Hebrew word · H5998

עָמַל

'amal-

to toil

To toil or labor with effort and weariness. The related noun 'amal means toil, but also trouble, misery and mischief.

Appears 11 times in 11 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. · Updated November 07, 2026

What it means

1) to labour, toil

1a) (Qal) to labour

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 Psalm 127:1

Range of meaning: To toil or labor with effort and weariness. The related noun 'amal means toil, but also trouble, misery and mischief.
Against the English: "Labor" in English is fairly neutral (paid work, a labor market). The Hebrew word carries the strain and wear of the work, and its word family leans toward "trouble".
How it drifted: Modern "labor" has become a neutral economic term. The Hebrew root always carries weariness.
Used elsewhere in the period: The word is especially common in Ecclesiastes: "What does a man gain from all his toil ('amalo) at which he toils (she-ya'amol) under the sun?" (Eccl 1:3; also 2:18–22). Jonah 4:10: "the plant for which you did not toil." Job 5:7: "man is born to trouble ('amal)."

From the study of Ecclesiastes 8:17

Range of meaning: To toil or labour, with the sense of wearisome, burdensome effort that wears a person down. The related noun ʿāmāl means toil, trouble, misery, and the gain won by toil.
Against the English: KJV and WEB 'labour', ESV 'toil', BSB and NIV 'efforts', NASB 'seek laboriously'. 'Efforts' is accurate but loses the tired, burdensome tone the word has throughout the book.
Used elsewhere in the period: Root ʿ-m-l occurs about 35 times in Ecclesiastes (1:3 'what gain has a person from all his toil?'; 2:18–22; 5:15). Elsewhere it often means trouble or misery (Ps 90:10; Job 5:7 'man is born to trouble').

From the study of Proverbs 16:26

Range of meaning: Hard, wearying toil, and by extension the trouble, misery and burden that comes with it. The noun ʿamal often means 'trouble' or 'mischief' outright (Job 5:7, 'man is born to trouble'; Ps 7:14). The verb means to labor wearily, to exert oneself to exhaustion.
Against the English: English 'work' or 'worker' is neutral and can even sound dignified or fulfilling. KJV 'laboureth' keeps more of the strain. None of the English quite carries the overtone of drudgery.
How it drifted: Modern 'work' suggests a job, a career or a vocation. The Hebrew word stresses the effort and weariness of labor rather than its meaning or reward.
Used elsewhere in the period: The root is a keyword of Ecclesiastes, used more than 30 times for the burdensome toil 'under the sun' (Eccl 1:3; 2:18–22). It also appears in Job 3:10, 20 (the 'toiler', ʿamel, who longs for death) and in Ps 127:1 ('in vain the builders toil').

Where it appears

Psalms · 1

Psalm 127:1 עָמְל֣וּ they have toiled

A song of ascents. Of Solomon. Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain; unless the LORD protects the city, its watchmen stand guard in vain.

Here: "They have toiled." This is hard, wearing labor, the word Ecclesiastes uses again and again. The completed verb form sums up the result: all that sweat has been spent for nothing.

Proverbs · 1

Proverbs 16:26 עָ֣מְלָה it labors

A worker’s appetite works for him because his hunger drives him onward.

Here: 'It toils.' The verb is feminine to agree with nefesh. Its sound repeats the previous word (ʿamel ʿamelah, 'a toiler's appetite toils'), so the line rings with the idea of labor.

Ecclesiastes · 8

Ecclesiastes 1:3 שֶֽׁיַּעֲמֹ֖ל that he toils

What does a man gain from all his labor, at which he toils under the sun?

Here: 'That he toils.' The verb repeats the noun, 'his toil that he toils', which piles up the sense of grinding effort. The short relative word še- ('that') is typical of later Hebrew and of Ecclesiastes in particular.
Ecclesiastes 2:11 שֶׁעָמַ֣לְתִּי that I had toiled

Yet when I considered all the works that my hands had accomplished and what I had toiled to achieve, I found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind; there was nothing to be gained under the sun.

Here: "That I toiled": the verb comes from the same root as the noun, "the toil I toiled". The doubling hammers on how much effort went in.
Ecclesiastes 2:19 שֶֽׁעָמַ֥לְתִּי that I have toiled

And who knows whether that man will be wise or foolish? Yet he will take over all the labor at which I have worked skillfully under the sun. This too is futile.
Ecclesiastes 2:20 שֶׁעָמַ֖לְתִּי that I have toiled

So my heart began to despair over all the labor that I had done under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 2:21 עָֽמַל־ he toiled

When there is a man who has labored with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, and he must give his portion to a man who has not worked for it, this too is futile and a great evil.
Ecclesiastes 5:16 שֶֽׁיַּעֲמֹ֖ל that he will toil

This too is a grievous affliction: Exactly as a man is born, so he will depart. What does he gain as he toils for the wind?
Ecclesiastes 5:18 שֶׁיַּעֲמֹ֣ל that someone will toil

Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in all the labor one does under the sun during the few days of life that God has given him—for this is his lot.

Here: "That he toils": the noun and verb from the same root are repeated for emphasis. It uses the short relative "she-", a feature of late Hebrew.
Ecclesiastes 8:17 יַעֲמֹ֧ל he toils

I saw every work of God, and that a man is unable to comprehend the work that is done under the sun. Despite his efforts to search it out, he cannot find its meaning; even if the wise man claims to know, he is unable to comprehend.

Here: 'Toils': hard, wearing, often frustrating effort. It is one of Qohelet's key words. Searching for understanding is itself a form of the toil he finds unrewarding.

Jonah · 1

Jonah 4:10 עָמַ֥לְתָּ you had toiled

But the LORD said, “You cared about the plant, which you neither tended nor made grow. It sprang up in a night and perished in a night.

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