the Jewish God. Compare Acts 16:17, where a pagan slave girl calls Paul and Silas “servants of the Most High God”, almost exactly this verse's phrase, and Mark 5:7.

From the study of Daniel 5:18

Range of meaning

'High, highest', used in Biblical Aramaic only as a title for God, 'the Most High'. It matches Hebrew 'elyôn (Gen 14:18–22, El Elyon).

Against the English

All the English versions agree ('the Most High God' or 'God Most High'). The point to notice is when the title is used, not how it is translated.

Used elsewhere in the period

Daniel 3:26; 4:2, 17, 24–25, 32, 34; 5:18, 21; 7:25. In the Aramaic chapters it is the name for God used at the foreign court. Comparable 'Most High' titles appear in the Dead Sea Scrolls (e.g. the Genesis Apocryphon) and in Greek texts (θεὸς ὕψιστος) used by Jews in the diaspora.

Where it appears

Daniel · 10

  1. Daniel 3:26 עִלָּאָ֖ה Most High the

    Then Nebuchadnezzar approached the door of the blazing fiery furnace and called out, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out!” So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the fire,

    Here: “The Highest”, a title for the supreme god. On the lips of a Babylonian king who had asked “what god can rescue you from my hand?” (v. 15), it is a public admission that this God outranks every power in the room, including the king.

  2. Daniel 4:2 עִלָּאָ֑ה Most High the

    I am pleased to declare the signs and wonders that the Most High God has performed for me.

    Here: 'The Most High.' A title for the supreme God above all other powers. In Daniel 4 it is the key name, because the point of the chapter is that 'the Most High rules the kingdom of men' (4:17, 25, 32).

  3. Daniel 4:17 עִלָּאָ֜ה Most High the

    This decision is the decree of the watchers, the verdict declared by the holy ones, so that the living will know that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes, setting over it the lowliest of men.’

    Here: "The Most High", literally 'the Uppermost'. It is a title that both Jews and non-Jews could use for the supreme God, and in Daniel it is especially used when foreign kings are being addressed.

  4. Daniel 4:24 עִלָּאָה֙ Most High the

    This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree that the Most High has issued against my lord the king:

  5. Daniel 4:25 עִלָּאָה֙ Most High the

    You will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling will be with the beasts of the field. You will feed on grass like an ox and be drenched with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass you by, until you acknowledge that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes.

    Here: "The Highest One". This title of Israel's God was understandable to foreigners. It answers the king's "exalted" self-image and the tree that "reached to heaven".

  6. Daniel 4:32 עִלָּיָא֙ Most High the

    You will be driven away from mankind to live with the beasts of the field, and you will feed on grass like an ox. And seven times will pass you by, until you acknowledge that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes.”

    Here: 'The Highest One.' It is a title for God that non-Israelites could understand, and Daniel uses it often in court scenes with foreign kings. It sets heaven's height against the king's raised-up pride.

  7. Daniel 4:34 וּלְעִלָּאָה֙ and <obj.> Most High the

    But at the end of those days I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven, and my sanity was restored to me. Then I praised the Most High, and I honored and glorified Him who lives forever: “For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom endures from generation to generation.

    Here: 'And the Most High' (the preposition le- marks the object here). This is the title the chapter uses again and again for the God who 'rules the kingdom of men' (4:17, 25, 32).

  8. Daniel 5:18 עִלָּאָ֔ה Most High the

    As for you, O king, the Most High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty and greatness, glory and honor.

    Here: 'The Most High', the title that runs all through Nebuchadnezzar's madness story in ch. 4 ('until you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men', 4:25, 32). It reminds Belshazzar of the lesson already taught to his 'father'.

  9. Daniel 5:21 עִלָּאָה֙ Most High the

    He was driven away from mankind, and his mind was like that of a beast. He lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like an ox, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until he acknowledged that the Most High God rules over the kingdom of mankind, setting over it whom He wishes.

    Here: 'The Highest.' It is the title for Israel's God that gentile kings and court speakers use in Daniel (3:26; 4:2; 5:18). It sets him above every exalted king.

  10. Daniel 7:25 עִלָּאָה֙ Most High the

    He will speak out against the Most High and oppress the saints of the Most High, intending to change the appointed times and laws; and the saints will be given into his hand for a time, and times, and half a time.

    Here: The ordinary Aramaic title "the Most High", with the Aramaic article. It is the same title Nebuchadnezzar learns to honor in Daniel 4. The horn sets itself against the God who rules over all kingdoms.

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