Strong’s H4609 · Hebrew

מַעֲלָה
maʻălâh
mah-al-aw'

Definition

elevation, i.e. the act (literally, a journey to a higher place, figuratively, a thought arising), or (concretely) the condition (literally, a step or grademark, figuratively, a superiority of station); specifically a climactic progression (in certain Psalms)

Etymology

feminine of H4608 (מַעֲלֶה);

Where the KJV renders it

  • things that come up
  • (high) degree
  • deal
  • go up
  • stair
  • step
  • story

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.