God in Aramaic: Alaha (ܐܠܗܐ)

The Aramaic word for God, as Jesus spoke it and as the Maronite Church still sings it

God in Aramaic is Alaha, written ܐܠܗܐ in Syriac script. Maronites pronounce it Aloho, and they sing it at every Sunday Qurbono: Qadishat Aloho, "Holy are you, O God."

It is one of the oldest words for God still on living lips. Jesus spoke Aramaic, and the Aramaic word for God he used is the root of the Syriac word below. This page gives the word, its sound, its family tree, and the places where a Maronite hears it today.

The Aramaic Word for God: Alaha

ܐܠܗܐ

Alaha (Eastern Syriac) · Aloho (Western Syriac, the Maronite pronunciation)

Syriac is read right to left. The four letters are alaph, lamadh, he, alaph. The final alaph is the Aramaic definite ending, so Alaha literally means "the God." The bare root, without the ending, is Elah, found already in Biblical Aramaic.

How to pronounce it

In Eastern Syriac, the tradition of the Assyrian and Chaldean churches, the word is roughly a-LA-ha. In Western Syriac, the tradition of the Maronites, Syriac Catholics and Syriac Orthodox, the stressed vowel shifts toward "o" and it becomes a-LO-ho. Both are the same word written the same way. The difference is only in how the vowels are spoken.

To say "my God," add the ending -i: Alohi in Maronite pronunciation (ܐܠܗܝ). This is the form Jesus prays from the cross.

What Jesus Said: Eloi, Alohi, Abba

The Gospels keep two moments of Jesus speaking to God in Aramaic and translate them for Greek readers. Both help explain the word.

"Eloi, Eloi" on the cross (Mark 15:34)

At the ninth hour Jesus cries Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" It is the opening of Psalm 22, prayed in Aramaic. Eloi is "my God," the word Elah with the first-person ending.

The Syriac Peshitta, the Bible of the Maronite tradition, renders the verse in Mark with the word we are studying: ܐܠܗܝ ܐܠܗܝ ܠܡܢܐ ܫܒܩܬܢܝ, Alohi, Alohi, lmono shbaqtoni, in Western pronunciation. Matthew's account (27:46) opens with a different form of "my God," closer to the Hebrew of the psalm. For the full scene, see the Aramaic words Jesus spoke.

"Abba" in Gethsemane (Mark 14:36)

When Jesus prays in the garden he says Abba, "Father." The word is not a title for God in general. It is the intimate form of address, and the early Church kept it untranslated (Romans 8:15, Galatians 4:6). The Our Father opens with the same root in Syriac, Abwoon, which is covered line by line in the Our Father in Aramaic.

So Aramaic gives Jesus two ways of speaking to God: Alaha, God in his majesty and as the one who is called on in anguish, and Abba, God as Father.

Alaha, Elohim and Allah: One Family of Words

Aramaic, Hebrew and Arabic are sister Semitic languages, and their words for God share a root. Hebrew has the short form El, the singular Eloah and the plural-form Elohim, which Hebrew grammar treats as singular when it names the one God. Aramaic has Elah, with its definite form Elaha or, in Syriac, Alaha. Arabic has ilah, "a god," and Allah.

Most scholars explain Allah as a contraction of al-ilah, "the God," which closely parallels the Aramaic habit of adding the definite ending. Whether Arabic took the form from Aramaic or Syriac, or developed it independently from the shared root, is debated, and the more cautious view favors common descent over borrowing.

For Maronites this is not an abstract point. Lebanese Maronites speak Arabic and say Allah for God in daily life, in blessings and in prayer, as Arabic-speaking Christians have for many centuries. In the liturgy they switch to Aloho. Two words, one root, one God, both on the same tongue.

Other Aramaic Names for God

Aramaic Christians do not use one word alone. A few others appear constantly in Syriac prayer.

Moryo (Eastern Maryo), ܡܪܝܐ: "the Lord." It is the word that opens Psalm 23 in Aramaic, Moryo ner'ein, "the Lord shepherds me."
Moran, ܡܪܢ: "our Lord." It is the first half of Maranatha, one of the oldest Christian prayers, and the title the Syriac liturgy gives to Christ.
Abba, Abwoon: "Father" and "our Father," as above.

Where Maronites Say Aloho Today

In the Maronite Qurbono, the Syriac chant Qadishat Aloho, qadishat hailthono, qadishat lo moyuto is the Trisagion: "Holy are you, O God; holy are you, O Strong One; holy are you, O Immortal One." It is sung in Syriac on Sundays in Beirut, Sydney, Detroit and São Paulo.

The same word is in the Hail Mary, where Mary is called Yoldath Aloho, "Mother of God" (the Hail Mary in Aramaic), and in the Beatitudes, where the pure in heart nehzun l'Alaha, "shall see God" (the Beatitudes in Aramaic).

A Maronite grandmother may never write a word of Syriac, but she knows when Aloho is sung and she knows the tune. The word is part of the family prayer long before it is part of a language lesson.

To see how the four letters of Alaha are formed, and the other 18, read the Aramaic alphabet in Syriac script.

Which Aramaic?

Jesus spoke a Galilean dialect of Aramaic. Syriac is a later literary and liturgical dialect from Edessa, so Alaha and Aloho are the Syriac forms of a word Jesus would have used in a very similar shape. What the Maronite Church preserves is not a museum reconstruction of his voice but a living descendant of it, sung without a break. The full story is in what language did Jesus speak. For how Aramaic differs from Hebrew, see Aramaic vs Hebrew, and for his name, Jesus in Aramaic.

A caution on online "Aramaic" lists: websites that translate God as a cosmic "Birther" or "Father-Mother" are drawing on modern devotional paraphrases, not on how any Syriac-speaking church has ever said the word. If you want the usage of the tradition, use the Peshitta forms on this page.

Pray It in Aramaic

Start small. Say Qadishat Aloho slowly each morning, then learn Abun d'bashmayo. Listening to a recording of a Maronite Qurbono will teach you the sound better than any transliteration.

The Charbel app includes guided prayer in Syriac Aramaic alongside English, Arabic, French and Portuguese, so you can pray to Aloho in the language of Jesus as part of your daily rhythm.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is God in Aramaic?

The Aramaic word for God is Alaha (Syriac ܐܠܗܐ), pronounced roughly 'al-AH-ha' in the Eastern Syriac tradition and 'a-LO-ho' in the Western Syriac tradition of the Maronite Church. Jesus' own cry from the cross in Mark 15:34, which the Syriac Peshitta gives as 'Alohi, Alohi', uses the same word with the ending 'my': 'my God'.

How do you say God in Aramaic?

Say 'Alaha' (Eastern pronunciation) or 'Aloho' (Western pronunciation, as sung by Maronites). Stress the second syllable and give the middle consonant a soft breath: a-LA-ha, a-LO-ho. To say 'my God' add the ending: Alohi.

Is the Aramaic word for God related to Allah?

Yes, they are cognates. Syriac Alaha, Hebrew Eloah and Arabic ilah all descend from a shared Semitic root for 'god', and Arabic Allah is most often explained as a contraction of al-ilah, 'the God'. Scholars debate whether Arabic borrowed the form directly from Aramaic or Syriac, and most favor independent development from the common root. Arabic-speaking Christians, including Lebanese Maronites, use Allah as their ordinary word for God.

What did Jesus call God in Aramaic?

The Gospels preserve two forms. 'Abba', 'Father', is how Jesus addressed God in Gethsemane (Mark 14:36). From the cross he cried 'Eloi, Eloi' (Mark 15:34), 'my God, my God', the opening of Psalm 22. In Syriac the second corresponds to 'Alohi' (Mark 15:34, Peshitta).

What do Maronites say for God in the liturgy?

In the Qurbono, the Maronite Divine Liturgy, Syriac 'Aloho' appears in the chant 'Qadishat Aloho', 'Holy are you, O God', the Trisagion, along with 'Moryo' and 'Moran' for the Lord. Maronites sing these in Syriac even in parishes that otherwise pray in Arabic, English, French or Portuguese.