---
title: עָמַל — labour · The Tanakh dictionary
description: עָמַל (5998), a word of Biblical Hebrew, used 11 times: labour. BDB 1906: vb. labour, toil. With 2 verses in Hebrew, word for word and JPS 1917.
---

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# עָמַל

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«עָמַל» in the Tanakh dictionary: **labour** — how often it is used, MACULA's glosses, its meanings in the printed dictionaries and why they were chosen, and 2 verses in layers.

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**Used:** 11 times · **Key:** 5998 · **BDB:** עָמַל

### Glosses

I.have.toiled (2); he.toils (2); I.had.toiled (1)

### Meaning (OSHB)

labour [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1506/5998/#m1)

### Meaning (BDB 1906)

vb. labour, toil [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1506/5998/#m2)

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**The whole BDB entry:** vb. labour, toil (NH id.; Arabic عَمِلَ labour, make; Sab. עמל work (? n. or vb.) CIS iv. No. 250; Aramaic עֲמַל, ܥܡܰܠ; Zinj. עמל; Assyrian nîmelu, gain, possessions);— Pf. 3 ms. ע׳ Ec 2:21; 3 fs. עָֽמְלָה Pr 16:26; 2 ms. עָמַלְתָּ Jon 4:10; 1 s. עָמַלְתִּי Ec 2:11 + 2 times; pl. עָֽמְלוּ ψ 127:1; Impf. 3 ms. יַעֲמֹל Ec 1:3 + 3 times;—labour (very late): in building, c. בְּ ψ 127:1; tillage, c. בְּ Jon 4:10; gen., c. בְּ Ec 2:21, c. לְ Pr 16:26; Ec 5:15, c. לְ + inf. 8:17; עֲמָלוֹ שֶׁיַּעֲמֹל 1:3; 5:17, cf. 2:11, 19, 20.

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Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech agrees, 10 of its verses cited, 1 words shared with the glosses, lists its Strong's number (5 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 1 words shared with the BDB entry, 0 with the glosses (5 candidates)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every English meaning of «עָמַל» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1506/5998/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.

### In the verses

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[Proverbs 16:26](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PRO.16.26/)

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נֶ֣פֶשׁ עָ֭מֵל עָ֣מְלָה לּ֑וֹ כִּֽי־אָכַ֖ף עָלָ֣יו פִּֽיהוּ׃

*Word for word:* \[the\].appetite of.a.laborer it.toils for him (dm) it.presses on him mouth his

*JPS 1917:* The hunger of the labouring man laboureth for him; for his mouth compelleth him.

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[Ecclesiastes 1:3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/ECC.1.3/)

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מַה־יִּתְר֖וֹן לָֽאָדָ֑ם בְּכָל־עֲמָל֔וֹ שֶֽׁיַּעֲמֹ֖ל תַּ֥חַת הַשָּֽׁמֶשׁ׃

*Word for word:* what? advantage \[belongs\].to (the) humankind in all toil his which he.toils under the sun

*JPS 1917:* What profit hath man of all his labour wherein he laboureth under the sun?

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