I. Name

The Hebrew word ʾĕlōah is derived from a base ʾilāh-, perhaps a secondary form of the Common Semitic word ʾil-, ‘god’. Cognate terms are known from Ugaritic, Aramaic, and Arabic/Arabian. The relationship between the common noun and the divine name is complicated and it varies considerably from one language to another. In Aramaic and in the epigraphic Arabian dialects, it is primarily a common noun, while in Ugaritic, Hebrew, and Arabic (Allah < al-ʾilāhu, ‘the god’) the usage as a divine name…