al, “upon, over,” strong’s H5921

The first occurrence.

And the earth was unformed, and void; and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters. Gen 1:2

The primitive root.

Strong’s H5921, al, a preposition meaning, “over, upon, above;” from Strong’s H5920, al, an adverb meaning, “aloft;” from Strong’s H5927 עלה alah, a primitive root meaning, “to go up, to ascend.” The 3-letter root is ayin + lamed + hey.

ayin ע = the eye, thus watch, know, shade
lamed ל = the shepherd’s staff, thus teach, yoke, to, bind
hey ה = man with upraised arms, thus look, reveal, wonder, worship, breath

The story: In ancient times when captives were taken as a spoil of war, they were closely watched (ayin) to prevent their free movement or escape. To take them into exile, they were bound together by a yoke (lamed, as the yoke is a specialized staff) which was lifted up (hey, in the context of the upraised arms) on their shoulders. The story then, is to go up or ascend, as the yoke ascends onto the shoulder of the captive.

THE ANCIENT HEBREW LEXICON | INDEX OF HEBREW ROOTS