Hebrew word · H6028

עָנֹג

va'anugah

dainty

Delicate, dainty, pampered, used to luxury. The root ענג covers delight and luxury: the noun ta'anug means "luxury" or "delight" (Prov 19:10; Eccl 2:8; Mic 1:16 "children of your delight"). Jer 6:2 calls Zion "the comely and delicate one" (same root).

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

dainty, delicate

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 Deuteronomy 28:54

Range of meaning

Delicate, dainty, pampered, used to luxury. The root ענג covers delight and luxury: the noun ta'anug means "luxury" or "delight" (Prov 19:10; Eccl 2:8; Mic 1:16 "children of your delight"). The reflexive verb means "to take delight, indulge oneself" (Isa 58:14; Ps 37:4 "delight yourself in the LORD"). Jer 6:2 calls Zion "the comely and delicate one" (same root).

Against the English

"Delicate" (KJV, WEB, YLT) can sound like physically fragile. "Refined" (BSB, ESV) is closer. The Hebrew means pampered by abundance, someone whose life has been full of pleasant things.

How it drifted

Modern "delicate" mostly means fragile or easily broken. The Hebrew is about a life of luxury and indulgence, not frailty.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the Hebrew Bible the adjective occurs only in Deut 28:54, 56 and Isa 47:1. All three describe privileged people or cities stripped of their luxury under judgment. LXX uses tryphero, "luxurious, living softly".

Where it appears

Deuteronomy · 2

  1. Deuteronomy 28:54 וְהֶעָנֹ֖ג and <the> delicate

    The most gentle and refined man among you will begrudge his brother, the wife he embraces, and the rest of his children who have survived,

    Here: "And the pampered one": someone used to luxury and fine living. The same root gives the word for "luxury" or "delight". Paired with rakh, it pictures the upper class, people who have always had more than enough.

  2. Deuteronomy 28:56 וְהָעֲנֻגָּ֗ה and the delicate [woman]

    The most gentle and refined woman among you, so gentle and refined she would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground, will begrudge the husband she embraces and her son and daughter

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 47:1 וַעֲנֻגָּֽה׃ and delicate

    “Go down and sit in the dust, O Virgin Daughter of Babylon. Sit on the ground without a throne, O Daughter of the Chaldeans! For you will no longer be called tender or delicate.

    Here: 'And luxurious.' The root means luxury and delight, so the word describes a woman who lives in comfort and enjoys it. With 'soft' it repeats the exact pair from Deuteronomy 28:56.

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