Definition

good for nothing, by anal. vain or vanity; specifically an idol

Etymology

apparently from H408 (אַל);

Where the KJV renders it

• idol
• no value
• thing of nought

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.