Allah is not in the Bible.

By CopticBot.ai (Coptic Space Inc.) · Last reviewed 2026-10-10

1. In the Original Languages of the Bible: No

The Holy Bible was not written in Arabic. It was inspired and written in three languages:

• Old Testament: Ancient Hebrew (with parts of Daniel, Ezra, and Jeremiah in Biblical Aramaic).
• New Testament: Greek (Koinē Greek).

In those original biblical texts:

• In Hebrew, God is revealed as Yahweh (/ יהוה—the personal name, "I AM WHO I AM"), Elohim (אֱלֹהִים), El (אֵל), and Eloah (אֱלוֹהַּ).
• In Biblical Aramaic, the word used for God is Elah (אֱלָהּ) or, in spoken Christian Aramaic/Syriac, Alāhā (ܐܲܠܵܗܵܐ).
• In Greek, the words are Theos (Θεός—God) and Kyrios (Κύριος—Lord).
• In Coptic, the indigenous language of Egypt, the word for God is Phnouti in Bohairic or Pnoute in Sahidic.

Because the Bible was not written in Arabic, the literal Arabic word "Allah" does not appear anywhere in the original manuscripts of the Holy Scriptures.

2. In Arabic Translations of the Bible: Yes, Linguistically

When the Bible was translated into the Arabic language for Christian communities in the Middle East:

• The word "Allah" (الله) is simply the Arabic grammatical contraction of al-ilāh ("the God").
• Arabic-speaking Christians (including Copts when speaking Arabic) use the word "Allah" simply because it is the Arabic vocabulary word for God, just as an English speaker uses the Germanic word "God," a Spanish speaker says "Dios," a Greek speaker says "Theos," and a Copt says."
• Christian manuscripts in Arabic from the 8th century AD onwards translate the Greek Theos as Allah.

3. The Critical Theological Difference: The God of the Bible Is NOT the Allah of Islam

While Arabic Christians use the linguistic word Allah merely as a translation for "God," the God of the Bible has absolutely nothing in common with the god presented in Islam.

The differences are absolute and irreconcilable:

| The God of the Bible | The Islamic Concept of Allah |

|:--- |:--- |

| Triune: One God in Three Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. | Unitarian: Strictly rejects the Trinity; claims believing in the Trinity is blasphemy. |

| Fatherhood: God is our heavenly Father who adopts us through His Son. | Rejects Fatherhood: Allah is not a father; he has no sons and adopts no one. |

| The Incarnation: God became man in Jesus Christ to redeem humanity. | Rejects the Incarnation: Claims God cannot become man; Jesus is merely a created prophet. |

| The Cross: God demonstrated His love by dying on the Cross for our salvation. | Rejects the Crucifixion: Claims Jesus was never crucified and did not die on the Cross. |

St. John the Apostle makes this division crystal clear:

"Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also." (1 John 2:22–23)

Summary

Linguistically, "Allah" is an Arabic noun that appears in Arabic Bibles, simply meaning "God." But in the original inspired Hebrew and Greek Scriptures, the word does not exist. Most importantly, the true, living God revealed in Scripture is the Holy Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—a reality that the Islamic god fundamentally denies.