---
title: עִנְיָן — occupation · The Tanakh dictionary
description: עִנְיָן (6045), a word of Biblical Hebrew, used 8 times: occupation. BDB 1906: n.m. occupation, task. With 2 verses in Hebrew, word for word and JPS 1917.
---

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# עִנְיָן

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«עִנְיָן» in the Tanakh dictionary: **occupation** — 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:** 8 times · **Key:** 6045 · **BDB:** עִנְיָן

### Glosses

business (3); a.business (2); \[is\].a.business (1)

### Meaning (OSHB)

occupation [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1506/6045/#m1)

### Meaning (BDB 1906)

n.m. occupation, task [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1506/6045/#m2)

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**The whole BDB entry:** n.m. Ec 1:13 occupation, task, only Ec (Aramaic loan-word LagBN 205; common in NH);—ע׳ abs. Ec 2:26; 3:10; 5:2; 8:16; sf. כַּעַס עִנְיָנוֹ 2:23 his task is (sheer) vexation; עִנְיָן רָע 1:13 an evil (worthless) task, so 4:8 (Mass. עִנְיַן as if cstr., v. Baer1, 13 but Köii. 1, 99), and, in weakened sense, 5:13 a bad business, bad affair.

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Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech agrees, 8 of its verses cited, 0 words shared with the glosses, lists its Strong's number (9 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 1 words shared with the BDB entry, 0 with the glosses (6 candidates)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every English meaning of «עִנְיָן» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1506/6045/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.

### In the verses

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[Ecclesiastes 5:2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/ECC.5.2/)

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כִּ֛י בָּ֥א הַחֲל֖וֹם בְּרֹ֣ב עִנְיָ֑ן וְק֥וֹל כְּסִ֖יל בְּרֹ֥ב דְּבָרִֽים׃

*Word for word:* (dm) it.comes the dream with abundance of.business and.\[the\] voice a.fool with a.multitude of.words

*JPS 1917:* For a dream cometh through a multitude of business; and a fool's voice through a multitude of words.

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[Ecclesiastes 3:10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/ECC.3.10/)

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רָאִ֣יתִי אֶת־הָֽעִנְיָ֗ן אֲשֶׁ֨ר נָתַ֧ן אֱלֹהִ֛ים לִבְנֵ֥י הָאָדָ֖ם לַעֲנ֥וֹת בּֽוֹ׃

*Word for word:* I.have.seen (et) the business which he.has.given God to the.children of.(the) humankind to be.busy with it

*JPS 1917:* I have seen the task which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised therewith.

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