עֲבַד H5648
To make, do, perform; passively, to be done or carried out; also to construct, produce, and to celebrate a festival.
The Aramaic verb avad is the workhorse 'do/make' verb of biblical Aramaic, corresponding to both Hebrew asah ('do') and avad ('work/serve') in semantic range. It appears throughout the administrative correspondence of Ezra and the court narratives of Daniel, covering everything from royal decrees being 'carried out' to idols being 'made' and feasts being 'celebrated.' The Hitpael passive forms are particularly prominent in the bureaucratic language of Ezra, where Persian officials report what 'is being done' in Jerusalem (Ezra 5:8) — Spanish se-hace and the Aramaic reflexive-passive mirror each other nicely. Jeremiah 10:11, the lone prophetic Aramaic verse, uses avad for cosmic creation: gods who did not 'make' the heavens and earth shall perish. The verb's range from mundane administration to divine creation makes it the Aramaic equivalent of a universal action verb.
1. do, perform an action — To do, perform, carry out an action — the general-purpose Qal active sense across 16 occurrences. This is the default 'do' meaning in administrative and narrative contexts: officials are told what 'to do' with temple funds (Ezra 6:8; 7:18), rebels in Jerusalem have historically 'made' sedition (Ezra 4:15), and Nebuchadnezzar acknowledges that God 'does' as he pleases (Dan 4:32). Spanish hacer, German tun, and Arabic fa'ala all converge on this unmarked action sense. The Qal participle aved ('doing') appears in the important theological declaration that God's decree must be 'diligently done' (Ezra 7:26). 16×
AR["أَصْنَعْ","اُعْمَلُوا","تَفْعَلُونَ","صَنَعَ","صَنَعَهَا","صَنَعْتَ","عامِلًا","فَعَلُوا","لِ-تَعْمَلَ","لِ-يَعْمَلُوا","وَ-يَصْنَعُ","يَصْنَعُ","يَعْمَلُونَ","يَفْعَلُ"]·ben["-করতে","এবং-করেন","করছিল","করছিলেন","করতে","করনকারী","করবে","করলেন","করেছ","করেছি","করেছেন","করেন","নির্মাণ-করলেন","পালন-করে"]·DE["Dienst","Knecht","[למעבד]","[עבדו]","[עבדין]","[תעבדון]","tun","und-Knecht"]·EN["He-does","and-doing","did","did-I-do","doing","have-You-done","made","making","they-did","to-do","you-shall-do"]·FR["et-serviteur","faire","serviteur"]·heb["ו-עושה","ל-מעבד","עבד","עבדו","עבדין","עושה","עשה","עשית","עשיתי","תעבדון"]·HI["उन्होंने-भड़काया-है","और-करनेवाला","कर-रहा-था","करता","करता-है","करने-के-लिए","करो","किए","किया","तुम-करोगे","तूने-किया","बनाई","मैंने-की"]·ID["Dia-berbuat","aku-lakukan","berperang","dan-melakukan","dilakukan","kamu-akan-lakukan","lakukanlah","melakukan","membuat","mengadakan","mereka-lakukan","untuk-dilakukan","untuk-melakukan","yang-Engkau-lakukan"]·IT["e-servo","fare","servo"]·jav["Panjenengan-sampun-tumindak","Panjenenganipun-tumindak","damel","ing-nglebet","kangge-nindakaken","kula-nindakaken","lan-nindakaken","ndamel","nindakaken","panjenengan-tindakaken","sampun-dipun-damel","tindakaken"]·KO["그리고-행하시나니","만들었다","벌이고있었다","베풀었으니","위해-하다","하는자","하는자들","하라-너희","하셨느냐","행하던","행하시되","행하신","행하였나이다","행하였다"]·PT["age","cometi","e-fazendo","em-fazer","fareis","fazendo","faziam","feito","fez","fizeram","fizeste","para-fazer"]·RU["действует","делайте","делала","делать","делают","делающий","и-совершающий","исполнять","сделал","сделал-Ты","сделали","соделал"]·ES["de-hacer","hace","haces?","haciendo","hacía","haréis","he-hecho","hicieron","hizo","lo-haréis","para-hacer","y-hace"]·SW["akifanya","alifanya","alitengeneza","amefanya","anafanya","fanyeni","ilikuwa-ikifanya","kufanya","mtafanya","na-kufanya","nilichofanya","umefanya","walifanya","yalifanywa"]·TR["ve-yapan","yapacaksiniz","yapan","yapar","yaparlar","yapin","yapmak","yapmaktan","yaptilar","yaptı","yaptım","yaptın"]·urd["اور-کرنے-والا","بنایا","تُو-نے-کیا-ہے","لے-کرنے-سے","لے-کرنے-کو","کر-رہا-تھا","کرتا-تھا","کرتا-ہے","کرتے","کرنے-والا","کرو-تم","کرو-گے","کی-میں-نے","کیا","کیے"]
Ezra 4:15, Ezra 4:22, Ezra 6:8, Ezra 6:13, Ezra 7:18, Ezra 7:18, Ezra 7:26, Dan 3:1, Dan 4:2, Dan 4:35, Dan 4:35, Dan 5:1 (+4 more)
▼ 3 more senses below
Senses
2. be done, be made (passive) — To be done, be made, be carried out — the Hitpael passive across 9 occurrences, concentrated in Ezra's imperial correspondence. Persian officials report that the temple work 'is being done diligently' (Ezra 5:8), royal decrees specify what 'shall be done' to violators (Ezra 6:11-12), and Artaxerxes orders that whatever Ezra requests 'shall be done' precisely (Ezra 7:21). Spanish se-hace/es-hecha and the reflexive-passive morphology (yit'aved/mit'avda) mark this as a grammaticalized passive voice, parallel to the Qal active sense 1 but with the agent suppressed or implied as institutional authority. 9×
AR["تُصْنَعُونَ","لِيُعْمَل","يُجْعَل","يُجْعَلُ","يُعْمَل","يُعْمَلُ-"]·ben["করনকারী-","করা-হবে","করা-হবে-তোমাদের","করা-হোক","কার্যকর","হচ্ছে"]·DE["[יתעבד]","[מתעבד]","[מתעבדא]","tun"]·EN["being-done","being-made","executed","let-it-be-done","let-it-be-made","will-be-made","you-will-be-made"]·FR["faire"]·heb["ייעשה","יתעבד","מתעבד","מתעבדא","תיעשו"]·HI["कर-दिए-जाओगे","किया-जाए","किया-जाएगा","बनाया-जाए","भड़काया-गया-है","हो-रहा-है"]·ID["akan-dijadikan","biarlah-dijadikan","biarlah-dilaksanakan","biarlah-dilakukan","dikerjakan","dilaksanakan","dilakukan","kamu-akan-dijadikan"]·IT["fare"]·jav["badhe-dipun-damel","dipun-damel","dipun-tindakaken","lan-kasembadan","mugi-dipun-tindakaken","panjenengan-badhe-dipun-damel"]·KO["너희가-될-것이다","될-것이다","만들어지라","행해지는-","행해지다","행해지라","행해진다"]·PT["era-feita","está-sendo-feita","feito","que-seja-feita","que-seja-feito","sereis-feitos","será-feito"]·RU["будет-сделан","будете-сделаны","да-будет-исполнено","да-будет-сделан","да-будет-сделано","делается","делается-","совершён"]·ES["ejecutado","es-hecha","se-hace-","sea-hecha","sea-hecho","será-hecho","seréis-hechos"]·SW["ifanywe","inafanywa","mtafanywa","watafanywa","yamefanywa"]·TR["uygulanan","yapilir-","yapiliyor","yapilsin","yapılacak","yapılacaksınız"]·urd["بنایا-جائے","کیا-جا-رہا-ہے","کیا-جائے","کیا-جاتا-","کیے-جاؤ-گے-تم","کیے-جائیں-گے"]
3. make, construct, produce — To make, construct, produce a physical object — 2 occurrences where avad means 'manufacture' or 'create' rather than generic 'do.' In Daniel 3:15 Nebuchadnezzar challenges the three men regarding the image 'I have made'; in Jeremiah 10:11 (the sole Aramaic verse in Jeremiah) the gods who did not 'make' heavens and earth will perish. Spanish hice/hicieron and German machen both select construction vocabulary. The contrast with sense 1 is between producing a result (doing) and producing an artifact (making). 2×
AR["صَنَعْتُهُ","يَصْنَعُوا"]·ben["নির্মাণ-করেছি","সৃষ্টি-করেছে"]·DE["[עבדו]","tun"]·EN["I-made","they-made"]·FR["faire","son-serviteur"]·heb["עבדו","עשיתי"]·HI["बनाई","बनाई-मैंने"]·ID["aku-buat","membuat"]·IT["fare","il-suo-servo"]·jav["damel","kawula-damel"]·KO["그들이-만들었다","내가-만든"]·PT["fiz","fizeram"]·RU["сделал-я","сотворили"]·ES["hice","hicieron"]·SW["nilitengeneza","tengeneza"]·TR["yaptılar","yaptım"]·urd["بنائے","بنایا-میں-نے"]
4. celebrate, observe a festival — To celebrate or observe a festival — a single idiomatic occurrence at Ezra 6:16 where the returned exiles 'celebrated' the dedication of the rebuilt temple. Here avad takes a festival or ceremony as its direct object, extending 'do/perform' into ritual observance. Spanish hicieron la dedicacion and the broader Ancient Near Eastern idiom of 'doing a feast' (cf. Akkadian epesu) confirm this as a conventionalized collocational sense. Belshazzar similarly 'made a great feast' in Daniel 5:1, reinforcing the pattern. 1×
AR["وَ-عَمِلَ"]·ben["আর-করলেন"]·DE["[ועבדו]"]·EN["and-celebrated"]·FR["et-faire"]·heb["ו-עבדו"]·ID["Dan-merayakan"]·IT["e-fare"]·jav["lan-nindakaken"]·KO["그리고-행하였다"]·PT["e-fizeram"]·RU["И-совершили"]·ES["e-hicieron"]·SW["na-wakafanya"]·TR["Ve-yaptilar"]·urd["اور-منایا"]
BDB / Lexicon Reference
עֲבַד vb. make, do (𝔗 Syriac Old Aramaic Nab. Palm. Egyptian Aramaic (S-CPap.; cf. אַזְדָּא); = BH עָבַד, q.v., but in meaning ‖ עשׂה);— Pe. Pf. 3 ms. ע׳ Dn 3:1 +, 2 ms. עֲבַ֑דְתְּ (K§ 13, 2) 4:32; 1 s. עַבְדֵֿת 3:15; 6:23, 3 mpl. עֲבַ֫דוּ Ezr 6:13 +; Impf. 2 mpl. תַּעְבְּדוּן (Baer K§ 38, 1. b); תַּעַבְדוּן Gi Str) Ezr 6:8; 7:18; Inf. מֶעְבַּד (K§ 15, a) 2)) 4:22; 7:18 (מֶעְבַּ֑ד); Pt. act.…