---
title: עָמֵל — toiling · The Tanakh dictionary
description: עָמֵל (lemma:עָמֵל), a word of Biblical Hebrew, used 5 times: toiling. BDB 1906: adj. verb. toiling. With 2 verses in Hebrew, word for word and JPS 1917.
---

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# עָמֵל

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«עָמֵל» in the Tanakh dictionary: **toiling** — 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:** 5 times · **Key:** lemma:עָמֵל · **BDB:** עָמֵל²

### Glosses

\[was\].toiling (3); \[are\].toiling (1); toiling (1)

### Meaning (OSHB)

toiling [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1506/lemma_3a_5e2_5b8_5de_5b5_5dc/#m1)

### Meaning (BDB 1906)

adj. verb. toiling [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1506/lemma_3a_5e2_5b8_5de_5b5_5dc/#m2)

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**The whole BDB entry:** adj. verb. toiling, only Ec, as pred.;—Ec 2:18, 22; 3:9; 4:8; 9:9.

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Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech agrees, 5 of its verses cited, 1 words shared with the glosses (5 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 1 words shared with the BDB entry, 1 with the glosses (5 candidates)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every English meaning of «עָמֵל» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1506/lemma_3a_5e2_5b8_5de_5b5_5dc/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.

### In the verses

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[Ecclesiastes 3:9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/ECC.3.9/)

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מַה־יִּתְרוֹן֙ הָֽעוֹשֶׂ֔ה בַּאֲשֶׁ֖ר ה֥וּא עָמֵֽל׃

*Word for word:* what? \[is\].the.advantage of the.\[one.who\].works in.\[that\] which he \[was\].toiling

*JPS 1917:* What profit hath he that worketh in that he laboureth?

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[Ecclesiastes 2:22](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/ECC.2.22/)

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כִּ֠י מֶֽה־הֹוֶ֤ה לָֽאָדָם֙ בְּכָל־עֲמָל֔וֹ וּבְרַעְי֖וֹן לִבּו֑שֶׁה֥וּא עָמֵ֖ל תַּ֥חַת הַשָּֽׁמֶשׁ׃

*Word for word:* (dm) what? \[is\].becoming to the person in all toil his and in the.striving his.heart his which he \[was\].toiling under the sun

*JPS 1917:* For what hath a man of all his labour, and of the striving of his heart, wherein he laboureth under the sun?

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