Hebrew word · H3238

יָנָה

haiyonah

to oppress

To mistreat, wrong, exploit or oppress, usually a stronger party abusing a weaker one by economic exploitation, violence or unjust dealing. In the causative form the participle means 'one who oppresses.'

Appears 19 times in 19 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to oppress, suppress, treat violently, maltreat, vex, do wrong

1a) (Qal) to oppress, suppress

1b) (Hiphil) to treat violently, maltreat

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

In depth

From the study of Isaiah 49:26

Range of meaning

To mistreat, wrong, exploit or oppress, usually a stronger party abusing a weaker one by economic exploitation, violence or unjust dealing. In the causative form the participle means 'one who oppresses.'

Against the English

'Oppressors' (BSB, NIV, ESV, WEB), 'them that oppress thee' (KJV). The rendering is accurate. What English loses is the word's legal background: it is not a general word for 'enemy' but the vocabulary of Israel's social law.

Used elsewhere in the period

Exod 22:21 (Heb 22:20) 'you shall not wrong a sojourner'; Lev 25:14, 17 'do not wrong one another' in land sales; Deut 23:16 (Heb 23:17), the runaway slave must not be mistreated; Jer 22:3; Ezek 18:7, 12, 16; 22:7, 29; 45:8 (princes who oppress the people). In Jeremiah (46:16; 50:16) 'the oppressing sword' is used of the conquering power.

From the study of Ezekiel 18:16

Range of meaning

In the causative form, 'to wrong, maltreat, exploit, take advantage of.' The word belongs to law and the marketplace. It describes unfair treatment of someone who cannot easily defend himself: cheating in a land sale, mistreating a resident foreigner, handing back an escaped slave, pressing the poor.

Against the English

'Oppress' (BSB, KJV, ESV, NIV) is acceptable, but to modern ears it suggests regimes and systemic tyranny. WEB's 'wronged' is closer to its everyday, transactional feel. Vulgate 'contristaverit' ('caused grief') softens it.

How it drifted

English 'oppress' has moved toward political and structural uses. The Hebrew word is mostly about an individual's conduct in personal and economic dealings.

Used elsewhere in the period

Exod 22:21 (Heb 22:20), do not wrong the sojourner. Lev 19:33. Lev 25:14, 17, do not wrong one another in buying and selling land. Deut 23:16 (Heb 23:17), the escaped slave. Jer 22:3. Ezekiel uses it repeatedly: 18:7, 12, 16; 22:7, 29 (sojourner, orphan, widow); and of princes seizing people's land in 45:8; 46:18.

From the study of Jeremiah 22:3

Range of meaning

In the causative form used here: to mistreat, exploit, take advantage of, oppress. The emphasis is often on using an economic or social advantage against a weaker party.

Against the English

'Do no wrong' (KJV, WEB, BSB) is vague, and WEB even makes it a stand-alone command. The Hebrew verb is specific: exploitation directed at the three named groups.

Used elsewhere in the period

Lev 25:14, 17 ('do not wrong one another' in land sales during the Jubilee economy); Exod 22:21 and Lev 19:33 (the ger); Deut 23:16 (a runaway slave); Ezek 18:7, 12, 16; 22:7, 29; 45:8 (princes who 'oppress my people'); Zeph 3:1 ('the oppressing city', Jerusalem).

Where it appears

Exodus · 1

  1. Exodus 22:21 תוֹנֶ֖ה you must maltreat

    You must not exploit or oppress a foreign resident, for you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

    Here: "You (singular) shall not wrong." The verb is used elsewhere for cheating in buying and selling and for taking advantage of the weak, so here it means using someone's vulnerability to your own profit.

Leviticus · 3

  1. Leviticus 19:33 תוֹנ֖וּ you will maltreat

    When a foreigner resides with you in your land, you must not oppress him.

  2. Leviticus 25:14 תּוֹנ֖וּ you maltreat

    If you make a sale to your neighbor or a purchase from him, you must not take advantage of each other.

    Here: 'Wrong / exploit / oppress'. This is the same verb the Torah uses for abusing the vulnerable foreigner (Exod 22:21; Lev 19:33). Here it covers pricing and dealing that squeezes the other party: overcharging, or buying cheap from someone desperate.

  3. Leviticus 25:17 תוֹנוּ֙ you will maltreat

    Do not take advantage of each other, but fear your God; for I am the LORD your God.

    Here: 'You (all) shall wrong.' The verb means using an advantage to harm someone: cheating, squeezing, mistreating. Here the setting is a land deal, so it means exploiting the other party over the price, though the word also covers mistreating the weak in general.

Deuteronomy · 1

  1. Deuteronomy 23:16 תּוֹנֶֽנּוּ׃ ס you will maltreat him

    Let him live among you wherever he chooses, in the town of his pleasing. Do not oppress him.

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 74:8 נִינָ֣ם let us oppress them

    They said in their hearts, “We will crush them completely.” They burned down every place where God met us in the land.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 49:26 מוֹנַ֙יִךְ֙ [those who] maltreat you

    I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh; they will be drunk on their own blood, as with wine. Then all mankind will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”

    Here: A participle, 'those who keep mistreating you.' The 'you' is feminine singular: Zion pictured as a mother (49:14–25). The verb is the word Israel's own laws use for exploiting the vulnerable, such as the foreigner, the runaway slave or the poor.

Jeremiah · 4

  1. Jeremiah 22:3 תֹּנוּ֙ you maltreat

    This is what the LORD says: Administer justice and righteousness. Rescue the victim of robbery from the hand of his oppressor. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow. Do not shed innocent blood in this place.

    Here: To take advantage of someone, often economically. The same verb is used for cheating in land sales (Lev 25:14, 17) and in the Torah's ban on oppressing the sojourner (Exod 22:21).

  2. Jeremiah 25:38 הַיּוֹנָ֔ה the oppressor

    He has left His den like a lion, for their land has been made a desolation by the sword of the oppressor, and because of the fierce anger of the LORD.

  3. Jeremiah 46:16 הַיּוֹנָֽה׃ the oppressor

    They continue to stumble; indeed, they have fallen over one another. They say, ‘Get up! Let us return to our people and to the land of our birth, away from the sword of the oppressor.’

  4. Jeremiah 50:16 הַיּוֹנָ֔ה the oppressor

    Cut off the sower from Babylon, and the one who wields the sickle at harvest time. In the face of the oppressor’s sword, each will turn to his own people, each will flee to his own land.

Ezekiel · 7

  1. Ezekiel 18:7 יוֹנֶ֔ה he oppressed

    He does not oppress another, but restores the pledge to the debtor. He does not commit robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing.

    Here: To take advantage of someone weaker, especially by cheating or exploiting them economically. The Hebrew verb form describes his habit, so read it as "he does not wrong anyone" rather than a one-time past act.

  2. Ezekiel 18:12 הוֹנָ֔ה he has oppressed

    He oppresses the poor and needy; he commits robbery and does not restore a pledge. He lifts his eyes to idols; he commits abominations.

    Here: To exploit or take advantage of someone weaker, often in economic dealings (Lev 25:14, 17). The righteous father 'oppressed no one' (v. 7); the son goes after the very people least able to resist.

  3. Ezekiel 18:16 הוֹנָ֔ה he has oppressed

    He does not oppress another, or retain a pledge, or commit robbery. He gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing.

    Here: 'He has wronged.' This is the Torah's word for taking advantage of someone weaker in a deal or a dispute, especially the foreigner, the poor and the debtor (Exod 22:21; Lev 25:14, 17). It is economic exploitation more than political tyranny.

  4. Ezekiel 22:7 ה֥וֹנוּ they have maltreated

    Father and mother are treated with contempt. Within your walls the foreign resident is exploited, the fatherless and the widow are oppressed.

    Here: 'They have maltreated.' This verb is used in the law for wronging the outsider (Exod 22:21 [Heb. 22:20]; Lev 19:33) and for cheating in buying and selling (Lev 25:14, 17). It covers exploitation by those with power, often economic, sometimes violent.

  5. Ezekiel 22:29 הוֹנ֔וּ they have maltreated

    The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy and have exploited the foreign resident without justice.

    Here: "They have wronged." This is the verb the Torah uses to forbid mistreating the resident alien (Exod 22:21 [Heb 22:20]; Lev 19:33) and cheating in sales (Lev 25:14, 17). Here it is turned against the native poor as well.

  6. Ezekiel 45:8 יוֹנ֨וּ they will oppress

    This land will be his possession in Israel. And My princes will no longer oppress My people, but will give the rest of the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes.

  7. Ezekiel 46:18 לְהֽוֹנֹתָם֙ to oppress them

    The prince must not take any of the inheritance of the people by evicting them from their property. He is to provide an inheritance for his sons from his own property, so that none of My people will be displaced from his property.’”

    Here: Literally 'to wrong them', the word Leviticus 25 uses for cheating a fellow Israelite in land dealings. It names the taking as an injustice done to people, whether or not force is used.

Zephaniah · 1

  1. Zephaniah 3:1 הַיּוֹנָֽה׃ which oppresses

    Woe to the city of oppressors, rebellious and defiled!

    Here: 'The one who oppresses': a participle for an ongoing practice. The verb is the one Torah uses to forbid exploiting the foreigner and cheating in land deals. The same letters spell 'the dove', a possible ironic echo.

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