עָבַד
to serve
‘to serve’ is one of 3 main senses fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
See every Qal verb in the Hebrew Bible →
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Verb
- An action or state-of-being word.
Stem
- Qal
- The basic, simple active stem — the plain form of the verb (“he wrote”). Here: ‘labour’
- Hophal
- The passive counterpart of the Hiphil (“he was caused to…”).
- Pual
- The passive counterpart of the Piel.
- Niphal
- Usually the simple passive or reflexive of the Qal (“he was written”). Here: ‘be tilled’
- Hiphil
- The causative active stem (“he caused / brought about”). Here: ‘compel to labour as slaves Ex 1’
Form
- Infinitive Construct
- A bound verbal noun, frequently with prepositions (“to write / in writing”).
- Sequential Imperfect
- An imperfect with prefixed waw — the standard past-narrative form (waw-consecutive imperfect).
- Sequential Perfect
- A perfect with prefixed waw continuing a preceding imperfect or command (waw-consecutive perfect).
- Imperfect
- An incomplete, ongoing, or future action (“he will / would write”).
- Imperative
- A direct command (“write!”).
- Perfect
- A completed action or state — Hebrew marks aspect (completeness) more than strict tense (“he wrote”).
- Participle Active
- A verbal adjective expressing ongoing or characteristic action (“writing / one who writes”).
- Cohortative
- A first-person volitional form expressing wish or resolve (“let me / let us write”).
- Jussive
- A third- or second-person volitional form expressing wish or command (“let him write”).
State
- Construct
- A noun bound to a following noun in a possessive / “of” relationship (the construct chain).
- Absolute
- The independent form of a noun, not bound to a following word.
Person
- 3rd Person
- The one spoken about (“he / she / it / they”).
- 2nd Person
- The one addressed (“you”).
- 1st Person
- The speaker (“I / we”).
Gender
- Masculine
- Grammatically masculine.
- Common
- Either gender — not distinguished for this form.
- Feminine
- Grammatically feminine.
Number
- Plural
- More than one (in Hebrew, generally three or more).
- Singular
- One.
Every verse where H5647 appears in the Book of Deuteronomy — 35 distinct verses. Click any verse to open its interlinear word-by-word view. Verse text shown in the World English Bible for context — . Each verse’s Hebrew form is shown with its reference; the English is not keyword-highlighted, since the data carries no word-level English alignment. Use “Compare translations” on any verse to read it across multiple English versions. This concordance covers the Hebrew Bible; Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) occurrences are not indexed here.
Deuteronomy
- Deuteronomy 4:19 וַ/עֲבַדְתָּ֑/ם conj + Qal wpf 2ms + sfx pers 3mp and lest you lift up your eyes to the sky, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, even all the host of the sky, you are drawn away and worship them, and serve them, which Yahweh your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole sky.
- Deuteronomy 4:28 וַ/עֲבַדְתֶּם conj + Qal wpf 2mp There you shall serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
- Deuteronomy 5:9 תָעָבְדֵ֑/ם Hophal impf 2ms + sfx pers 3mp you shall not bow down yourself to them, nor serve them; for I, Yahweh, your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me;
- Deuteronomy 5:13 תַּֽעֲבֹ֔ד Qal impf 2ms Six days shall you labor, and do all your work;
- Deuteronomy 6:13 תַעֲבֹ֑ד Qal impf 2ms You shall fear Yahweh your God; and him shall you serve, and shall swear by his name.
- Deuteronomy 7:4 וְ/עָבְד֖וּ conj + Qal wpf 3cp For he will turn away your son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of Yahweh be kindled against you, and he will destroy you quickly.
- Deuteronomy 7:16 תַעֲבֹד֙ Qal impf 2ms You shall consume all the peoples who Yahweh your God shall deliver to you; your eye shall not pity them: neither shall you serve their gods; for that will be a snare to you.
- Deuteronomy 8:19 וַ/עֲבַדְתָּ֖/ם conj + Qal wpf 2ms + sfx pers 3mp It shall be, if you shall forget Yahweh your God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish.
- Deuteronomy 10:12 וְ/לַֽ/עֲבֹד֙ conj + prep + Qal inf.cs Now, Israel, what does Yahweh your God require of you, but to fear Yahweh your God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul,
- Deuteronomy 10:20 תַעֲבֹ֑ד Qal impf 2ms You shall fear Yahweh your God; him shall you serve; and to him shall you cleave, and by his name shall you swear.
- Deuteronomy 11:13 וּ/לְ/עָבְד֔/וֹ conj + prep + Qal inf.cs + sfx pers 3ms It shall happen, if you shall listen diligently to my commandments which I command you this day, to love Yahweh your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,
- Deuteronomy 11:16 וַ/עֲבַדְתֶּם֙ conj + Qal wpf 2mp Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them;
- Deuteronomy 12:2 עָֽבְדוּ Qal pf 3cp You shall surely destroy all the places in which the nations that you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains, and on the hills, and under every green tree:
- Deuteronomy 12:30 יַעַבְד֜וּ Qal impf 3mp take heed to yourself that you not be ensnared to follow them, after that they are destroyed from before you; and that you not inquire after their gods, saying, How do these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.
- Deuteronomy 13:2 וְ/נָֽעָבְדֵֽ/ם conj + Hophal impf 1cp + sfx pers 3mp and the sign or the wonder come to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, Let us go after other gods, which you have not known, and let us serve them;
- Deuteronomy 13:4 תַעֲבֹ֖דוּ Qal impf 2mp You shall walk after Yahweh your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and you shall serve him, and cleave to him.
- Deuteronomy 13:6 וְ/נַֽעַבְדָה֙ conj + Qal coh 1cp If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son, or your daughter, or the wife of your bosom, or your friend, who is as your own soul, entice you secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which you have not known, you, nor your fathers;
- Deuteronomy 13:13 וְ/נַעַבְדָ֛ה conj + Qal coh 1cp Certain base fellows are gone out from the midst of you, and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which you have not known;
- Deuteronomy 15:12 וַ/עֲבָֽדְ/ךָ֖ conj + Qal wpf 3ms + sfx pers 2ms If your brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, be sold to you, and serve you six years; then in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you.
- Deuteronomy 15:18 עֲבָֽדְ/ךָ֖ Qal pf 3ms + sfx pers 2ms It shall not seem hard to you, when you let him go free from you; for to the double of the hire of a hireling has he served you six years: and Yahweh your God will bless you in all that you do.
- Deuteronomy 15:19 תַעֲבֹד֙ Qal impf 2ms All the firstborn males that are born of your herd and of your flock you shall sanctify to Yahweh your God: you shall do no work with the firstborn of your herd, nor shear the firstborn of your flock.
- Deuteronomy 17:3 וַֽ/יַּעֲבֹד֙ conj + Qal wimpf 3ms and has gone and served other gods, and worshiped them, or the sun, or the moon, or any of the host of the sky, which I have not commanded;
- Deuteronomy 20:11 וַ/עֲבָדֽוּ/ךָ conj + Qal wpf 3cp + sfx pers 2ms It shall be, if it make you answer of peace, and open to you, then it shall be, that all the people who are found therein shall become tributary to you, and shall serve you.
- Deuteronomy 21:3 עֻבַּד֙ Pual pf 3ms and it shall be, that the city which is nearest to the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd, which hasn't been worked with, and which has not drawn in the yoke;
- Deuteronomy 21:4 יֵעָבֵ֥ד Niphal impf 3ms and the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer to a valley with running water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and shall break the heifer's neck there in the valley.
- Deuteronomy 28:14 לְ/עָבְדָֽ/ם prep + Qal inf.cs + sfx pers 3mp and shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.
- Deuteronomy 28:36 וְ/עָבַ֥דְתָּ conj + Qal wpf 2ms Yahweh will bring you, and your king whom you shall set over you, to a nation that you have not known, you nor your fathers; and there shall you serve other gods, wood and stone.
- Deuteronomy 28:39 וְ/עָבָ֑דְתָּ conj + Qal wpf 2ms You shall plant vineyards and dress them, but you shall neither drink of the wine, nor gather [the grapes]; for the worm shall eat them.
- Deuteronomy 28:47 עָבַ֨דְתָּ֙ Qal pf 2ms Because you didn't serve Yahweh your God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, by reason of the abundance of all things;
- Deuteronomy 28:48 וְ/עָבַדְתָּ֣ conj + Qal wpf 2ms therefore shall you serve your enemies whom Yahweh shall send against you, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron on your neck, until he have destroyed you.
- Deuteronomy 28:64 וְ/עָבַ֨דְתָּ conj + Qal wpf 2ms Yahweh will scatter you among all peoples, from the one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth; and there you shall serve other gods, which you have not known, you nor your fathers, even wood and stone.
- Deuteronomy 29:18 לַ/עֲבֹ֔ד prep + Qal inf.cs lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turns away this day from Yahweh our God, to go to serve the gods of those nations; lest there should be among you a root that bears gall and wormwood;
- Deuteronomy 29:26 וַ/יַּֽעַבְדוּ֙ conj + Qal wimpf 3mp and went and served other gods, and worshiped them, gods that they didn't know, and that he had not given to them:
- Deuteronomy 30:17 וַ/עֲבַדְתָּֽ/ם conj + Qal wpf 2ms + sfx pers 3mp But if your heart turn away, and you will not hear, but shall be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;
- Deuteronomy 31:20 וַ/עֲבָד֔וּ/ם conj + Qal wpf 3cp + sfx pers 3mp For when I shall have brought them into the land which I swore to their fathers, flowing with milk and honey, and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and grown fat; then will they turn to other gods, and serve them, and despise me, and break my covenant.
About this entry
At a glance — auto-summarized from this page’s data, not written by a person. Every figure links to its source below. This summary describes the numbers; it doesn’t interpret them.
At its core, עבד (ʻâbad) means “to serve.” The verb spans 5 stems, from Qal to Niphal. Spanning 262 verses in 25 books, it ranks among the common words of the Hebrew Bible. Scripture first uses it in Genesis 2:5. From the same root come מעבד, עבד and עבד. Dig into 262-verse concordance and the renderings breakdown below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H5647 catalogs a Hebrew word from the Hebrew Old Testament.
These counts are not copied from any lexicon or concordance. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged Hebrew Old Testament. What Lemma adds →
- 262
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 262 distinct verses.
- 25 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 25 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #172
- by frequency
- Top 250 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 172 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 262 occurrences in the concordance →
Most concentrated in
- Deuteronomy 35 verses 13%
- Jeremiah 31 verses 12%
- Exodus 29 verses 11%
By section of the Old Testament
By traditional corpus
Conventional, traditional groupings — biblical authorship is debated, so this is a traditional corpus grouping, not an authorship claim. Each share is this word’s portion of its verses in that division of the Hebrew canon. Each figure is a share of the word’s 262 distinct verses.
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 123 verses · 47%
- Torah (Pentateuch) 110 verses · 42%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 29 verses · 11%
How translations render this word
Counts come from each version’s own published word-to-Strong’s tagging or interlinear alignment — an approximate guide to how each version renders this word, not a word-level alignment the data otherwise carries. Because each total is that version’s own tagged count, the per-version totals vary from one another and need not match the appearance or distinct-verse counts above. These counts may also differ from a printed concordance because Lemma counts each distinctly tagged rendering and does not collapse phrase taggings into a single head-word total. This is a fixed set of word-tagged versions (KJV, ASV, BSB, ULT) and does not change with the reading translation you choose elsewhere. Each version’s license is shown beside its name below (and on Sources).
- King James Version: Serve 70×, Served 43×, Shall serve 12×
- American Standard Version: Serve 53×, Served 29×, Them 9×
- Berean Standard Bible: Serve 52×, Served 30×, Worship 12×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: Serve 58×, Served 18×, Serve them 15×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H5647 across 291 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 85 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 2 further occurrences.
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H5647 across 292 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 93 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
Renders H5647 across 285 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 83 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 4 further occurrences.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H5647 across 328 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 83 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
17 senses and sub-senses in the full BDB
Hebrew verbs can shift meaning by stem (binyan): Qal is the basic action, Niphal is often passive or reflexive, Piel often intensifies or makes it factitive, and Hiphil is typically causative. The senses below are grouped under the stem BDB assigns to each. This entry also uses Pual (the passive of Piel) and Hophal (the passive of Hiphil).
What do BDB’s symbols mean?
BDB uses these scholarly abbreviations:
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 𝔊 | the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation, LXX) |
| 𝔙 | the Vulgate (the Latin translation) |
| 𝔖 | the Syriac version (the Peshitta) |
| 𝔗 | the Targum (the Aramaic translation) |
| ψ | the Psalms |
| √ | root (the underlying root or stem) |
| ‖ | parallel passage (a synonymous or contrasted parallel) |
| † | the dagger: every passage where the word occurs is cited |
The 17 senses and sub-senses the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency), with BDB’s own verbatim wording and sub-sense lettering. Shown in Hebrew script with BDB’s own scholarly abbreviations. The condensed entry is in the Lexicon Entry tab. See also the Forms in the corpus table below.
Qal
- Pf. 3 ms. ע׳ Ez 29:18 +; sf. עֲבָדוֹ Mal 3:18 +; 3 mpl. עָֽבְדוּ Dt 7:4; עָבָ֑דוּ Nu 4:26, + 64 times Pf.; Impf. 3 ms. יַעֲבֹד Gn 25:23 +; sf. יַעַבְדֵ֫נִי Ex 4:23; יַעַבְדֶ֫נּוּ ψ 22:31 2 K 10:18; 3 mpl. יַעַבְדוּ Dt 12:30 +; יַעֲבֹ֑דוּ Gn 15:14 (Dr§ 103) Jb 36:11; 2 mpl. תַּעַבְדוּן Ex 3:12, תַּעֲבֹד֑וּן Jos 24:15, + 99 times Impf.; (תָּעָבְדֵם, נָֽעָבְדֵם v. Hoph.); Imv. עֲבֹד 1 S 26:19; sf. עָבְדֵהוּ 1 Ch 28:9; עִבְדוּ Ex 5:18 + 15 times; עֲבֹ֑דוּ Ez 20:39; sf. עִבְדֻהוּ 1 S 7:3; Inf. cstr. עֲבֹד Mal 3:14 +; עֲבָד־ Je 34:9, 10; sf. עָבְדוֹ Je 27:6 +, etc.; Pt. עֹבֵד Gn 4:2 +; pl. עֹבְדִים Nu 18:21 +; cstr. עֹבְדֵי ψ 97:7 +; sf. עֹבְדָיו 2 K 10:19; עֹבְדֵיהֶם Zc 2:13;— e.g. Ezekiel 29:18
- 1. labour, work, do work: abs. Ex 20:9 = 34:21 = Dt 5:13 (4th word); Ex 5:18 (E) Ec 5:11; c. acc. rei, till the ground Gn 2:5; 3:23; 4:2, 12 (J), 2 S 9:10; Is 30:24; Je 27:11; Zc 13:5; Pr 12:11; 28:19; obj. om. Dt 15:19; Ez 48:19; vineyard Dt 28:39; garden Gn 2:15 (J); עֹבְדֵי פִשְׁתִּים Is 19:9 workers in flax; עֹבְדֵ(י) הָעִיר Ez 48:18, 19 labourers of the city; ע׳ עֲבֹדָתוֹ Is 28:21 work his work (only here of God, ‖ עשׂה מַעֲשֵׂהוּ); ע׳ עבדה על Ez 29:18 serve a military service against. e.g. Exodus 20:9
- 2. work for another, serve him by labour: abs. Ex 21:2 (E); c. acc. pers. Gn 29:15; 31:6; Ex 21:6 (E) Dt 15:12, 18; Mal 3:17; Je 34:14, king his people 1 K 12:7; subj. animals Je 27:6; Jb 39:9; c. acc. pers. et rei Gn 30:26(×2), 29 (J); c. לְ pers. 2 S 16:19; עִם Gn 29:25, 30 (E) Lv 25:40 (P); עִמָּדִי Gn 29:27 (E); לִפְנֵי 2 S 16:19(×2); c. בְּ of price Gn 29:18, 20, 25; 31:41 (E) Ho 12:13; Ez 29:20; c. בְּ pers. work by means of another, use him as slave, Ex 1:14; Lv 25:39, 46 (P) Je 22:13; 30:8; 34:9, 10; cf. Dt 15:19. e.g. Exodus 21:2
- 3. serve as subjects: usually c. acc., their own rulers Ju 9:28(×2), 38 1 S 11:1; 1 K 5:1 +; other kings, by tribute ψ 18:44 = 2 S 22:44; Je 27:7; 28:14; 2 K 25:24 +, other nations 2 S 10:19; Je 40:9; Zc 2:13 +, kings other kings 2 K 18:7 +, c. לְ, 1 S 4:9(×2); †מַס עֹבֵד Gn 49:15 (J) Jos 16:10; 1 K 9:21 (see מַס); †c. בְּ pers., work with, i.e. use as subjects, impose tribute upon, Je 25:14; 27:7; Ez 34:27. e.g. Judges 9:28
- 4. serve God:
- a. c. acc. י׳, Ex 3:12; 4:23; 7:16, 26 (JE), ψ 22:31; Jb 21:15; Mal 3:14 +; c. acc. pers. et rei Ex 10:26 (E); acc. pers. om., Je 2:20 (read אֶעֱבוֹד Kt), עבד זבח ומנחה Is 19:21 serve with peace-offering and grain-offering; עבד עֲבֹדָה Ex 13:5 (of מַצֹּת). e.g. Exodus 3:12
- b. other gods, c. acc. א׳ †Dt 7:16; 12:2, 30 †; אלהים אחרים 7:4; 8:19; 11:16; 13:7, 14; 17:3; 28:14, 36, 64; 29:25; 30:17; 31:20; Jos 23:16; 24:2, 16; Ju 2:19; 10:13; 1 S 8:8; 26:19; 1 K 9:6, 9; 2 K 17:35; 2 Ch 7:19, 22; Je 11:10; 13:10; 16:11, 13; 22:9; 25:6; 35:15 (all D and Je); אֱלֹהֵי הַגּוֹיִם Dt 29:17; זָרִים Je 5:19; †כל צבא השׁמים Dt 4:19; 2 K 21:3; 2 Ch 33:3; Je 8:2; †הבעל(ים) Ju 2:11; 3:7; 10:6, 10; 1 S 12:10; 1 K 16:31; 22:54; 2 K 10:18(×2), 19(×2), 21, 22, 23(×2); 17:16; †אלהי נֵכָר Jos 24:20; Je 5:19; †(הַ)גִּלּוּלִים 2 K 17:12; 21:21(×2) Ez 20:39; †האשׁרים 2 Ch 24:18; עצבים ψ 106:36; †פסיל(ים) 2 Ch 33:22; 2 K 17:41; פסל ψ 97:7; c. לְ, †לבעל Ju 2:13; †לאלהים אחרים Je 44:3. e.g. Deuteronomy 7:16
- 5. serve י׳ with Levitical service (all P; cf. RSSem i. 69): c. acc. עבד עֲבֹדָה (v. עֲבֹדָה) Nu 3:7, 8; 4:23, 30, 47; 7:5; 8:11, 19, 22, 26; 16:9; 18:6, 21, 23; Jos 22:27; acc. om. Nu 4:24, 26, 37, 41; 8:15 (but Sam 𝔊 עבדה), v 25 18:7. e.g. Numbers 3:7
Niphal
- Pf. 3 ms. נֶעְבָּ֑ד Ec 5:8; 2 mpl. נֶעֱבַדְתֶּם Ez 36:9; Impf. 3 ms. יֵעָבֵד Dt 21:4; 3 fs. תֵּעָבֵד Ez 36:34;— e.g. Ecclesiastes 5:8
- 1. be tilled, of land Dt 21:4; Ez 36:9, 34. e.g. Deuteronomy 21:4
- 2. Ec 5:8 מֶלָךְ לְשָׂדֶה נֶעְבָּ֑ד dub.: a king for (devoted to) the cultivated field (Hi); a king that maketh himself servant to the field (devoted to agriculture), De: v. Comm., especially De. e.g. Ecclesiastes 5:8
Pual
- Pf. 3 ms. עֻבַּד Dt 21:3; Is 14:3; pass. of Qal, c. בְּ: impers. Dt 21:3 of a calf with which it has not been worked; hard service with which it was worked with captives Is 14:3. e.g. Deuteronomy 21:3
Hiphil
- Pf. 3 ms. הֶעֱבִיד Ez 29:18; 2 ms. sf. הֶעֱבַדְתַּ֫נִי Is 43:24, הֶעֱבַדְתִּיךָ v 23, וְהַעֲבַדְתִּיךָ Je 17:4 Impf. 3 ms. וַיַּעֲבֵד 2 Ch 34:33; 3 mpl. יַעֲבִדוּ Ex 1:13; Inf. cstr. הַעֲבִיד 2 Ch 2:17; Pt. pl. מַעֲבִדִים Ex 6:5;— e.g. Ezekiel 29:18
- 1. compel to labour as slaves Ex 1:13; 6:5 (P) 2 Ch 2:17, + Gn 47:21 (reading הֶעֱבִיד לַעֲבָדִים), 2 S 12:31 (reading וְהֶעֱבִיד, + בְּ at; on both these v. עבר Hiph. ad fin.); cause to serve, of army’s service against, c. acc. + (על)אל Ez 29:18; cause to labour, weary, c. בְּ of means Is 43:23, 24 (perhaps play on meanings2, 3). e.g. Exodus 1:13
- 2. make to serve as subjects, c. 2 acc. Je 17:4, + Je 15:14 (read וְהַעֲבַדְתִּיךָ, v. עבר Hiph. ad fin.). e.g. Jeremiah 17:4
- 3. cause to serve God 2 Ch 34:33. e.g. 2 Chronicles 34:33
Hophal
- Impf. 2 ms. sf. תָּֽעָבְדֵם Ex 20:5 = Dt 5:9; Ex 23:24; 1 pl. sf. נָֽעָבְדֵם Dt 13:3 (Köi. 259 Sta§ 549 g Thes; Marg. 12 f. Qal anom. pointed (cf. WAG. ed. 2, i. 62 n. Fl Kl. Schr. i. 98); Ges§ 60, R. 1 Dr Qal falsely pointed as Hoph.);—be led or enticed to serve other gods Ex 20:5 = Dt 5:9; Ex 23:24; Dt 13:3. e.g. Exodus 20:5
Senses from the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon (Brown, Driver, Briggs; Oxford 1906 — public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). Full attribution on Sources.
Word origin
vb. work, serve (Old Aramaic עבד do, make, especially Nab. Palm. (often), Lzb331 f. Cook86, so 𝔗 עֲבַד, Syriac ܥܒܰܕ (very often); but also Old Aramaic Ph. עבד slave, vassal (and in many n.pr.), 𝔗 עַבְדָּא, Syriac ܥܰܒܕܳܐ id.; Assyrian abdu, id. (rare); NH עָבַד serve, perform acts of worship (c. acc. cogn.), and deriv.; Arabic عَبَدَ worship, obey (God); cf. WeSkizzen iii. 165; Heid. 141, ii. enslave; عَبْدٌ slave, worshipper; Sab. עבד id. DHMSudar. Alt. p. 18; GerberVerb. Denom.14 ff. thinks be slave, serve (Qal) and enslave (Hiph.) are denom., cf. also NöZMG xi (1886), 741);—
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Origin: a primitive root
Jastrow Dictionary
A second Hebrew/Aramaic lexicon for comparison, covering Aramaic and post-biblical (Talmudic, Targumic, Midrashic) usage that the biblical-Hebrew BDB does not. Matched by lemma rather than by Strong’s number, so a lemma may carry more than one Jastrow headword (shown separately below), and the entries cover usage well beyond the Bible.
עֲבַד I
- (corresp. to h. עָשָׂה)
- 1. to do, labor; to make; to act. Targ. Gen. I, 7. Ib. XXXI, 26; a. v. fr.—Ber. 60ᵇ לעולם … כל דעביד רחמנא לטב Ms. M. (ed. לטב עביד; v. Rabb. D. S. a. l. note 3) man should train himself always to say, Whatever the Merciful One does, is for good; Yalk. Job 893 כל … לטב עביד. Tem. 4ᵇ אי עביד מהני, v. הֲנִי. Yeb. 37ᵃ מי עָבוּד רבנן תקנתא וכ׳ (not עביד) have the Rabbis adopted special measures for priests &c.? Ib. עַבְדִּינָן כרבנן we act (decide) in accordance with the opinion of the Rabbis. Keth. 60ᵇ לא עַבְדֵי נשי דחנקן וכ׳ women will not do such a thing as strangling their children. Kidd. 50ᵃ לא ע׳ אינש דמשוי וכ׳ a man will not declare himself a wrongdoer; a. v. fr.
- 2. to do, fare, prosper. Lev. R. s. 5, end מה את עָבֵיד how art thou?; ומה ארעא עֲבִידָא and how does the field fare?; מה תורין עַבְדִין how are the oxen? Ib. ע׳ לב טב he assumes cheerfulness. Gen. R. s. 13 כל שיחתן … עַבְדַּת ארעא all the talk of people turns on the land (material prosperity): ‘the land is doing well’ (crops promise to be good); ‘the land is not doing well’; a. fr.
- 3. to spend time. Y. Shebi. VIII, 38ᵇ top עביד טמיר במערתא וכ׳ he remained hidden in a cave &c.; ib. IX, 38ᵈ. Y. Shek. V, 48ᵈ top עַבְדַת טמירא וכ׳ she (the ass) remained hidden with them &c.; Gen. R. s. 60 עבדת גבון; a. fr.—Part. pass. עָבִיד; f. עֲבִידָא made, liable to, likely, used to. Y. Peah III, 17ᵈ bot. היך ע׳ how did it happen (i.e. in what case would it make a practical difference for the slave)? R. Hash. 22ᵇ, a. e. מילתא דע׳ לאיגלויי, v. גְּלֵי. Shebu. 46ᵃ, v. גְּזַם; a. fr.
- 1. to make, produce. Targ. O. Ex. XXXII, 10 אַעַבֵּיד ed. Berl. (oth. אַעֲבֵיד; Y. אֶעְבַּד). Ib. XXX, 37; a. fr.—Lev. R. s. 28, end, v. infra.
- 2. to cause to prosper. Gen. R. s. 13 כל תפלתן … מרי תַעֲבִיד ארעא יכ׳ all the prayers of men turn on the earth (mundane affairs): Lord, make the land (crop) thrive, make the land prosper; a. e.
- 3. to work through. Part. pass. מְעַבַּד, מְעַבְּדָא. B. Mets. 116ᵇ טינא דמע׳ thoroughly kneaded clay.
- to be done; to be made, become. Targ. Gen. XXIX, 26. Targ. Koh. VIII, 4. Targ. Ps. LXII, 4; a. fr.—Lam. R. to II, 2 בעית לאִיעַבְדָּא וכ׳ (not לאיבדא, לעיבדא) dost thou want to be made a senator? Lev. R. s. 28, end מאן דעַבֵּיד … אתע׳ וכ׳ he who made the comes …, is now to become a bather &c.; Esth. R. to VI, 10 האי גברא מְעַבֵּיד … עביד בלן (corr. acc.); a. fr. [Zeb. 75ᵇ דאיעבד, read: דאיערוב, v. עֲרַב I.]—V. דִּיעֲבַד.
עָבַד
- (b. h.) [to work]
- 1. to serve, work for. Gitt. IV, 5 עוֹבֵד את רבו וכ׳ works one day for his master, and one for himself; a. fr. Esp. to do priestly service. Ḥull. 24ᵇ אחיו הכהנים … לַעֲבוֹד וכ׳ his brother priests allow him not to serve, until he is twenty years of age.
- 2. to prepare; to till the ground; to dress (hides). Gen. R. s. 22 קין עובד אדמה Cain the tiller of the ground. Y. Ab. Zar. II, 41ᵇ bot. גוי עוֹבְדָן; Tosef. ib. IV (V), 10 עוֹבְדוֹ, v. דָּבַב I; (Bab. ib. 33ᵃ עיבדן). Y. Sabb. I, 4ᵇ top נתן כלים … ומצאו עובד בו וכ׳ if one gave a gentile garments to wash, and found him working at them on the Sabbath; a. fr.—Part. pass. עָבוּד, pl. עֲבוּדִין dressed, v. infra.
- 3. (v. עֲבוֹדָה) to use esp. for idolatrous purposes; to worship. Tem. VI, 1, v. infra. Ab. Zar. III, 7 (defining אשרה) כל שעוֹבְדִין אותה a tree which is itself worshipped (not one at which idolatrous rites are performed). Ib. הואיל … הן עובדין since they worship merely the image (under the tree). Snh. VII, 6 העובד ע"ז אחד העובד וכ׳ he who worships an idol, whether he goes through the regular forms of that particular worship (v. ib. 60ᵇ), or sacrifices &c. Ab. Zar. III, 5 העכומ"ז העובדין וכ׳ as to idolaters that worship mountains and hills (as deities), they (the territories) may be used, but what is on them is forbidden. Ib. 45ᵇ אילן … ולבסוף עֲבָדוֹ if one planted a tree and afterwards made it a subject of worship. Ib. 46ᵃ ועוֹבְדֵיהֶן בסייף and those (Jews) who worship them are put to death by the sword; Tosef. ib. VI (VII), 8. Sabb. 56ᵇ אילמלי לא … ולא עָבְדוּ ישראל ע"א had David not listened to evil gossip (against Mephibosheth), … Israel would not have worshipped idols (under Jeroboam). Ib. 105ᵇ עד שיאמר לו עֲבוֹד ע"ז until he (the tempter) finally tells him, worship idols; Tosef. B. Kam. IX, 31. Ḥull. 13ᵇ נכרים שבח"ל לאו עוֹבְדֵי ע"א הן gentiles outside of Palestine must not be considered as idolaters; a. v. fr.
- 1. to be prepared, dressed. Tosef. B. Kam. l. c. עורות שאינן נֶעֱבָדִין ed. Zuck. (oth. ed. עֲבוּדִין) undressed hides; a. e.
- 2. to be used, esp. for illicit purposes; to be worshipped. Tem. l. c. המוקצה והנ׳ the animal designated for idolatrous purposes and the one used; expl. כל שעובדין אותו whatever they may use it for ((e.g. yoking the ox, shearing the sheep for the benefit of idolatrous temples). Ib. 28ᵃ נעבדה בהן עבירה an illicit act has been done with them (by coupling them); ib. לא נֵתְעַבְּדָה בה עבירה no sinful act has been done with it (by which to unfit it for the altar). Ab. Zar. 46ᵇ יש נ׳ במחובר אצל גבוה does the law forbidding the use in divine worship of objects which have been used for idolatrous purposes include things fixed in the ground? Ib. יש שינוי בנ׳ does change of form restore to legitimate use objects otherwise forbidden on account of their use in connection with idolatry? a. fr.
- same, v. supra.
- to enslave, oppress. Yalk. Ex. 162 הֶעֱבִידוֹ בכל וכ׳ he (Esau) oppressed him with all sorts of troubles.
- to prepare, esp. to dress hides. Sabb. VII, 2 (among the labors forbidden on the Sabbath) והמְעַבֵּד את עורו dressing the hide of the deer (to fit it for parchment). Ib. 75ᵇ חייב משום מעבד is guilty of a Sabbath offence coming under the category of tanning. Gitt. 54ᵇ גוילין … לא עִיבַּדְתִּין לשמן I did not prepare the parchment sheets with the proper intention; a. fr.
עֶבֶד
- preced. wds.) slave, servant. Kidd. 20ᵃ הקונה ע׳ עברי וכ׳ he who buys a Hebrew slave, has, so to say, bought a master over himself. Sabb. 89ᵃ כלום יש ע׳ שנותן וכ׳ dare a servant salute his master (first)? Snh. 58ᵇ (ref. to Prov. XII, 11) אם … כע׳ לאדמה וכ׳ if a man makes himself a slave to the soil, he will be satisfied with bread &c. Kidd. I, 3 ע׳ כנעני נקנה וכ׳ a Canaanite (gentile) slave is acquired by money, by deed &c. Ib. III, 13 ממזר … הולד ע׳ if a bastard marries a slave, the child is a slave; הרי זה ע׳ ממזר the child is a bastard slave (subject to the disabilities of both). Shebu. 47ᵇ ע׳ מלך כמלך a king’s officer is like a king (the inferior person is raised by association with a superior); a. v. fr.—Pl. עֲבָדִים. Kidd. 22ᵇ (ref. to Lev. XXV, 55) כי לי … ולא ע׳ לע׳ ‘the children of Israel are my servants’, but they must not make themselves servants of servants (of human beings). Ab. I, 3 אל תהיו כע׳ וכ׳ be not like the servants that wait upon their master for the sake of getting their fare (reward), v. פְּרָס; a. fr. e.g. Proverbs 12:11
עֲבַד
- 1. same. Targ. Gen. IX, 25 (O. ed. Berl. עַבַד; ed. Vien. עֶבֶד). Ib. 26; a. fr.—Gen. R. s. 86 ע׳ זבין … ע׳ לתרויהון a slave (Potiphar) buys, the son of a handmaid (the Ishmaelite) sells, and the free man (Joseph) is the slave of both; Koh. R. to X, 7. Gitt. 13ᵃ, a. e. ע׳ בהפקרא וכ׳, v. הֶפְקֵרָא; a. fr.—[Y. Ber. IV, 7ᶜ נפק ע׳, read: עוּבְדָּא.]—Pl. עַבְדִּין, עַבְדַּיָּא, עַבְדֵּי. Targ. Gen. XXIV, 25. Targ. Is. LIV, 17. Targ. Prov. XII, 9; a. fr.—B. Kam. 97ᵃ הוה תקיף ע׳ דאינשי וכ׳ used to seize slaves of men against whom he had a claim &c. Kidd. 70ᵃ רגיל דקרי אינשי ע׳ he is in the habit of calling people slaves; a. fr.
- 2. worshipper. Ned. 62ᵇ ע׳ דנורא fire-worshipper (Geber); a. e.
A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (Marcus Jastrow; London, Luzac, 1903) — Public Domain. Digitized via Sefaria. Digitized via Sefaria. Full attribution on Sources.
Forms in the corpus
The 219 distinct written forms H5647 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that stem’s occurrences in the concordance. Hebrew forms include their vowel points and cantillation, so a single lemma takes many written forms.
The 60 most common forms are shown; 159 rarer forms follow in the full concordance.
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H5647, grouped by Strong’s listed origin. These share a root / origin per the lexicon — not necessarily a shared meaning. Each links to that word’s own entry.
Derived from this word
- מעבד maʻbâd H4566 work
- עבד ʻăbad H5648 to make
- עבד ʻebed H5650 servant
- עבד ʻăbâd H5652 work
- עבדה ʻăbôdâh H5656 service
- עבדה ʻăbuddâh H5657 service
- עבדות ʻabdûwth H5659 bondage
Proper names from this root
People and places named from this root — a name, not an additional meaning of the word.
- עבדא ʻAbdâʼ H5653 Abda
- עבד אדום ʻÔbêd ʼĔdôwm H5654 Obed-edom
- עבדאל ʻAbdᵉʼêl H5655 Abdeel
- עבדון ʻAbdôwn H5658 Abdon
- עבדי ʻAbdîy H5660 Abdi
- עבדיה ʻÔbadyâh H5662 Obadiah
- עובד ʻÔwbêd H5744 Obed
Compare all same-root words → Showing 4 of 15 — not the complete family. 7 of the same-root words are proper names (people or places). They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 255 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 262 Hebrew verses it occurs in. You can read those verses in Greek by switching the Old Testament edition to the Septuagint.
Read these verses in the Septuagint
- Genesis 2:5
- Exodus 1:13
- Leviticus 25:39
- Numbers 3:7
- Deuteronomy 4:19
- Joshua 16:10
- Judges 2:7
- 1 Samuel 4:9
- 2 Samuel 9:10
- 1 Kings 9:6
- 2 Kings 10:18
- 1 Chronicles 19:19
This is a verse-level parallel only — the same verses exist in both the Hebrew and Greek Old Testaments. No word-level Hebrew↔Greek correspondence is claimed: the data carries no such alignment, so no Greek word is shown as this Hebrew word’s translation. Coverage is not total — the Septuagint omits the deuterocanon and renumbers the Psalms, so some Hebrew verses have no direct Greek parallel.
