עָבַד
ʻâbad · aw-bad'
to work (in any sense); by implication, to serve, till, (causatively) enslave, etc.
Lexicon
Derivation: a primitive root;
to work (in any sense); by implication, to serve, till, (causatively) enslave, etc.
- to work (in any sense)
- by implication, to serve, till, (causatively) enslave, etc.
Definition from Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (1890). Wording is Strong's own, including his etymological notes, which are not separate meanings.
KJV renderings: [idiom] be, keep in bondage, be bondmen, bond-service, compel, do, dress, ear, execute, [phrase] husbandman, keep, labour(-ing man, bring to pass, (cause to, make to) serve(-ing, self), (be, become) servant(-s), do (use) service, till(-er), transgress (from margin), (set a) work, be wrought, worshipper,
Letters
- עAyin70
Picture: an eye
- Concrete
- eye · spring of water
- Extended
- to see · to know · experience · to watch
- בBet2
Picture: floor plan of a tent or house
- Concrete
- house · tent · dwelling
- Extended
- family · household · what is inside · in
- דDalet4
Picture: tent door hanging down
- Concrete
- door · curtain · entrance
- Extended
- a way in or out · moving back and forth · a path · hanging
Possible cultural reading (auto-composed)
to see and know › the house, what is within › the doorway, the way in
To see and know of the house, what is within of the doorway, the way in.
Interpretive, not lexical. The dictionary sense of עָבַד above is the attested meaning; this pictographic reading is a tradition about how the sign-shapes may have been heard. Both can be held at once, they are answering different questions.
Usage
288 occurrences · 288 OT · 0 NT · 221 distinct forms
KJV renderings of this word, by how often each one is used.
- and serve26 · 17%
- and served24 · 16%
- to serve19 · 12%
- served11 · 7%
- shall serve11 · 7%
- serve11 · 7%
- that they may serve8 · 5%
- to do7 · 5%
- and ye shall serve3 · 2%
- me, and served3 · 2%
- them, and served3 · 2%
- that we should serve3 · 2%
- ye, serve2 · 1%
- that none should serve2 · 1%
- i have served2 · 1%
- to till2 · 1%
- that will not serve2 · 1%
- he that tilleth2 · 1%
- and we will serve2 · 1%
- and have served2 · 1%
- and they served2 · 1%
- ye shall not serve2 · 1%
- and to serve2 · 1%
- and shall do2 · 1%
- to dress1 · 1%
Where it is used, by book.
Inflected forms found in the text.
Counts are computed from the tagged Hebrew and Greek text aligned to the King James Version, not from an estimate.