Hebrew word · H2032

הֵרָיוֹן

herayon

conception

Conception, pregnancy.

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. · Updated October 23, 2026

What it means

physical conception, pregnancy, conception

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

Range of meaning: Conception, pregnancy.
Against the English: KJV and YLT keep it as a separate noun ('thy sorrow and thy conception'). BSB, WEB, NIV, ESV, and NASB merge it with the first noun into 'pain in childbirth/childbearing'.
How it drifted: Merging the two nouns is a legitimate reading of a Hebrew pattern in which two nouns joined by 'and' express a single idea. But it is an interpretive choice that hides the fact that two nouns are increased.
Used elsewhere in the period: Ruth 4:13 ('the LORD gave her conception'); Hos 9:11 ('no birth, no pregnancy, no conception'). The Septuagint has stenagmos, 'groaning', perhaps reading a similar Hebrew word or interpreting.

Range of meaning: Conception, pregnancy. It comes from hārâ, "to conceive, be pregnant," and is rare: Ruth 4:13 has this form, and Genesis 3:16 has a closely related noun (hērōn).
Against the English: "Conception" is accurate. The point is that it is the first stage of all.
Used elsewhere in the period: Ruth 4:13: "YHWH gave her conception (hērāyôn), and she bore a son." Genesis 3:16 pairs pain with "your conception/pregnancy." Across the Hebrew Bible, opening and closing the womb is YHWH's prerogative (Genesis 20:18; 29:31; 1 Samuel 1:5–6).

Genesis · 1

Genesis 3:16 וְהֵֽרֹנֵ֔ךְ and pregnancy your

To the woman He said: “I will sharply increase your pain in childbirth; in pain you will bring forth children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”

Here: 'And your pregnancy/pregnancies'. Some read the two nouns as one idea ('pain in pregnancy'). Others read two things increased: hardship and the number of pregnancies.

Ruth · 1

Ruth 4:13 הֵרָי֖וֹן conception

So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And when he had relations with her, the LORD enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son.

Hosea · 1

Hosea 9:11 וּמֵהֵרָיֽוֹן׃ and from conception

Ephraim’s glory will fly away like a bird, with no birth, no pregnancy, and no conception.

Here: "And from conception": not even the start of a pregnancy. This is the last step back. Elsewhere this rare word names something YHWH gives (Ruth 4:13), so taking it away is plainly his doing.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.