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אָוֶן

𐤀𐤅𐤍

Aven

H206 noun

SILEX Entry

Root און to be empty, bring trouble, act wickedly, act deceptively

Definition

Aven: personal name and common noun referring to 'vanity', 'nothingness', 'trouble', 'wickedness', or 'moral iniquity'; frequently encountered as a pejorative or contemptuous name for locations associated with idolatry or false worship. Used as a common noun to denote emptiness or worthlessness, especially in moral or religious sense; sometimes as a place-name element referencing a location's association with false cults or illegitimate worship centers.

Semantic Range

vanity, emptiness, worthlessness, iniquity, trouble, mischief, idolatry (metaphorical), pejorative placename for cultic site, personal name

Root / Etymology

Root: אָוֶן (ʼ-ו-ן). The root primary meaning is 'to be vain, empty, nothingness, trouble, wickedness'. The word derives from the root meaning 'emptiness, vanity, iniquity', but as a lexeme refers to both abstract notions like 'wickedness' and to designated places associated with idolatrous or deceptive worship.

Historical & Contextual Notes

Across the Hebrew Bible, אָוֶן is used as both a common noun and a place-name element. As a noun, it frequently designates moral evil, iniquity, or emptiness (Job 4:8, Psalm 55:4), and is especially used in prophetic texts to express the worthlessness of idolatry or evil acts (Isaiah 41:29, Hosea 10:8). As a place-name element (e.g., 'Beth-aven'), it represents polemical renaming, often applied by Israelite prophets to denigrate sites of illegitimate cults, such as Bethel (Hosea 4:15; 5:8; 10:5,8). 'Aven' is also used contemptuously for On (Heliopolis) in Egypt (Ezekiel 30:17) and for a location in Coele-Syria. English translations rarely convey the semantic richness of the term's polemical use or its moral undertones, instead often rendering it merely as a proper name. The later term 'Aven' sometimes becomes a cipher for idolatrous or false practice, but should not be anachronistically equated with later religious terminology such as 'paganism' or restricted to Greco-Roman conceptions of idolatry. Contrast with אוֹן (ʼôn, 'power, vigor'), which is a distinct root despite surface similarity. Usage did not significantly shift semantically from the monarchic to the post-exilic era, though the polemical, anti-idolatry emphasis intensifies in exilic and later prophetic literature.

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

the same as אָוֶן; idolatry; Aven, the contemptuous synonym of three places, one in Coele-Syria, one in Egypt (On), and one in Palestine (Bethel); Aven. See also אוֹן, בֵּית אָוֶן.

Bantu Hebrew

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Root Family

און (ʾ-w-n) — nothingness, worthlessness, trouble, wickedness

Strong's Lemma SIBI-P1
H1007 בֵּית אָוֶן worthless wickedness
H202 אוֹן Strength
H203 אוֹן and On
H205 אָוֶן worthless wickedness
H207 אוֹנוֹ his strength

Word Forms

1 distinct form

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 Occurrences
H206-01 אָ֛וֶן aven HNp Aven worthless wickedness 2

Occurrences in Scripture

2 total occurrences

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1
H206-01 Ezekiel 30:17 אָ֛וֶן aven HNp Aven worthless wickedness
H206-01 Amos 1:5 אָ֔וֶן aven HNp Aven worthless wickedness
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