What does אַיִל (ʾayil) mean in the Bible?
אַיִל (ʾayil): Strength as the root concept unifying physical structures, animals, and political leadership; primacy through power.
Hebrew · H352
אַיִל
Properly, strength ; hence, anything strong ; specifically a chief (politically); also a ram (from his strength); a pilaster (as a strong support); an oak or other strong tree
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אַיִל H352
Pronunciation ʾayil
What does אַיִל (ʾayil) mean in the Bible?
אַיִל (ʾayil): Strength as the root concept unifying physical structures, animals, and political leadership; primacy through power.
Full entry for אַיִל (H352) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H352?
The BSB source-word alignment has 184 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include rams (47), ram (35), the ram (17), and a ram (10), with the ram (10).
Where does אַיִל (ʾayil) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 15:9. Its strongest book concentrations include Numbers (66), Ezekiel (35), Exodus (23), Leviticus (22).
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It rams 47× Genesis 32:14, Exodus 29:1, Exodus 29:3, Leviticus 8:2
ram 35× Exodus 25:5, Exodus 29:18, Exodus 29:19, Exodus 35:7
the ram 17× Genesis 22:13, Exodus 29:16, Exodus 29:17, Exodus 29:20
and a ram 10× Genesis 15:9, Leviticus 9:2, Leviticus 9:4, Leviticus 16:3
with the ram 10× Leviticus 5:16, Leviticus 19:22, Numbers 28:12, Numbers 28:14
of rams 5× 1 Samuel 15:22, Psalms 66:15, Isaiah 1:11, Isaiah 34:6
the side pillars 4× Ezekiel 40:48, Ezekiel 40:49, Ezekiel 41:1, Ezekiel 41:3
[its] 3× Exodus 29:15, Exodus 29:19, Leviticus 8:22
a ram 3× Genesis 22:13, Leviticus 19:21, Daniel 8:3
its side pillars 3× Ezekiel 40:21, Ezekiel 40:24, Ezekiel 40:26
like rams 3× Psalms 114:4, Psalms 114:6, Jeremiah 51:40
of the ram 3× Exodus 29:26, Exodus 29:32, Leviticus 8:29
the rams 3× Genesis 31:38, 2 Chronicles 29:22, Isaiah 60:7
and its side pillars 2× Ezekiel 40:31, Ezekiel 40:37
and the ram 2× Leviticus 9:18, Leviticus 9:19
of ram 2× Exodus 36:19, Exodus 39:34
side pillars 2× Ezekiel 40:29, Ezekiel 40:33
With a ram 2× Numbers 15:6, Ezekiel 46:11
- 1× Leviticus 8:18
. . . 1× Numbers 29:14
[as though they were] rams 1× Ezekiel 39:18
[they presented] a ram 1× Ezra 10:19
among the oaks 1× Isaiah 57:5
and its jambs [were] 1× Ezekiel 40:9
and the gateposts 1× Ezekiel 40:10
and their side pillars 1× Ezekiel 40:16
between the rams 1× Ezekiel 34:17
by the portico 1× Ezekiel 40:38
chiefs 1× Ezekiel 32:21
Each side pillar 1× Ezekiel 40:16
for each ram 1× Ezekiel 45:24
from the ram 1× Exodus 29:27
is a ram 1× Exodus 29:22
Its portico 1× Ezekiel 40:37
oaks 1× Isaiah 61:3
of the rams 1× Exodus 29:15
of the ruler 1× Ezekiel 31:11
of the sacred oaks 1× Isaiah 1:29
out of ram 1× Exodus 26:14
the gatepost 1× Ezekiel 40:14
the gateposts 1× Ezekiel 40:14
the leaders 1× Exodus 15:15
the leading men 1× Ezekiel 17:13
trees 1× Ezekiel 31:14
vvv 1× 1 Kings 6:31
with rams 1× Deuteronomy 32:14
Show sample aligned rows
Genesis 15:9 וְאַ֣יִל to and a ram Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular Genesis 22:13 אַ֔יִל to a ram Noun - masculine singular Genesis 22:13 הָאַ֔יִל to the ram Article | Noun - masculine singular Genesis 31:38 וְאֵילֵ֥י to the rams Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine plural construct Genesis 32:14 וְאֵילִ֥ים to rams Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine plural Exodus 15:15 אֵילֵ֣י to the leaders Noun - masculine plural construct Exodus 25:5 אֵילִ֧ם to ram Noun - masculine plural Exodus 26:14 אֵילִ֖ם to out of ram Noun - masculine plural Exodus 29:1 וְאֵילִ֥ם to rams Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine plural Exodus 29:3 הָאֵילִֽם׃ to rams Article | Noun - masculine plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Genesis 15:9
Aligned rows 184
Books represented 18
Genesis 5 Exodus 23 Leviticus 22 Numbers 66 Deuteronomy 1 1 Samuel 1 1 Kings 1 2 Kings 1 1 Chronicles 2 2 Chronicles 5 Ezra 2 Job 1 Psalms 3 Isaiah 6 Jeremiah 1 Ezekiel 35 Daniel 8 Micah 1
Source forms
אֵילִ֤ם 14x ’ê·lim Numbers 7:17, Numbers 7:23, Numbers 7:29, Numbers 7:35
אַ֧יִל 13x ’a·yil Leviticus 5:15, Numbers 7:15, Numbers 7:21, Numbers 7:27
אַ֣יִל 7x ’a·yil Leviticus 5:18, Leviticus 6:6, Numbers 28:27, Numbers 29:2
אֵילִ֣ם 7x ’ê·lim Numbers 29:13, Numbers 29:17, Numbers 29:20, Numbers 29:23
הָאַ֔יִל 7x hā·’a·yil Genesis 22:13, Exodus 29:17, Exodus 29:32, Leviticus 8:20
וְאַ֥יִל 6x wə·’a·yil Leviticus 9:2, Leviticus 16:3, Leviticus 16:5, Ezekiel 43:23
לָאַ֖יִל 6x lā·’a·yil Numbers 28:12, Numbers 28:20, Numbers 28:28, Numbers 29:9
לָאֵילִ֧ם 6x lā·’ê·lim Numbers 29:18, Numbers 29:21, Numbers 29:24, Numbers 29:27
Parsing patterns
Noun - masculine plural 43x Exodus 25:5, Exodus 26:14, Exodus 35:7, Exodus 35:23
Article | Noun - masculine singular 26x Genesis 22:13, Exodus 29:15, Exodus 29:16, Exodus 29:17
Noun - masculine singular 22x Genesis 22:13, Leviticus 5:15, Leviticus 5:18, Leviticus 6:6
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular 16x Genesis 15:9, Leviticus 9:2, Leviticus 9:4, Leviticus 16:3
Preposition-l, Article | Noun - masculine singular 15x Numbers 15:6, Numbers 15:11, Numbers 28:12, Numbers 28:14
Noun - masculine singular construct 11x Exodus 29:22, Exodus 29:31, Leviticus 8:18, Leviticus 8:22
Preposition-l, Article | Noun - masculine plural 8x Numbers 29:18, Numbers 29:21, Numbers 29:24, Numbers 29:27
Article | Noun - masculine plural 7x Exodus 29:3, Exodus 39:34, Leviticus 8:2, Numbers 29:14
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Strength as the root concept unifying physical structures, animals, and political leadership; primacy through power.
Source Gloss
properly, strength ; hence, anything strong ; specifically a chief (politically); also a ram (from his strength); a pilaster (as a strong support); an oak or other strong tree
Extended definition Source: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Strength as the root concept unifying physical structures, animals, and political leadership; primacy through power.
properly, strength; hence, anything strong; specifically a chief (politically); also a ram (from his strength); a pilaster (as a strong support); an oak or other strong tree BDB: leader Usage: mighty (man), lintel, oak, post, ram, tree.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
Strong trees symbolizing enduring, mighty natural objects
Animal offering characterized by strength and vigor
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 196 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
אַיִל 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.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain