אָ֫וֶן85 H0205
Trouble, sorrow, wickedness; ranges from harmful wrongdoing and its guilty consequences to emptiness, vanity, and mourning.
Aven is one of those Hebrew words whose semantic range reveals a theology: trouble, sorrow, wickedness, and nothingness are not separate categories but points on a single continuum. What begins as moral 'iniquity' inevitably produces 'trouble' for others and eventually collapses into 'emptiness.' Balaam's oracle declares that God 'has not beheld aven in Jacob' (Num 23:21), where the parallelism with 'amal (misery, toil) shows how tightly wrongdoing and its painful consequences are woven together. The prophets exploit this fusion brilliantly: Hosea renames Beth-el ('house of God') as Beth-aven ('house of nothingness'), and Isaiah 41:29 declares idols to be aven — simultaneously wicked, worthless, and empty. German Unheil and Nichtigkeit capture the trouble and nothingness poles; Spanish iniquidad and vanidad the moral and existential poles; but no single word in any language spans the full arc.
Senses
1. iniquity, wickedness — Iniquity, wickedness, wrongdoing — the dominant sense at 69 occurrences, covering active moral evil, the sinful condition, and the guilt that clings to the evildoer. The phrase po'ale aven ('workers of iniquity') is nearly formulaic in the Psalms (Ps 5:5; 6:8; 14:4; 36:12; 53:4; 59:2; 92:7; 94:4; 125:5; 141:9), branding persistent wrongdoers as a class. Job's friends insist that those who 'plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same' (Job 4:8), revealing how this sense shades into consequence. Spanish iniquidad, French iniquité, and German Missetat all select moral-evil vocabulary, while Arabic ithm ('sin, guilt') confirms the ethical-juridical weight. 69×
AR["إثْمًا","إثْمٍ","إِثْماً","إِثْمًا","إِثْمٌ","الإثمِ","الإِثْمَ","الإِثْمُ","الإِثْمِ","الْإِثْمِ"]·ben["অধর্ম","অধর্মের","অনিষ্টের","অন্যায়","অন্যায়ের","পাপ","পাপের","মন্দ"]·DE["Missetat","Nichtigkeit","Unheil"]·EN["evil","iniquity","trouble","wrong"]·FR["iniquité"]·heb["אוון","און"]·HI["अधर्म","अधर्म-का","अधर्म-के","अधर्म।","अन्याय","पाप"]·ID["jahat","kejahatan"]·IT["iniquita","iniquità","vanità"]·jav["duraka","kang-ala","piawon"]·KO["거짓-의","사악-을","악","악-을","악-이","악을","악의","억울함을","억울함이","재앙을","죄악을","죄악의"]·PT["iniquidade","iniquidade?"]·RU["беззаконие","беззаконию","беззакония","беззаконные","беззаконных","зла","зло"]·ES["iniquidad","iniquidad.","la-iniquidad"]·SW["udhalimu","uovu","wa-uovu"]·TR["haksızlık","kötülük","kötülüğü","kötülüğün"]·urd["بدکاری-کے","بدی","بدی-کے","مصیبت"]
2. trouble, calamity, sorrow — Trouble, calamity, sorrow — 3 occurrences where the emphasis falls on the harmful consequences and distress that wrongdoing produces, rather than the moral act itself. In Ps 90:10 the span of human life is 'amal va-aven' ('toil and trouble'), a merism for life's griefs. Jer 4:15 announces aven coming from the hill-country of Ephraim, and Hab 3:7 sees the tents of Cushan 'in affliction.' Arabic musiba ('calamity') and German Unheil ('un-welfare') both shift from moral to experiential vocabulary, marking a real boundary. The sense is the flip side of sense 1: not the crime, but the suffering it generates. 3×
AR["الإِثْمِ","شَرًّا","وَعَنَاءٌ"]·ben["অন্যায়ের","এবং-অসারতা","বিপদ-"]·DE["Nichtigkeit","Unheil","und-sorrow"]·EN["and-sorrow","trouble"]·FR["et-vanité","iniquité","vanité"]·heb["אוון","און","ו-אוון"]·HI["और-व्यर्थता","कष्ट","दुख"]·ID["dan-kesedihan","kesusahan","malapetaka"]·IT["e-iniquita'","vanita","vanità"]·jav["bebaya","lan-kasangsaran","piawon"]·KO["재앙을","헛됨-이라","환난-을"]·PT["aflição","e-vaidade"]·RU["беду","и-суета","скорбью"]·ES["aflicción","calamidad","y-vanidad"]·SW["msiba","na-huzuni","taabu"]·TR["felaket","sıkıntının","ve-acı"]·urd["آفت","اور-دُکھ","بدی"]
3. emptiness, vanity, nothingness — Emptiness, vanity, nothingness — 3 occurrences where aven describes what is fundamentally devoid of substance or reality. Isaiah 41:29 declares idols to be aven ('nothing'); Amos 5:5 puns that Beth-el will become aven ('nothingness'); Zech 10:2 says the teraphim speak aven ('emptiness'). Here the word approaches hebel in meaning — futility and insubstantiality. Spanish vanidad, French vanité, and German Nichtigkeit all select the 'emptiness' register. This is theologically potent: idolatry is not just wicked (sense 1) but ontologically vacant. 3×
AR["بَاطِلًا","بَاطِلٌ","لِ-باطِلٍ"]·ben["অধর্ম","অনর্থকের-জন্য","অসারতা"]·DE["Nichtigkeit","Unheil","zu-Unheil"]·EN["emptiness","nothing"]·FR["iniquité","vanité"]·heb["אוון","ל-אָוֶן"]·HI["अनर्थ","झूठ","व्यर्थ।"]·ID["kejahatan","kesia-siaan","sia-sia"]·IT["vanita","vanità"]·jav["awon","kosong","tanpa-guna"]·KO["아무것도-아닌-것이","허무함을","헛되니라"]·PT["iniquidade","para-nada"]·RU["ничтожество","ничтожеством","пустое"]·ES["iniquidad","para-nada","vanidad"]·SW["bure","ubatili"]·TR["felakete","fesat","hiclik"]·urd["باطل","بطالت"]
4. mourning, grief — Mourning, grief — 2 occurrences in ritual contexts. In Gen 35:18 Rachel names her dying-born son Ben-oni ('son of my sorrow'), and in Deut 26:14 and Hos 9:4 the term appears in connection with funeral mourning rites and mourners' bread. Arabic huzn ('grief') and Spanish duelo ('mourning') both select bereavement-specific vocabulary. The Hosea passage is particularly illuminating: bread associated with aven is ritually defiling, suggesting this sense carried cultic as well as emotional weight. 2×
AR["المَناحَةِ","فِي-حُزْنِي"]·ben["শোকে-আমার","শোকের"]·DE["Unheil","in-mein-mourning"]·EN["in-my-mourning","mourning"]·FR["dans-mon-mourning","iniquité"]·heb["אונים","ב-אוני"]·HI["शोक-की","शोक-मेरे-में"]·ID["dalam-perkabunganku","orang-berkabung"]·IT["in-mio-mourning","vanità"]·jav["ing-pangèsthaning-kula","kang-sedhih"]·KO["애통-에서","애통하는-자들의"]·PT["em-meu-luto","enlutados"]·RU["в-скорби-моей","скорби"]·ES["duelo","en-mi-luto"]·SW["katika-maombolezo-yangu","maombolezo"]·TR["yasda-iken","yaslıların"]·urd["غم-میں","ماتم-کی"]
5. Aven (place name) — Aven as a place name or toponym — 1 clear occurrence at Hos 10:8, where 'the high places of Aven' designates the idolatrous shrine, probably a contemptuous renaming of Beth-el. The word functions simultaneously as a proper noun and a theological judgment — the place is named for what it truly is. This usage is confirmed by the LXX's transliteration On and by the broader prophetic pattern of polemical place-naming (cf. Amos 5:5). Spanish and English both preserve the proper-noun treatment: 'Aven.' 1×
AR["آوَنَ"]·ben["অন্যায়ের-সেই-"]·DE["Unheil"]·EN["Aven"]·FR["iniquité"]·heb["אוון"]·HI["अधर्म"]·IT["vanità"]·jav["Awèn"]·KO["악의"]·PT["Aven"]·RU["Авена"]·ES["Aven"]·SW["uovu"]·TR["Aven'in"]·urd["آون-کی"]
6. wicked, powerful ones — Substantival use: wicked or powerful ones — 1 occurrence at Prov 11:7 where 'the hope of aven perishes' apparently uses the term as a substantive referring to persons characterized by wickedness or oppressive power. The Spanish rendering fuertes ('strong ones') suggests an alternative reading linking to Hebrew 'on ('vigor, wealth'), and indeed some lexicographers treat this as a homonym. The ambiguity is itself instructive: in proverbial wisdom, the wicked and the merely powerful often collapse into the same category. 1×
AR["أثَمَةٍ"]·ben["শক্তির"]·DE["Unheil"]·EN["the-wicked"]·FR["iniquité"]·heb["אונים"]·HI["शक्तिशाली-की"]·ID["kekuatan"]·IT["iniquità"]·jav["kakuwatan"]·KO["힘-의"]·PT["ímpios"]·RU["нечестивцев"]·ES["fuertes"]·SW["nguvu"]·TR["güçlülerin"]·urd["ظالموں-کی"]
Related Senses
H5921a 1. upon, on, over (spatial) (5443×)H0413 1. directional: to, toward (5366×)H1121a 1. son, male offspring, descendant (4914×)H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)H4428 1. king, human ruler (2518×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)H6440 1. before, in front of (spatial) (1870×)H5414 1. give, bestow (1855×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)H3027 1. physical hand (body part) (1596×)H1697 1. word, speech, utterance (1235×)H4480a 1. source or separation (1198×)H5892b 1. city, town (1093×)G1519 1. direction: into, to, toward (1061×)H3947 1. take, seize, grasp (Qal) (940×)H3427 1. Qal: to dwell, inhabit (937×)G1537 1. from, out of (source/origin) (886×)H8034 1. Name (designation / identifier) (856×)G3361 1. subjective negation (not) (834×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
אָ֫וֶן85 n.m. Jb 5:6 trouble, sorrow, wickedness—abs. Nu 23:21 +; sf. אוֹנִי Gn 35:18 etc.; pl. אוֹנִים Ho 9:4— 1. trouble, sorrow בֶּן־אוֹנִי son of my trouble or sorrow Gn 35:18 (E); לֹא הִבִּיט אָוֶן בְּיַעֲקֹב Nu 23:21 (song of Balaam), he doth not behold trouble in Jacob (‖ he doth not see mischief— עָמָל—in Isr.); often ‖ עָמָל, ψ 7:15 (הִנֵּה יְחַבֶּל־אָוֶן lo he travaileth with trouble ‖…