H6040 H6040
Affliction, misery, or suffering endured through hardship or oppression; rarely, humility or meekness of spirit.
A noun that names the raw experience of suffering — the kind God sees when he looks upon his people. When Hagar flees into the wilderness, the angel says 'the LORD has heard your affliction' (Gen 16:11). When Israel groans under Egyptian slavery, God declares 'I have surely seen the affliction of my people' (Exod 3:7). The word appears at turning points of divine intervention: God responds to affliction by acting. Spanish 'afliccion,' French 'affliction,' and German 'Elend' all preserve the sense of deep distress. In one remarkable instance (Num 12:3), the same root describes Moses as supremely 'humble' — a shift from external suffering to inward disposition that later tradition would develop extensively.
1. affliction, misery, suffering — Affliction, misery, distress, or suffering endured through poverty, oppression, or hardship. This is the condition that provokes divine compassion and intervention: God sees Hagar's affliction (Gen 16:11), hears Israel's cry from Egypt (Exod 3:7), and remembers Jacob's hardship (Gen 31:42). Joseph names his son Ephraim because 'God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction' (Gen 41:52). The word consistently appears at the hinge between suffering and deliverance. Spanish 'afliccion,' French 'affliction,' and German 'Elend' all converge on the same semantic profile of deep, often prolonged distress. 36×
AR["البُؤسِ","الشَّقَاءِ","الضِّيقِ","الْمَشَقَّةِ","بَلاءٍ","بُؤْسِي","ذُلَّ","شِدَّةً","ضِيقَ","ضِيقَتِي","ضِيقِي","فِي-ضِيقَتِي","مَذَلَّتِي","مَشَقَّةَ","مَشَقَّتِي"]·ben["-আমার-কষ্টে","আমার-কষ্ট","আমার-কষ্টের","আমার-দুঃখকে","আমার-দুর্দশা","কষ্ট","কষ্টের","দুঃখ","দুঃখীদের","দুর্দশা"]·DE["Elend","Elend-von","[עני]","affliction","affliction-von","elend","in-mein-affliction","mein-Elend","mein-affliction"]·EN["affliction","affliction-of","in-my-affliction","my-affliction","the-affliction-of"]·FR["[עני]","affliction","affliction-de","dans-affliction","mon-affliction","pauvre"]·heb["ב-עניי","עוני","עוני-י","עוניי","עני","עניי","עניי-י"]·HI["ओनी","कशथ","दुःख-मेरा","दुःखीों-का।","दुख","दुख-की","दुख-के","दुख-मेरा","मेरा-दुख","मेरे-कष्ट","मेरे-दुख","मेरे-दुख-को"]·ID["dalam-kesengsaraan-ku","kesengsaraan","kesengsaraan-ku","kesengsaraanku","penderitaan","yang-tertindas"]·IT["[עני]","affliction","afflizione","afflizione-di","mio-afflizione"]·jav["ing-kasangsaran-kula","kasangsaran","kasangsaran-kawula","kasangsaran-kula","kawula","kula"]·KO["고난","고난-을","고난을","고난의","고통을","곤고의","곤란-과","곤란-을","나-의-고난","나-의-괴로움-에서","나-의-괴로움-을","나의-괴로움을","내-고난-과","내-고난-을","멸망하였으리이다"]·PT["a-minha-aflição","aflição","aflição-de","aflição-minha","aflição.","minha-aflição","na-minha-aflição"]·RU["бедствие-моё","бедствия","в-скорби-моей","на-скорбь-мою","на-страдание-мое","страдание","страдание-моё","страдания"]·ES["afliccion","afliccion-de","aflicción","aflicción-de","aflicción-de-mí","aflicción-mía","aflición","en-aflicción-de-mí","mi-aflicción"]·SW["katika-mateso-yangu","katika-taabu-yangu","mateso","mateso-ya","mateso-yangu","taabu-yangu","wa-taabu"]·TR["acı-çekenlerin","acımı","acımı-","acısını","sikintinin","sıkıntı","sıkıntım","sıkıntımda","sıkıntımı","sıkıntının","sıkıntısını"]·urd["اپنی-مصیبت-میں","دنوں","دکھ","مصیبت","مصیبت کی","مصیبت کے","مصیبت-کی","مظلوم-کے","میری-مشقت","میری-مصیبت","میری-مصیبت-میں"]
Gen 16:11, Gen 29:32, Gen 31:42, Gen 41:52, Exod 3:7, Exod 3:17, Exod 4:31, Deut 16:3, Deut 26:7, 1 Sam 1:11, 2 Kgs 14:26, 1 Chr 22:14 (+24 more)
▼ 1 more sense below
Senses
2. humble, lowly, meek — Humility or meekness of character, describing a lowly and gentle disposition rather than external hardship. Numbers 12:3 uniquely applies this quality to Moses: 'the man Moses was very humble, more than all people on the face of the earth.' Spanish renders it '(manso)' (meek), French 'humilier,' and German 'demütigen,' all shifting from suffering to temperament. This single attestation bridges the gap between the afflicted person who has been humbled by life and the person who embodies humility as a virtue — a semantic development the later 'anawim' tradition would make central to Jewish and Christian piety. 1×
AR["(وَدِيعٌ)"]·ben["(নম্র)"]·DE["demuetigen"]·EN["humble"]·FR["humilier"]·heb["(עניו)"]·HI["नम्र"]·ID["rendah-hati"]·IT["umiliare"]·jav["andhap-asor"]·KO["겸손했다"]·PT["(manso)"]·RU["кроток"]·ES["(manso)"]·SW["mpole"]·TR["alçak-gönüllü"]·urd["حلیم"]
Related Senses
G2962 1. Lord (divine title) (661×)H0136 1. Lord (divine title) (440×)H0113 1. lord, human superior (249×)H7965 1. peace, absence of conflict (198×)H3467 1. save, deliver, rescue (Hifil active) (156×)H5127 1. flee, run away (Qal) (144×)G1515 1. peace, well-being, harmony (93×)G1849 1. authority, power (91×)H8002 1. peace offering(s) (87×)G4982 1. save spiritually, grant salvation (79×)H3444 1. salvation, deliverance (67×)H4422 1. Nifal: escape, flee (63×)H6485a 2. Qal: punish, bring judgment (63×)H8198 1. maidservant, female slave (63×)G2962 2. master, lord (human authority) (61×)H0034 1. needy, poor, destitute (61×)H1272 1. flee, run away (Qal) (58×)H6869b 1. distress, trouble (57×)H0519 1. female servant, maidservant (56×)H6041 1. poor, needy person (55×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† עָנִי adj. poor, afflicted, humble;—ע׳ Dt 24:12 + 51 times; pl. עֲנִיִּים Is 3:15 + 6 times; cstr. עֲנִיֵּי Is 10:2 + 4 times (v. also Kt and Qr sub עָנָו supr.); sf. עֲנִיֶּיךָ ψ 72:2; 74:19, עֲנִיֶּ֑ךָ Dt 15:11; עֲנִיָּו Is 49:13; fs. עֲנִיָּה Is 51:21; 54:11 (+ Is 10:30 MT, but read עֲנִיהָ, v. I. ענה);— 1. poor, needy, ‖ אביון Dt 15:11; 24:14, 15; Pr 31:20, ‖ יתום Jb 24:12; Ex 22:24 (E), Dt…