Definition

above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applications

Etymology

properly, the same as H5920 (עַל) used as a preposition (in the singular or plural often with prefix, or as conjunction with a particle following);

Where the KJV renders it

• 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

Every distinct English word the King James Version uses to translate this Hebrew term. The variety shows what readers in English receive across many different surface words — the same underlying word, scattered across the English Bible under different names.

What the first audience heard

A deep-dive treatment of this word is in the works. The featured chapter above carries the long form of what this word meant to its first audience.