aluf · chief, friend

What it means

aluf (אַלּוּף) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “chief, friend”.

Chief of a clan, leader; also a close friend, a companion.

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. The head of a clan, above all of the clans of Edom and of the Horites.
2. A close friend, the companion one grew up with and trusts.
3. Tame, used to the yoke: hence the ox or the tamed lamb.

From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)

Word study

Under this Strong number go two uses: the chief of a clan, a chieftain (above all in Edom), and the close friend, the intimate companion; also, as an adjective, gentle, and in the plural, oxen.

• The chieftains of Edom Genesis 36:15Exodus 15:15
• The chieftains of Judah Zechariah 12:5
• The intimate companion Psalms 55:13Proverbs 16:28
• “The companion of her youth” Proverbs 2:17Jeremiah 3:4
• Gentle; oxen Jeremiah 11:19Psalms 144:14

How we translate it

“Chieftain” 44 times and “chieftains” 15 in the lists of Edom and in Zechariah; “companion” 4 and “close friends” 2 when it is the close friend; “gentle” and “oxen” in their only passages. The lists of Genesis 36 repeat the word before each name (“the chieftain Teman, the chieftain Omar”), and it is kept so.

How it is translated

The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.

• chieftain ×44
• are the chieftains ×8
• chieftains ×7
• companion ×4
• close friends ×2
• clans ×1
• friends ×1
• oxen ×1
• was like a gentle ×1

Where it appears

• Genesis×43
• Exodus×1
• 1 Chronicles×13
• Psalms×2
• Proverbs×3
• Jeremiah×3
• Micah×1
• Zechariah×3

• Genesis 36:15

  These are the chieftains of the sons of Esau. The sons of Eliphaz, Esau’s firstborn: the chieftain Teman, the chieftain Omar, the chieftain Zepho, the chieftain Kenaz,

• Genesis 36:16

  the chieftain Korah, the chieftain Gatam, the chieftain Amalek. These are the chieftains of Eliphaz in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Adah.

• Genesis 36:17

  These are the sons of Reuel, Esau’s son: the chieftain Nahath, the chieftain Zerah, the chieftain Shammah, the chieftain Mizzah. These are the chieftains of Reuel in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Basemath, Esau’s wife.

• Genesis 36:18

  These are the sons of Oholibamah, Esau’s wife: the chieftain Jeush, the chieftain Jalam, the chieftain Korah. These are the chieftains of Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, Esau’s wife.

• Genesis 36:19

  These are the sons of Esau, and these are their chieftains (that is, Edom).

• Genesis 36:21

  Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These are the chieftains of the Horites, the sons of Seir, in the land of Edom.

• Genesis 36:29

  These are the chieftains of the Horites: the chieftain Lotan, the chieftain Shobal, the chieftain Zibeon, the chieftain Anah,

• Genesis 36:30

  the chieftain Dishon, the chieftain Ezer, the chieftain Dishan. These are the chieftains of the Horites, according to their clans, in the land of Seir.

• Genesis 36:40

  These are the names of the chieftains of Esau, according to their families, by their places, by their names: the chieftain Timna, the chieftain Alvah, the chieftain Jetheth,

• Genesis 36:41

  the chieftain Oholibamah, the chieftain Elah, the chieftain Pinon,

• Genesis 36:42

  the chieftain Kenaz, the chieftain Teman, the chieftain Mibzar,

• Genesis 36:43

  the chieftain Magdiel, the chieftain Iram. These are the chieftains of Edom, according to their dwelling places in the land of their possession. This is Esau, the father of Edom.

• Exodus 15:15

  Then the chieftains of Edom were dismayed; the mighty of Moab, trembling seized them; all the inhabitants of Canaan melted away.

• 1 Chronicles 1:51

  And Hadad died. And the chieftains of Edom were: the chieftain Timna, the chieftain Alvah, the chieftain Jetheth,

• 1 Chronicles 1:52

  the chieftain Oholibamah, the chieftain Elah, the chieftain Pinon,

• 1 Chronicles 1:53

  the chieftain Kenaz, the chieftain Teman, the chieftain Mibzar,

• 1 Chronicles 1:54

  the chieftain Magdiel, the chieftain Iram. These were the chieftains of Edom.

• Psalms 55:13

  but you, a mortal of my own worth, my companion and my acquaintance,

• Psalms 144:14

  our oxen heavily loaded; no breach and no going out, and no outcry in our squares.

• Proverbs 2:17

  who abandons the companion of her youth, and the covenant of her Elohim has forgotten.

• Proverbs 16:28

  A man of perversities spreads strife, and a grumbler separates close friends.

• Proverbs 17:9

  Whoever covers a transgression seeks love, but whoever repeats a matter separates close friends.

• Jeremiah 3:4

  Have you not just now called to me, ‘My father, you are the companion of my youth!

• Jeremiah 11:19

  But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter, and I did not know that against me they devised schemes: “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, and let us cut him off from the land of the living, so that his name will not be remembered anymore.”

• Jeremiah 13:21

  What will you say when he sets over you —and you taught them against you— friends as head? Will not pangs seize you like a woman giving birth?

• Micah 7:5

  Do not believe a neighbor; do not trust in a companion; from her who lies in your bosom guard the doors of your mouth.

• Zechariah 9:7

  And I will remove his blood from his mouth, and his detestable things from between his teeth; and he too will be left for our Elohim, and he will be like a chieftain in Judah, and Ekron like the Jebusite.

• Zechariah 12:5

  And the chieftains of Judah will say in their heart, ‘The inhabitants of Jerusalem are strength to me in YHWH Tsevaot, their Elohim.’

• Zechariah 12:6

  On that day I will make the chieftains of Judah like a brazier of fire among wood, and like a torch of fire among sheaves; and they will devour, on the right and on the left, all the peoples around; and Jerusalem will again dwell in its place, in Jerusalem.

And 40 more times.