אַלּוּף
al.luph
tame
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
Supported# The Hebrew Word אַלּוּף (alluph): "Tame" The Hebrew word *alluph* appears nine times in the biblical text and carries the fundamental meaning of "tame"—referring to animals that have been domesticated or made docile rather than wild. This semantic field places the word in the domain of animal husbandry and the relationship between humans and beasts. The word describes a state or condition of an animal rather than an action, making it a descriptor of domestication status. Given its limited nine occurrences across the biblical corpus, *alluph* represents a relatively specialized vocabulary item used in specific contexts where the distinction between tame and wild animals carried meaning for the ancient writers. The word's consistent definition across these instances suggests a clear, straightforward usage without significant semantic variation or metaphorical extension in the biblical tradition. This technical precision in referring to domesticated animals indicates that the biblical authors had occasion to make explicit reference to this distinction, likely in passages dealing with animal management, sacrifice, or imagery contrasting human control with natural wildness.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
9 total occurrences across the text
But it was you, a man like me, my companion, and my familiar friend.
Psalms 144:14Our oxen will pull heavy loads. There is no breaking in, and no going away, and no outcry in our streets.
Proverbs 2:17who forsakes the friend of her youth, and forgets the covenant of her God;
Proverbs 16:28A perverse man stirs up strife. A whisperer separates close friends.
Proverbs 17:9He who covers an offense promotes love; but he who repeats a matter separates best friends.
Jeremiah 3:4Will you not from this time cry to me, ‘My Father, you are the guide of my youth?’
Jeremiah 11:19But I was like a gentle lamb that is led to the slaughter. I didn’t know that they had devised plans against me, saying, “Let’s destroy the tree with its fruit, and let’s cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may be no more remembered.”
Jeremiah 13:21What will you say, when he sets over you as head those whom you have yourself taught to be friends to you? Won’t sorrows take hold of you, as of a woman in travail?
Micah 7:5Don’t trust in a neighbor. Don’t put confidence in a friend. With the woman lying in your embrace, be careful of the words of your mouth!