אָלַם
ʼâlam · aw-lam'
to tie fast; hence (of the mouth) to be tongue-tied
Lexicon
Derivation: a primitive root;
to tie fast; hence (of the mouth) to be tongue-tied
- to tie fast
- hence, (of the mouth) to be tongue-tied
Definition from Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (1890). Wording is Strong's own, including his etymological notes, which are not separate meanings.
KJV renderings: bind, be dumb, put to silence.
Letters
- אAlef1
Picture: ox head
- Concrete
- ox · bull · cattle
- Extended
- strength · leader · first · the one in front
- לLamed30
Picture: shepherd's staff or goad
- Concrete
- staff · goad · yoke · cattle prod
- Extended
- authority · to lead · to teach · to bind · toward
- מMem40
Picture: waves of water
- Concrete
- water · sea · blood · liquid
- Extended
- chaos · mighty and uncontrollable · the masses · from / out of
Possible cultural reading (auto-composed)
strength, the leader › authority, the one who leads › water, chaos, the mighty deep
Strength, the leader of authority, the one who leads of water, chaos, the mighty deep.
Interpretive, not lexical. The dictionary sense of אָלַם above is the attested meaning; this pictographic reading is a tradition about how the sign-shapes may have been heard. Both can be held at once, they are answering different questions.
Usage
9 occurrences · 9 OT · 0 NT · 9 distinct forms
KJV renderings of this word, by how often each one is used.
- i was dumb2 · 22%
- for, behold, we were binding1 · 11%
- be put to silence1 · 11%
- is dumb1 · 11%
- that thou shalt be dumb1 · 11%
- and be no more dumb1 · 11%
- and i was no more dumb1 · 11%
- and i became dumb1 · 11%
Inflected forms found in the text.
Counts are computed from the tagged Hebrew and Greek text aligned to the King James Version, not from an estimate.