Sam. also an Arabizing spelling: אללה ; in Jewish texts often written with qof or daleth instead of the heh as a sign of piety.

The use of this word in most Jewish texts to refer to pagan divinities is extremely unusual. In the Babylonian Talmud, however, it almost always refers to pagan gods in the speech of Jews or is used derisively in the speech of gentiles. Outside of speech that text prefers terms such as רחמנא, שמיא or קודשא בריך הוא to refer to God.
In Mandaic, though, except for the earliest texts, with a negative connotation.