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Word

מְלָאכָה

mᵉlâʼkâh · H4399 · Hebrew · 167 occurrences

See all 167 in Search

Meanings

  1. work, task, craft, service

    An activity involving a physical effort and usually requiring a certain amount of training or skill

    Examples

    Genesis 2:2 By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.

    Genesis 2:3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

    Genesis 39:11 Now it happened one day that he went into the house to do his work, and none of the people of the household was there inside.

  2. regular work

    The activities people are involved in on a regular basis to make a living

    Examples

    Exodus 35:24 Everyone who could make a contribution of silver and bronze brought the LORD’S contribution; and everyone who was in possession of acacia wood for any work of the service brought it.

    Leviticus 23:7 ‘On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious work.

    Leviticus 23:8 ‘But for seven days you shall present an offering by fire to the LORD. On the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious work.’”

  3. property

    Literally: work; hence: goods or domestic animals that people have acquired as fruits of their work

    Examples

    Genesis 33:14 “Please let my lord pass on ahead of his servant, and I will proceed at my leisure, at the pace of the cattle that are ahead of me and at the pace of the children, until I come to my lord at Seir.”

    Exodus 22:8 “If the thief is not caught, then the owner of the house shall appear before the judges, to determine whether he laid his hands on his neighbor’s property.

    Exodus 22:11 an oath before the LORD shall be taken by the two of them that he has not laid a hand on his neighbor’s property; and its owner shall accept it, and he shall not be compelled to make restitution.

How it’s used In 9 roles

Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.

the word studied the word it goes with

Whose, or of whatGenitive or possessive

63 occurrences in 20 groups

Words describing itAdjectives, demonstratives, participles

16 occurrences in 8 groups

Named alongside itApposition

2 occurrences in 3 groups

What it doesIt is the subject

16 occurrences in 7 groups

What is done to itIt is the object

54 occurrences in 6 groups

What it is said to bePredicate

5 occurrences in 6 groups

What is said to be itIt is the predicate

5 occurrences in 8 groups

After prepositionsPrepositional phrases

59 occurrences in 5 groups

In phrases “… of it”It is the genitive

26 occurrences in 5 groups

When two words share a role, as in “Paul and Barnabas said”, the verse appears under each, so a section’s counts can add up to more than the number of occurrences.

MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.

Near synonyms 4 words
מַעֲשֶׂה maʻăseh · H4639 · deed, deeds, practices
Both words denote work, labor, business and the products of work, overlapping in the area of activity and its results. They are distinct Hebrew roots that are functionally synonymous, and the Septuagint renders both with a common Greek equivalent.
עֲבֹדָה ʻăbôdâh · H5656 · work, labor, service
Both words denote types of work, labor or service, covering work, service and labor contexts alike. They are two distinct words that can substitute for one another in similar contexts.
פֹּעַל pôʻal · H6467 · deed, deeds
Both words denote work, activity or labor in overlapping senses: the target term emphasizes the concrete business, occupation or manner of work, while פֹּעַל (pôʻal, H6467) emphasizes the act or deed performed. Both could substitute in contexts describing 'work'.
עִנְיָן ʻinyân · H6045 · business, matter
מְלָאכָה (mᵉlâʼkâh, H4399) is the broad term for work, occupation, and craftsmanship; עִנְיָן (ʻinyân, H6045) emphasizes burdensome or toilsome business.
In the other Testament 2 words
ἔργον érgon · G2041 · act, deed, work
Greek ἔργον (érgon, G2041) serves as the standard LXX rendering of Hebrew מְלָאכָה (mᵉlâʼkâh, H4399), both denoting work/labor as productive activity or occupation, with ἔργον emphasizing the effort/toil aspect while מְלָאכָה encompasses the broader business/occupation/craftsmanship range, making them functionally equivalent translation pairs across the work/labor semantic domain.
ἐργασία ergasía · G2039 · practice, behavior, trade
מְלָאכָה (mᵉlâʼkâh, H4399) denotes the broad concept of work, occupation, or craftsmanship across varied contexts (business, labor, manufactured goods), while ἐργασία (ergasía, G2039) specifically emphasizes work as gainful occupation or the profit/effort dimension of labor activity.
Semantic domains 2 entries
Serve002003002023
מְלָאכָה denotes labor undertaken in service of a task, as in God's completed "work which He had done" in creation (Genesis 2:2-3), and the prohibition against ordinary labor on the Sabbath (Exodus 12:16).
Possess002003002019
The word can also denote property or goods, particularly livestock, as in Jacob's reference to pacing himself "at the pace of the cattle" ahead of him (Genesis 33:14), a possession-related sense distinct from labor itself.
Word family 4 words

Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.

מֲלְאָךְ mălʼâk · H4397 · messenger, angel · 213×מְלָאכָהmᵉlâʼkâh · H4399מַלְאַךְ malʼak · H4398 · angel · 2×מַלְאֲכוּת malʼăkûwth · H4400 · message · 1×
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H4399. melakah מְלָאכָה167 noun feminine occupation, work (for *מַלְאָכָה; compare…
H4399. melakah
מְלָאכָה167 noun feminine occupation, work (for *מַלְאָכָה; compare Phoenician מלאכת labour) — ׳מ Exo 12:16 102t.; מְלָ֑אכֶת2Ch 13:10; construct מְלֶאכֶת Exo 35:24 42t.; suffix מְלַאכְתְּךָ Jon 1:8; מְלַאכְתֶּ֑ךָ Exo 20:9 Exo 20:2t.; מְלַאכְתּוֺ Gen 2:2 Gen 2:13t.; plural construct מַלְאֲכוֺת 1Ch 28:19; suffix מַלְאֲכוֺתֶיךָ Psa 73:28; —
1 occupation, business, מְּלַאכְתְּךָ מַה what is thy occupation Jon 1:8; business of a steward Gen 39:11 (J); diligent in business Pro 22:29; slack in business Pro 18:9.
2 property in which one is occupied, ׳מ רעהוּ his neighbour's property Exo 22:7; Exo 22:10 (E); possessions of herds and flocks Gen 33:14 (J), 1Sa 15:9 (compare מִקְנֶה); ׳מ רבה great property2Ch 17:13.
3 work as something done or made:
a. of God in creation Gen 2:2 (twice in verse); Gen 2:3 (P), in judgment Jer 50:25, in General Psa 73:28.
b. of men, ׳מ עור leather-work Lev 13:48, Lev 13:51 (P), ׳מ השׂדה work in the field 1Ch 27:26; in building Pro 24:27 +, the walls of Jerusalem Neh 4:5 +, making the tabernacle and its furniture Exo 36:2 +, the temple 1 Kings 5:30 +; work of the potter Jer 18:3, of the seaman Psa 107:23, of the Levites 1Ch 26:29, of priests in the sacrifices 2Ch 29:34; (ה)עֲבֹדָה מְלָאכֶת phrase of P, Exo 35:24; Exo 36:1, Exo 36:3; Lev 23:7-8, Lev 23:21, Lev 23:25, Lev 23:35, Lev 23:36; Num 28:18, Num 28:25, Num 28:26; Num 29:1, Num 29:12, Num 29:35 also 1Ch 9:13; 1Ch 9:19; 1Ch 28:13; 1Ch 28:20; 2Ch 24:12; ׳המ לעבדה 1Ch 23:24; למ ׳עבדה Exo 36:5 (P); compare the phrase המ ׳עֹשֵׂה workmen Ezr 3:9; Neh 2:16; במ ׳עֹשִׂים 1 Kings 5:30; 1Ki 9:23 +; מ ׳כל any work forbidden on the Sabbath Exo 20:9-10, Lev 23:3 (P) Deu 5:13-14, Jer 17:22, Jer 17:24; on holy convocations Exo 12:16; Lev 16:29; Lev 23:28, Lev 23:30, Lev 23:31; Num 29:7 (P).
4 workmanship, מלאכה כל in every kind of workmanship, phrase of P: Exo 31:3, Exo 31:5; Exo 35:29, Exo 35:31, Exo 35:33, Exo 35:35; and Chronicles: 1Ch 22:15; 1Ch 28:21; 1Ch 29:5; 1Ki 7:14.
5 service, use Lev 7:24; Lev 11:32; Jdg 16:11; Eze 28:13.
6 public business:
a. political 1Ki 11:28; 1Ch 29:6; Dan 8:27; Est 3:9; Est 9:3.
b. religious, putting away foreign wives Ezr 10:13; ׳מ יהוה 1Ch 26:30; הַקֹּדֶשׁ׳מ Exo 36:4; Exo 38:24 (P), ׳מ הקדשׁים קדשׁ 1Ch 6:34; מועד ׳מ אהל Exo 35:21 (P), ׳מ י ׳בית 1Ch 23:4; Ezr 3:8; Ezr 6:22; Neh 10:34; Neh 11:22.

Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain

Topical studies with this word 2 entries
Possess4 occurrencesServe163 occurrences

Meanings adapted from the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament, © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0 and the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew (from the Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew), © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0; MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.

Sources

eRhema lexical overview, based on the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew and the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (© United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Macula Hebrew and Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0); released under CC BY-SA 4.0

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