Word

מַעֲשֶׂה

maʻăseh · H4639 · Hebrew · 235 occurrences

See all 235 in Search

Meanings

deed

An activity performed by a person or deity

Examples
Genesis 20:9 Then Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? And how have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done to me things that ought not to be done.”
Genesis 44:15 Joseph said to them, “What is this thing that you have done? Do you not know that a man who is like me can indeed practice divination?”
Exodus 34:10 Then God said, “Behold, I am going to make a covenant. Before all your people I will perform miracles which have not been produced in all the earth nor among any of the nations; and all the people among whom you live will see the working of the LORD, for it is a fearful thing that I am going to perform with you.
deeds, practices

A pattern of activities performed by a person or deity, with the primary focus on whether these activities are good or evil

Examples
Exodus 18:20 then admonish them about the statutes and the laws, and make known to them the way in which they are to walk and the work they are to do.
Exodus 23:24 “You shall not worship their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their deeds; but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their memorial stones in pieces.
Leviticus 18:3 ‘You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes.
work, labor

An activity involving a physical or mental effort in order to achieve a result

Examples
Genesis 5:29 And he named him Noah, saying, “This one will give us comfort from our work and from the hard labor of our hands caused by the ground which the LORD has cursed.”
Exodus 5:4 But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you let the people neglect their work? Get back to your labors!”
Exodus 5:13 And the taskmasters pressed them, saying, “Complete your work quota, your daily amount, just as when you had straw.”
outcome, result

Literally: work; hence: a situation that is the outcome of someone's work

Examples
Isaiah 32:17 And the work of righteousness will be peace, And the service of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever.
product, work

A product that is the result of the work of humans or deities

Examples
2 Kings 19:18 and have hurled their gods into the fire; for they were not gods, but only the work of human hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them.
2 Chronicles 20:37 Then Eliezer the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, “Because you have allied yourself with Ahaziah, the LORD has destroyed your works.” So the ships were wrecked and could not go to Tarshish.
2 Chronicles 32:19 They spoke of the God of Jerusalem as they did against the gods of the peoples of the earth, the work of human hands.
occupation, profession

A pattern of activities performed by an individual, usually in order to make a living

Examples
Genesis 46:33 “When Pharaoh calls for you and says, ‘What is your occupation?’
Genesis 47:3 Then Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?” So they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, both we and our fathers.”
tools

The implements needed in order to achieve a certain task

Examples
2 Chronicles 4:6 He also made ten basins in which to wash, and he set five on the right side and five on the left to rinse things for the burnt offering; but the Sea was for the priests to wash in.
workmanship

The skill with which a particular product is made

Examples
Genesis 40:17 and in the top basket there were some of all kinds of baked food for Pharaoh, and the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.”
Exodus 24:10 and they saw the God of Israel; and under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself.
Exodus 26:1 “Moreover, you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twisted linen and violet, purple, and scarlet material; you shall make them with cherubim, the work of a skilled embroiderer.

How it’s used In 10 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

206 occurrences in 51 groups

יָדhand, power 54
הוּhis 31
ךָyour 16
הֶםtheir 13
חָשַׁבto think about 8
יְהֹוָהthe LORD, YHWH 7
Other words · 35 groups that occur once or twice (42) 42

Words describing itAdjectives, demonstratives, participles

30 occurrences in 11 groups

עָשָׂהto do, to make 21
אֵלֶּהthese 3
Other words · 9 groups that occur once or twice (12) 12

Named alongside itApposition

42 occurrences in 32 groups

שֵׁשׁfine linen 7
כְּרוּבcherub 5
אַרְגָּמָןreddish-purple 4
תּוֹלָעworm 4
תְּכֵלֶתreddish-purple 4
Other words · 27 groups that occur once or twice (33) 33

What it doesIt is the subject

13 occurrences in 9 groups

הָיָהto be, to become 5
Other words · 8 groups that occur once or twice (8) 8

What is done to itIt is the object

52 occurrences in 29 groups

רָאָהto see 10
עָשָׂהto do, to make 5
יָדַעto know 4
סָפַרto count, to tell 4
Other words · 25 groups that occur once or twice (29) 29

Second object ofSecond object

2 occurrences in 1 groups

עָשָׂהto do, to make 2

What it is said to bePredicate

21 occurrences in 17 groups

מָהwhat?, why? 4
Other words · 16 groups that occur once or twice (18) 18

What is said to be itIt is the predicate

14 occurrences in 12 groups

Other words · 12 groups that occur once or twice (14) 14

After prepositionsPrepositional phrases

70 occurrences in 7 groups

בin/on/with 50
כlike/as 39
לto/for 15
מִןfrom 5
עַלon, upon, over, against 4
אֵלto, toward 3

In phrases “… of it”It is the genitive

12 occurrences in 10 groups

Other words · 10 groups that occur once or twice (12) 12

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 5 words

מְלָאכָה mᵉlâʼkâh · H4399 · work, task, craft: Both terms denote work, labor, business, and the products of work. They come from distinct Hebrew roots but function as synonyms for activity and its output, and a shared Greek rendering across the Septuagint corroborates the overlap.
פֹּעַל pôʻal · H6467 · deed, deeds: Both words denote actions, deeds or works, including the products of labor.
עֲבֹדָה ʻăbôdâh · H5656 · work, labor, service: Both words denote work, labor and service. מַעֲשֶׂה stresses the deed, product or action, while עֲבֹדָה stresses service, labor or task.
פְּעֻלָּה pᵉʻullâh · H6468 · deed, deeds, practices: Both words denote concrete action or work product (“deed,” “labor,” “work,” “thing made”).
מַעֲלָל maʻălâl · H4611 · deed, deeds, practices: Both words denote concrete actions, deeds or works (acts, deeds, doing, labor) and can substitute in overlapping contexts.

In the other Testament 2 words

ἔργον érgon · G2041 · act, deed, work: Greek ἔργον (érgon, G2041) is the standard LXX rendering of Hebrew מַעֲשֶׂה (maʻăseh, H4639), both denoting work, deed, or act as a concrete product of effort or labor.
ποίημα poíēma · G4161 · product, what is made: Greek ποίημα denotes specifically “a thing made, product, work” (the concrete result of making), typically rendering Hebrew מַעֲשֶׂה in contexts emphasizing the created object or handiwork itself, whereas מַעֲשֶׂה spans both the act of making and the thing made, with broader extension to business, occupation and deed beyond physical products.

Semantic domains 7 entries

Happen002002003003: מַעֲשֶׂה denotes what comes about through a person's doing, as with the deeds Abimelech accuses Abraham of having brought about.
Act002002002001: מַעֲשֶׂה denotes an act or deed in itself, as with the comfort Noah's father hopes for from the hard labor of their hands.
Serve002003002023: מַעֲשֶׂה denotes one's occupation or service, as when Pharaoh asks Joseph's brothers, "What is your occupation?"
Artifacts001003001001: מַעֲשֶׂה denotes a thing made, a manufactured object produced by human hands or skill.
Professions001001003009: מַעֲשֶׂה denotes a trade or occupation, the professional work by which a person is identified, as with Joseph's brothers describing themselves as shepherds by occupation.
Tools001003001001017: This domain is not directly illustrated among the sampled citations, which describe deeds, labor, and baked food rather than tools specifically; it likely reflects another attested "thing made" usage of this broad lexeme.
Wise002001002029: מַעֲשֶׂה occurs in the fixed idiom describing skilled workmanship, "the work of a skillful workman," associating this lexeme with craftsmanship and wisdom in fine work elsewhere in its usage.

Word family 2 words

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

עָשָׂה ʻâsâh · H6213 · to make, to create, to produce · 2629×מַעֲשֶׂהmaʻăseh · H4639

Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H4639. maaseh מַעֲשֶׂה233 noun masculineGen 20:9 deed, work; — absolute ׳מ Gen 44:15 +,…

H4639. maaseh
מַעֲשֶׂה233 noun masculineGen 20:9 deed, work; — absolute ׳מ Gen 44:15 +, construct מַעֲשֵׂה Isa 5:12 +; suffix מַעֲשֵׂהוּ Jdg 13:12 +, etc.; plural מַעֲשִׂים Gen 20:9 +; construct מַעֲשֵׂי Jer 1:16 +; suffix מַעֲשָׂיו 1Sa 19:4 (or singular, so Dr) +, etc.; — often accusative of congnate meaning with verb with עשׂה; —
1. a.-1deed, thing done by man Num 16:28 (JE), 1Ki 13:11; Isa 26:12; — b.-1work, labour, husbandry Exo 23:16 (E), Gen 5:29 (J), Jdg 19:16,
c. deed(s), work(s) of ׳י, especially in deliverance and in judgment, Jdg 2:7, Jdg 2:10; Jos 24:31 (D), Psa 33:4 Psa 33:21t., + ׳מ יָדָיו etc. Isa 5:12; Psa 28:5; Psa 92:5 Psa 92:4t.; ׳מ הָאֱלֹהִים in General Ecc 7:13; Ecc 8:17; Ecc 11:5; compare Ecc 3:11.
2. a.-1work, thing made, by man, ׳מ אֹפֶה b. work (made by) God Exo 32:16 (E); especially (poetry and late), of created things, Psa 103:22; Psa 104:24 Psa 104:4t. Psalms; ׳מ אֶצְבְּעֹתֶיךָ Psa 8:4, ׳מ יָרֶיךָ Psa 102:26 (both of heavens), compare Psa 19:2 (heavenly bodies), Psa 8:7 (animals); of man Job 14:15; Job 34:19, compare מַעֲשֵׂהוּ כָּלאַֿנְשֵׁי לָדַעַת Job 37:7 (but read probably ᵑ9 אנשׁים Ol Di and others); of nation Isa 19:25; Isa 60:21; Isa 64:7; of weights Pro 16:11 (but read perhaps הַמֶּלֶךְ) for ׳י Gr Toy).
c. product of olive-tree, ׳מ זַיִת Hab 3:17; figurative product of righteousness Isa 32:17.

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

Topical studies with this word 7 entries

Professions2 occurrences Artifacts52 occurrences Tools1 occurrence Wise59 occurrences Act40 occurrences Happen50 occurrences Serve29 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