H6045 H6045
A task, occupation, or burdensome business; used especially in Ecclesiastes for divinely appointed toil.
A masculine noun meaning task, occupation, or business, appearing almost exclusively in Ecclesiastes where it carries a distinctly weighty nuance. Qoheleth uses it to describe the toilsome occupation God has given humanity (Eccl 1:13, 3:10), the restless busyness that fills human days with grief (Eccl 2:23, 26), and the solitary labor without satisfaction (Eccl 4:8, 5:3, 8:16). Possibly an Aramaic loanword related to Syriac 'be occupied with,' the term captures the paradox of purposeful yet ultimately frustrating human activity. Spanish 'ocupacion' and French 'travail' both reflect the burdensome-labor sense that dominates.
Senses
1. task, occupation, business — A task, occupation, or burdensome business that engages and preoccupies a person, particularly as a divinely appointed toil. The word appears predominantly in Ecclesiastes, where Qoheleth employs it to characterize the frustrating round of human activity: 'the task God has given the sons of man to be busy with' (Eccl 1:13, 3:10). It encompasses restless striving (Eccl 2:23 'all his days are pain, and his occupation is grief'), purposeless accumulation (Eccl 4:8), and sleepless preoccupation (Eccl 8:16). Spanish 'ocupacion' and French 'travail' both capture the laborious, weighty quality that distinguishes this noun from neutral words for work. 8×
AR["أَعْطَى", "الَّذِي-", "بَطْنِ", "سَيِّئٌ", "شُغْلُهُ", "لَا-", "وَشُغْلٌ"]·ben["এবং-কাজ", "কাজ", "কাজ-তার", "কাজের", "ব্যাপারে"]·DE["Geschaeft", "und-Geschaeft"]·EN["and-task", "his-task", "in-task", "task", "the-task"]·FR["dans-travail", "et-travail", "le-travail", "son-travail-lui", "travail"]·heb["ב-עניין", "ה-עניין", "ו-עניין", "עניין", "עניינו"]·HI["उसका-काम", "और-कार्य", "कठिन-कार्य", "काम", "कार्य", "कार्य-को", "कार्य-में", "कार्य-से"]·ID["dalam-urusan", "dan-urusan", "pekerjaan-yang-berat", "urusan", "urusannya"]·IT["affare", "affare-suo", "e-affare", "il-affare", "in-affare"]·jav["ing-padamelan", "lan-padamelan", "padamelan", "padamelanipun"]·KO["그리고-일", "일", "일-그", "일-그의", "일-에서", "일-의"]·PT["a-ocupação", "e-ocupação", "em-ocupação", "ocupação", "ocupação-sua", "é-ocupação"]·RU["в-занятии", "забот,", "занятие", "занятие,", "занятие-его;", "и-занятие"]·ES["el-asunto", "en-ocupación", "la-ocupación", "ocupación", "su-ocupación", "y-ocupación"]·SW["katika-shughuli", "kazi", "kazi-yake", "na-shughuli", "shughuli"]·TR["icinde-ugras", "ugras", "ugrasi", "ve-ugras"]·urd["اور-مشقت", "فکر-کی", "مشقت", "مشقت-اس-کی", "کام", "کام-میں"]
Related Senses
H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)H4480a 1. source or separation (1198×)H5892b 1. city, town (1093×)G1519 1. direction: into, to, toward (1061×)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×)G1909 1. on, upon (spatial surface) (757×)H0369 1. existential negation: there is not (738×)H5869a 1. in the eyes/sight of (evaluative) (734×)H5650 1. Servant, attendant, subject (723×)H0408 1. prohibitive negation do-not (712×)G2443 1. so that, in order that (purpose/result) (665×)G0575 1. from (649×)G1223 1. through, by means of (582×)H3541 1. thus, so, in this manner (569×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† II. [עָנָה] vb. be occupied, busied with (ב), only Ec (perhaps Aramaic loan-word; Syriac ܥܢܳܐ be occupied with, ܥܶܢܝܳܢ occupation, affair; cf. Arabic عنى, عَنَا concern one, also be occupied by; Ecclus 42:8 margin);— Qal Inf. עֲנוֹת Ec 1:13; 3:10.