H5921 — עַל (ʿal)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H5921
Original: עַל
Transliteration: ʿal
Pronunciation: al
Part of Speech: Conjunction, preposition
Occurrences: 4,355 unique verses (5,658 tokens) in OT
Books: 39
First Occurrence: Gen 1:2 — "darkness [was] upon the face of the deep"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

Properly, the same as H5920 used as a preposition (in the singular or plural, often with prefix, or as conjunction with a particle following); above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applications:—above, according to(-ly), after, (as) against, among, and, as, at, because of, beside (the rest of), between, beyond the time, both and, by (reason of), had the charge of, concerning for, in (that), (forth, out) of, (from) (off), (up-) on, over, than, through(-out), to, touching, with.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Count	%
upon	931	21.4%
in	266	6.1%
over	261	6.0%
on	236	5.4%
against	222	5.1%
for	171	3.9%
by	147	3.4%
to	129	3.0%
and	102	2.3%
upon them	100	2.3%
unto	90	2.1%
and upon	83	1.9%
therefore	81	1.9%
from	79	1.8%
upon him	79	1.8%
with	74	1.7%
because	63	1.4%
upon it	61	1.4%
at	60	1.4%
upon thee	60	1.4%
concerning	55	1.3%
above	53	1.2%
Other (170+ additional renderings)	~1,164	26.7%

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Zephaniah	20	37.7
Jonah	16	33.3
Amos	48	32.9
Esther	53	31.7
2 Chronicles	237	28.8
Jeremiah	364	26.7
2 Kings	187	26.0
Micah	27	25.7
Nahum	12	25.5
1 Kings	206	25.2
Leviticus	216	25.1
Ezekiel	318	25.0
Obadiah	5	23.8
Habakkuk	13	23.2
Zechariah	47	22.3
2 Samuel	153	22.0
Exodus	265	21.8
Lamentations	33	21.4
Nehemiah	83	20.4
Joel	14	19.2
Isaiah	239	18.5
Numbers	236	18.3
Hosea	36	18.3
1 Samuel	144	17.8
Deuteronomy	170	17.7
Judges	103	16.7
Job	176	16.4
Malachi	9	16.4
Genesis	245	16.0
1 Chronicles	139	14.8
Ezra	40	14.3
Ecclesiastes	31	14.0
Daniel	45	12.6
Psalms	273	11.1
Joshua	58	8.8
Haggai	3	7.9
Proverbs	58	6.3

Note: Extremely high density in prophetic and historical narrative books. Absent from Song of Solomon and Ruth (0 per 100 verses, though a handful of tokens appear).

Semantic Categories¶

1. Spatial Position: upon, on, over, above¶

Physical contact or position on top of something. - Gen 1:2 — "darkness [was] upon the face of the deep" - Lev 1:7 — "put fire upon the altar" - 2 Sam 1:6 — "Saul leaned upon his spear" - 1 Kings 1:9 — "Eli the priest sat upon a seat"

2. Authority and Rule: over¶

Placed in charge, kingship, or responsibility. - Ex 1:11 — "set over them taskmasters" - Num 1:50 — "appoint the Levites over the tabernacle" - Deut 1:15 — "made them heads over you" - 2 Chron 1:9 — "thou hast made me king over a people"

3. Adversative: against¶

Hostility, judgment, or opposition directed toward. - Jonah 1:2 — "cry against it" - Nahum 1:11 — "imagineth evil against the LORD" - Ezek 35:3 — "I am against thee, and I will stretch out mine hand against thee" - Amos 3:1 — "against you, O children of Israel"

4. Cause and Reason: for, because, because of¶

Ground, motive, or causal explanation. - Gen 20:3 — "thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she [is] a man's wife" - 2 Chron 1:9 — "for thou hast made me king over a people" - Hosea 2:13 — "I will visit upon her the days of Baalim" - Jer 14:1 — "The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the dearth"

5. Reference and Topic: concerning, about¶

The subject matter of speech, vision, or prophecy. - Isa 1:1 — "The vision of Isaiah ... which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem" - Amos 1:1 — "The words of Amos ... which he saw concerning Israel" - Jer 14:1 — "The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the dearth" - Nahum 1:1 — "The burden of Nineveh ... the book of the vision of Nahum"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
יְהֹוָה (YHWH)	H3068	1,154x	"upon the LORD" / "against the LORD" / "for the LORD"
יִשְׂרָאֵל (Israel)	H3478	558x	"over Israel" / "against Israel"
מֶלֶךְ (king)	H4428	543x	"king over" / "set a king over"
אֶרֶץ (earth/land)	H776	528x	"upon the earth" / "upon the land"
אֱלֹהִים (God)	H430	474x	"upon God" / "for God"
בַּיִת (house)	H1004	413x	"upon the house" / "over the house"
יָד (hand)	H3027	397x	"hand upon" / "lay hand upon"
עַם (people)	H5971	351x	"over the people" / "upon the people"
בּוֹא (come)	H935	515x	"come upon" / "come against"

Word Family / Cognates¶

H5920 עַל (ʿal) — adverb/substantive: "the top"; specifically "the Most High"
H5922 עַל (ʿal) — (Aramaic) corresponding preposition: about, against, concerning, for, upon
H5924 עֵלָּא (ʿēllāʾ) — (Aramaic) from ʿal: "above, over"

Synonyms¶

No synonym data were returned by search_relationships.py for H5921, likely because it functions as a very high-frequency preposition rather than a lexical content word.

Antonyms¶

No antonym data were returned by search_relationships.py for H5921.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
אֵל (ʾēl)	H413	unto, to, into, against	ʾēl indicates directional motion toward; ʿal indicates position upon/over or downward hostility
פָּנִים (pānîm)	H6440	before, upon	pānîm = "in front of the face"; ʿal = "on top of, over"
עִם (ʿim)	H5973	with, against	ʿim = accompaniment ("with"); ʿal = superimposition or opposition ("upon, against")
(Aramaic) עַל (ʿal)	H5922	about, against, concerning	Aramaic cognate; functionally equivalent but restricted to Daniel/Ezra Aramaic sections

Semantic Domains¶

UBS / Relationship Domains¶

No UBS / relationship-domain data were returned by search_relationships.py for H5921.

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Frequency	Notes
ἐπί (epí) G1909	2,865x (primary)	Direct prepositional equivalent; superimposition
ἐπιτίθημι (epitíthēmi) G2007	162x	Verbal form: "lay upon, impose"
ἐπάγω (epágō) G1863	81x	Verbal form: "bring upon, inflict"
γράφω (gráphō) G1125	115x	"write upon"
ἐπιπίπτω (epipíptō) G1968	29x	"fall upon"
περί (perí) G4012	224x	"about, concerning" (topic/reference sense)
κεφαλή (kephalḗ) G2776	152x	"head" — "upon the head"
θρόνος (thrónos) G2362	68x	"throne" — "sit upon a throne"
ἐπιβάλλω (epibállō) G1911	35x	"throw upon, cast upon"