Interactive
The family tree
of the word
From the oldest written language to Arabic: one ancient root for “god”.
The Word · The family tree of the word
The tree as a list
- Proto-Semitic ʾil-, “god”
- Akkadian ilum
- Ugaritic ʾil, ʾlhm
- Hebrew El, Eloah, Elohim
- Aramaic Elāh, Syriac Alāhā (the word Jesus, peace be upon him, used)
- Arabic ilāh, al-ilāh, Allāh
- A separate family: Greek Theos, Latin Deus, English God
Most scholars derive Allāh from al-ilāh, “the God”. Over time it worked as God's own name. Greek, Latin and English come from different roots, but translators used them for the same God.
Sources: Herrmann, “El”, Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible (1999); Sinai 2019, pp. 7–8.