אָיַב283 H0341
Enemy, adversary, foe; one who is hostile, whether a personal rival, national opponent, or divine antagonist
The Hebrew participle from the root aleph-yod-bet (to be hostile) is the standard biblical word for an enemy. Occurring 284 times, it spans the full range of hostility: personal adversaries like Saul against David (1 Sam 18:29), national foes threatening Israel on the battlefield (Exod 15:6, 9), and even God himself acting as enemy when his people rebel (Exod 23:22). The multilingual evidence is strikingly uniform across all languages, with every translation converging on a single equivalent, confirming that ancient Hebrew had one broad, undifferentiated term for any hostile agent.
Senses
1. enemy, adversary, foe — A substantivized Qal active participle denoting any person, group, or power that acts with hostility. Used of personal enemies (1 Sam 24:5), foreign armies arrayed against Israel (Lev 26:7-8), and even God treating his own people as an adversary (Lam 2:5). Translations across all 43 languages uniformly render this with a single enemy-word, confirming that the Hebrew term carries no internal semantic differentiation. 284×
AR["العَدُوَّ", "العَدُوُّ", "العَدُوِّ", "العَدُوّ", "الـ-عَدُوِّ", "الْ-عَدُوَّ", "الْ-عَدُوُّ", "الْعَدُوَّ", "الْعَدُوِّ", "الْـ-عَدُوِّ", "عَدُوًّا", "عَدُوٍّ"]·ben["-শত্রুর", "শত্রু", "শত্রুকে", "শত্রুর", "শত্রুর।"]·DE["Feind", "Feinde", "der-Feinde", "der-enemy", "enemy"]·EN["an-enemy", "enemy", "the-enemy"]·FR["enemy", "ennemi", "le-ennemi"]·heb["אויב", "ה-אויב"]·HI["दुशमन", "शत्रु", "शत्रु-का", "शत्रु-के", "शत्रु-के।", "शत्रु-को", "शत्रु-ने"]·ID["musuh"]·IT["il-nemico", "nemico"]·jav["mengsah", "satru."]·KO["그-원수", "그-원수의", "원수", "원수-가", "원수-와", "원수-의", "원수가", "원수를", "원수의"]·PT["inimigo", "inimigo-de", "inimigo.", "inimigo:", "o-inimigo"]·RU["враг", "врага", "врагом"]·ES["al-enemigo", "el-enemigo", "enemigo", "enemigo-de"]·SW["adui", "kwa-sababu", "mbali", "wa-adui"]·TR["dusmanin", "düşman", "düşmanı", "düşmanın"]·urd["دشمن", "دشمن-نے", "دشمن-کا", "دشمن-کو", "دشمن-کی", "دشمن-کے"]
Related Senses
H4421 1. war, battle, armed conflict (319×)H3898a 1. Nifal: to fight, wage war (167×)H2026 1. kill, slay (active) (146×)H2451 1. wisdom, discernment (146×)H5483b 1. horse (the animal) (138×)H0006 1. to perish, be destroyed (105×)H7843 1. Hifil: destroy, annihilate (83×)H2491a 1. slain, fatally pierced (74×)H6862c 1. adversary, enemy, foe (69×)H8045 1. destroy, exterminate (69×)G0615 1. kill, put to death (60×)H6571b 1. horseman, cavalryman (52×)H8077a 1. desolation, waste (abstract state) (52×)G4678 1. of wisdom (51×)G4717 1. crucify, fasten to a cross (46×)H2763a 1. utterly destroy (Hifil active) (44×)G0622 1. perish, be destroyed (intransitive) (41×)H0006 2. to destroy, annihilate (Piel) (38×)H8074 1. be desolate, lie waste (36×)G2190 1. enemy / hostile one (32×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
[אָיַב283] vb. be hostile to (Ass. aibu (v. DlW), enemy = אֹיֵב)— Qal Pf. †וְאָיַבְתִּ֫י Ex 23:22; Pt. אוֹיֵב (אֹיֵב) Ex 15:6 +; sf. (אוֹיְבִי) אֹיְבִי 2 S 22:18 = ψ 18:18 +; f. sf. אֹיַבְת��ּי Mi 7:8, 10; אֹיִבְךָ Ex 23:4 +, etc.; pl. אוֹיְבִים ψ 68:24; 127:5; אֹיְבִים ψ 139:22, etc.;—be hostile to, treat as enemy Ex 23:22 (E, Cov’t code) וְאָיַבְתִּ֫י אֶת־אֹיְבֶיךָ וְצַרְתִּ֫י אֶת־צֹרְרֶיךָ…