Hebrew word · H4620

מַעֲצֵבָה

lema'atzevah

torment

This word occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible. It comes from ʿṣb, 'to hurt, to grieve, to toil painfully'. Related words include ʿeṣeb ('pain, toil', Gen 3:16; Prov 10:22), ʿiṣṣābôn ('painful toil', Gen 3:16–17) and ʿaṣṣebet ('wound, sorrow', Ps 147:3).

Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) place of pain, place of grief

2) (TWOT) terror

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 50:11

Range of meaning

This word occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible. It comes from ʿṣb, 'to hurt, to grieve, to toil painfully'. Related words include ʿeṣeb ('pain, toil', Gen 3:16; Prov 10:22), ʿiṣṣābôn ('painful toil', Gen 3:16–17) and ʿaṣṣebet ('wound, sorrow', Ps 147:3). Its form suggests 'a condition (or place) of pain'. HALOT and BDB give 'place of pain' or 'torment'.

Against the English

KJV and WEB 'sorrow' and YLT 'grief' tilt toward an emotion. NIV, ESV and NASB 'torment' is stronger. BSB 'a place of torment' adds the word 'place', which pushes the reader toward picturing a location.

How it drifted

For many modern readers 'place of torment' calls up the later Christian picture of hell. That picture grew from texts like Isa 66:24 and the Gehenna tradition of Second Temple times. Isaiah 50:11 itself names no place and says nothing about how long the pain lasts.

Used elsewhere in the period

Only here. Related words: Gen 3:16–17; Ps 147:3; Prov 10:22; 15:1.

Where it appears

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 50:11 לְמַעֲצֵבָ֖ה to pain

    Behold, all you who kindle a fire, who array yourselves with firebrands, walk in the light of your fire and of the firebrands you have lit! This is what you will receive from My hand: You will lie down in a place of torment.

    Here: This word appears only here in the Hebrew Bible. It comes from the root ʿṣb ('pain, hurt, painful toil'), the same root as the pain and toil of Gen 3:16–17. It means a state of pain, not a named place.

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