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עָמֵל

𐤏𐤌𐤋

ʻâmêl

H6001 adjective

SILEX Entry

Root עמל toil, labor, work hard, experience weariness

Definition

One who toils or labors; a laborer, worker, or toiler, often with an emphasis on strenuous, wearisome, or burdensome effort. In some contexts, the term describes not only the activity of labor but also the personal state of being worn or afflicted by toil. It may be used concretely of a person engaged in work, or more abstractly/figuratively to denote someone burdened, exhausted, or distressed by hardship or the futility of effort.

Semantic Range

laborer, one who toils, workman, person burdened by toil, one experiencing wearisome or oppressive effort, one troubled by hardship, figuratively: one emotionally or existentially distressed by the futility of effort

Root / Etymology

From the root עמל (ʻ-m-l), which means 'to toil, labor, work hard, suffer pain.' עָמֵל is the active participle form, denoting the agent or one engaged in laborious, often strenuous or exhausting work.

Historical & Contextual Notes

עָמֵל appears infrequently in the Hebrew Bible, primarily as a participial noun describing a person who experiences or embodies the consequences of 'amal — hard, perhaps even futile or oppressive labor. Its usage is especially associated with wisdom literature (Ecclesiastes, Psalms), where it often carries an undertone of existential struggle, weariness, or frustration from effort. This distinguishes it from terms like פֹּעֵל (po‘el, 'workman', less negative connotation) or עָבֵד (‘eved, 'servant/slave'), which point more neutrally to labor or service rather than to its burdensome or distressing effects. Later translations, especially in the Septuagint and English Bibles, sometimes render עָמֵל with a sense of 'sorrowful' or 'afflicted', but in Hebrew its primary focus is on sustained, wearying effort rather than emotional grief. In post-exilic and later literature, the nuance of 'troubled' or 'afflicted' became more pronounced, perhaps reflecting evolving social and economic conditions. English translations often narrow the term to 'workman' or 'laborer', but such renderings risk losing the word's emotional and physical undertones of hardship.

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

from עָמַל; toiling; concretely, a laborer; figuratively, sorrowful; that laboureth, that is a misery, had taken (labour), wicked, workman.

Bantu Hebrew

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Root Family

עמל (ʿ-m-l) — toil, labor, work hard, experience weariness

Strong's Lemma SIBI-P1
H5998 עָמַל burdensome toil
H5999 עָמָל burdensome toil
H6000 עָמָל and Amal

Word Forms

3 distinct forms

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 Occurrences
H6001-01 עָ֭מֵל amel HAamsa labor toiling one 7
H6001-03 לְ/עָמֵ֣ל leamel HR/Aamsa to him who suffers to a toiling one 1
H6001-02 עֲמֵלִ֑ים amelim HNcmpa of workmen toiling ones 1

Occurrences in Scripture

9 total occurrences

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1
H6001-02 Judges 5:26 עֲמֵלִ֑ים amelim HNcmpa of workmen toiling ones
H6001-01 Proverbs 16:26 עָ֭מֵל amel HAamsa laborer toiling one
H6001-03 Job 3:20 לְ/עָמֵ֣ל leamel HR/Aamsa to him who suffers to a toiling one
H6001-01 Job 20:22 עָמֵ֣ל amel HAamsa of the troubled toiling one
H6001-01 Ecclesiastes 2:18 עָמֵ֖ל amel HAamsa toiling one
H6001-01 Ecclesiastes 2:22 עָמֵ֖ל amel HAamsa toiling one
H6001-01 Ecclesiastes 3:9 עָמֵֽל amel HAamsa toiling one
H6001-01 Ecclesiastes 4:8 עָמֵ֗ל amel HAamsa toiling one
H6001-01 Ecclesiastes 9:9 עָמֵ֖ל amel HAamsa labor toiling one
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