What does אַחֵר (ʾaḥēr) mean in the Bible?
H312 is an adjective meaning other, another, next, or different. 3, Israel must have no other gods before the LORD.
Hebrew · H312
אַחֵר
Properly, hinder ; generally, next , other , etc.
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אַחֵרH312
Pronunciationʾaḥēr
What does אַחֵר (ʾaḥēr) mean in the Bible?
H312 is an adjective meaning other, another, next, or different. 3, Israel must have no other gods before the LORD.
Reader summary
Full entry for אַחֵר (H312) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H312?
The BSB source-word alignment has 166 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include other (53), another (26), to other (13), to another (5), and another (4).
Where does אַחֵר (ʾaḥēr) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 4:25. Its strongest book concentrations include Deuteronomy (25), Jeremiah (25), Genesis (15), 2 Chronicles (10).
What This Word Actually Means
H312 is an adjective meaning other, another, next, or different. In Exod. 20. 3, Israel must have no other gods before the Lord. In Judg. 2. 10, another generation arises that does not know the Lord or His works. In Num. 14. 24, Caleb has a different spirit and follows God wholeheartedly. H312 opens teaching on exclusive covenant loyalty, generational memory, alternative courses of action, difference without contempt, replacement, succession, and property or power transferred to others.
It does not make every difference disloyal, turn outsiders into threats, or excuse abandoning people after they have been harmed. The adjective marks contrast; the surrounding relationship determines whether that contrast is ordinary, faithful, dangerous, or unjustly imposed.
How the Bible Uses It
H312 marks someone or something as other, another, next, following, or different. It can distinguish objects and people neutrally, identify rival gods, mark succession or replacement, and describe a different disposition or destination.
- Exod.20.3
You shall have no other gods before Me.
The covenant command excludes other gods from Israel's worship before the Lord who delivered them from slavery.
- Judg.2.10
After that whole generation had also been gathered to their fathers, another generation rose up who did not know the Lord or the works that He had done for Israel.
Another generation arises without knowledge of the Lord or the works He had done for Israel.
- Num.14.24
But because My servant Caleb has a different spirit and has followed Me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he has entered, and his descendants will inherit it.
Caleb is described as having a different spirit and following the Lord wholeheartedly amid communal fear and refusal.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itother53×Genesis 41:3, Genesis 41:19, Genesis 43:14, Exodus 20:3
another26×Genesis 4:25, Genesis 26:21, Genesis 29:27, Genesis 29:30
to other13×Deuteronomy 11:16, Deuteronomy 30:17, 2 Kings 22:17, 2 Chronicles 28:25
to another5×Genesis 29:19, Leviticus 27:20, Deuteronomy 28:32, Isaiah 42:8
and another4×Deuteronomy 20:5, Deuteronomy 20:6, Deuteronomy 20:7, Zechariah 2:3
more4×Genesis 8:10, Genesis 8:12, 1 Samuel 19:21, 2 Chronicles 30:23
of the other4×2 Chronicles 3:11, Ezra 2:31, Nehemiah 7:33, Nehemiah 7:34
others3×Job 34:24, Ecclesiastes 7:22, Daniel 12:5
to others3×Psalms 49:10, Proverbs 5:9, Jeremiah 6:12
. . .2×Genesis 37:9, 1 Samuel 10:9
any other2×Exodus 34:14, 1 Chronicles 23:17
for others2×Isaiah 65:22
in another2×Ruth 2:8, Ruth 2:22
of other2×Exodus 23:13, Deuteronomy 18:20
the other2×1 Kings 3:22, Ezekiel 40:40
[He also built] an1×2 Chronicles 32:5
[is worse] than1×2 Samuel 13:16
a different1×Numbers 14:24
additional1×Genesis 43:22
and [given] to others1×Daniel 11:4
and [its] other1×2 Chronicles 3:11
and foreign1×Isaiah 28:11
and may other men1×Job 31:10
and the next1×2 Kings 6:29
another [well]1×Genesis 26:22
another wife1×Exodus 21:10
another’s1×Proverbs 25:9
as well as additional1×Leviticus 14:42
belong to others1×Nehemiah 5:5
but another1×Deuteronomy 28:30
different1×1 Samuel 28:8
for another1×Job 31:10
for the other1×Ezekiel 41:24
from another1×Esther 4:14
from the next1×Psalms 109:13
in other1×Ezekiel 44:19
in someone else’s1×Exodus 22:5
into a different1×1 Samuel 10:6
it another1×2 Samuel 18:20
it into another1×Jeremiah 18:4
may another1×Psalms 109:8
next1×Genesis 17:21
of another1×Judges 11:2
of the first1×2 Chronicles 3:12
other gods1×Psalms 16:4
set further back1×1 Kings 7:8
So different1×Leviticus 14:42
then may another1×Job 31:8
to any other1×2 Kings 5:17
to other men1×Jeremiah 8:10
to the next1×Joel 1:3
various1×Judges 2:12
while [its] other1×2 Chronicles 3:12
yet others1×Job 8:19
Show sample aligned rows
Genesis 4:25אַחֵ֔רtoanotherAdjective - masculine singularGenesis 8:10אֲחֵרִ֑יםtomoreAdjective - masculine pluralGenesis 8:12אֲחֵרִ֑יםtomoreAdjective - masculine pluralGenesis 17:21הָאַחֶֽרֶת׃tonextArticle | Adjective - feminine singularGenesis 26:21אַחֶ֔רֶתtoanotherAdjective - feminine singularGenesis 26:22אַחֶ֔רֶתtoanother [well]Adjective - feminine singularGenesis 29:19אַחֵ֑רtoto anotherAdjective - masculine singularGenesis 29:27אֲחֵרֽוֹת׃toanotherAdjective - feminine pluralGenesis 29:30אֲחֵרֽוֹת׃toanotherAdjective - feminine pluralGenesis 30:24אַחֵֽר׃toanotherAdjective - masculine singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowGenesis 4:25
Aligned rows166
Books represented28
Genesis15Exodus5Leviticus4Numbers4Deuteronomy25Joshua3Judges6Ruth21 Samuel82 Samuel31 Kings92 Kings91 Chronicles32 Chronicles10Ezra2Nehemiah3Esther1Job5Psalms5Proverbs2Ecclesiastes1Isaiah6Jeremiah25Ezekiel5Daniel2Hosea1Joel1Zechariah1
Source forms
אֲחֵרִ֔ים29x’ă·ḥê·rîmDeuteronomy 8:19, Deuteronomy 11:16, Deuteronomy 13:6, Deuteronomy 17:3
אֲחֵרִ֑ים14x’ă·ḥê·rîmGenesis 8:10, Genesis 8:12, Leviticus 6:11, Deuteronomy 6:14
אַחֵ֔ר11x’a·ḥêrGenesis 4:25, Genesis 37:9, Ruth 2:8, 1 Samuel 17:30
אֲחֵרִ֖ים10x’ă·ḥê·rîmDeuteronomy 11:28, Deuteronomy 13:13, Deuteronomy 28:14, Deuteronomy 28:36
אַחֵ֑ר9x’a·ḥêrGenesis 29:19, Exodus 22:5, Exodus 34:14, Leviticus 27:20
אַחֵֽר׃9x’a·ḥêrGenesis 30:24, Deuteronomy 24:2, Ruth 2:22, 1 Samuel 10:6
אֲחֵרִֽים׃9x’ă·ḥê·rîmDeuteronomy 31:18, Joshua 24:2, Joshua 24:16, 1 Samuel 26:19
אַחֵ֖ר6x’a·ḥêrGenesis 43:14, Deuteronomy 20:5, Deuteronomy 20:6, Deuteronomy 20:7
Parsing patterns
Adjective - masculine plural77xGenesis 8:10, Genesis 8:12, Exodus 20:3, Exodus 23:13
Adjective - masculine singular48xGenesis 4:25, Genesis 29:19, Genesis 30:24, Genesis 37:9
Adjective - feminine singular12xGenesis 26:21, Genesis 26:22, Numbers 14:24, Deuteronomy 29:28
Article | Adjective - feminine singular6xGenesis 17:21, 1 Kings 3:22, 1 Kings 7:8, 2 Chronicles 3:11
Adjective - feminine plural5xGenesis 29:27, Genesis 29:30, Genesis 41:3, Genesis 41:19
Preposition-l | Adjective - masculine plural5xNehemiah 5:5, Psalms 49:10, Proverbs 5:9, Jeremiah 6:12
Article | Adjective - masculine singular3x2 Kings 6:29, 2 Chronicles 3:11, 2 Chronicles 3:12
Conjunctive waw | Adjective - masculine singular3xJob 31:8, Isaiah 65:22
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Do not turn biblical opposition to other gods into suspicion, harassment, or dehumanization of people from other religions or cultures.
- Do not use Tamar's being sent away, Ruth's instruction to remain in one field, or similar narratives to excuse control, isolation, or removal of a harmed person.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that H312 makes whatever is different, foreign, later, or held by another person spiritually corrupt.
- Do not claim that family or congregational continuity happens automatically without truthful teaching, remembrance, and lived faithfulness.
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Fundamental sense of spatial-temporal succession—positioned after or beyond—extends to "other" and "another.
Source Gloss
properly, hinder ; generally, next , other , etc.
Extended definitionSource: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Fundamental sense of spatial-temporal succession—positioned after or beyond—extends to "other" and "another.
properly, hinder; generally, next, other, etc. BDB: another Usage: (an-) other man, following, next, strange.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Word Origins
אַחֵר is built from this root:
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
H312 is ordinary language for distinction, but its settings show why distinctions must be interpreted rather than moralized automatically. Other clothes, another angel, another field, and the next generation are not inherently bad. Other gods, by contrast, name a breach of covenant loyalty to the God who rescued Israel. Caleb's different spirit is praised because he follows the Lord wholeheartedly when the community retreats in fear.
Judges warns that covenant memory was not carried into another generation, making testimony and embodied formation more important than mere inheritance of identity. Otherness can also expose loss: indebted families see fields pass to others, kingdoms are given to others, and Tamar protests that being sent away after sexual violence compounds the wrong already done to her.
Faithful application distinguishes devotion from exclusion. It resists false gods and harmful patterns while listening to another person, protecting the harmed, teaching the next generation, and refusing to treat social difference as spiritual danger.
Anchor passage
Judg.2.10
Doctrinal connections
- H312: covenant loyalty rejects other gods because the Lord has delivered His people from bondage.
- H312: another generation needs truthful testimony and practices that make God's works known.
- H312: a different spirit is commended when it follows God faithfully amid communal fear.
- H312: many differences are ordinary distinctions rather than moral or spiritual defects.
- H312: property passing to others can reveal exploitation, exile, judgment, or ordinary succession according to context.
- H312: sending a harmed person elsewhere can compound injustice when it abandons her voice and need.
H312 is a Hebrew adjective used for another, other, next, following, or different. It receives its ethical force from the person, object, deity, generation, place, or course being contrasted in context.
From Old to New Testament
The New Testament continues exclusive loyalty to God while commanding hospitality toward strangers, unity across social difference, discernment of other teaching, and faithful transmission of the gospel to others. Jesus welcomes people treated as outsiders while demanding undivided loyalty to God and preparing disciples to carry His witness to others.