עָנָה

From the study of Ecclesiastes 5:20

Range of meaning

Hebrew has several roots spelled ענה. Lexicons separate them: (1) 'to answer, respond'. (2) 'to be occupied, busied with', listed in BDB as ענה III. It is the root behind Qohelet's favourite noun עִנְיָן (inyan), 'business, task, preoccupation'. (3) 'to be bowed down, afflicted'. (4) 'to sing'. Here the form means 'causing to be busy' or 'causing to answer', and it describes action that goes on and on.

Against the English

KJV and YLT have 'answereth' / 'is answering'. BSB, WEB, ESV, NIV and NASB have 'keeps (him) occupied'. NLT has 'keeps ... so busy enjoying life'. The supplied data files the word under a heading glossed 'to afflict' but glosses it in context as 'keeping busy'. The contextual gloss is the one that matters. No mainstream translation renders it 'afflicts' here.

How it drifted

No drift in modern English. The question is which Hebrew root is meant. The KJV's 'answereth' is not wrong in principle, but it leaves readers to picture God answering prayer, which the verse does not mention.

Used elsewhere in the period

The strongest support for 'occupied' comes from Ecclesiastes itself. In 1:13 and 3:10 Qohelet says God gave people an unhappy inyan 'to be occupied with' (לַעֲנוֹת בּוֹ, la'anot bo), using the same root. The noun inyan comes up again and again (2:23, 26; 4:8; 5:3, 14; 8:16) and is common in later Hebrew and Aramaic for 'matter, affair'. The Septuagint renders περισπᾷ αὐτόν, 'distracts / draws him off / keeps him busy'. The Vulgate has occupet, 'occupies'. N. Lohfink (CBQ 1990) argued for the 'answer' root, reading it as 'God reveals himself / responds through the joy of his heart'.

From the study of Isaiah 53:7

Range of meaning

The root means 'to be low, bowed down, afflicted'. In the active stem it means 'humiliate, afflict, abuse' (Exod 1:11–12 of Egypt; Gen 16:6). In this passive/reflexive stem (Niphal) it can mean 'be afflicted' (Ps 119:107) or 'humble oneself, submit' (Exod 10:3, where God asks Pharaoh, 'How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me?').

Against the English

Most English versions read it as passive ('afflicted'). NJPS ('yet he was submissive') and several commentators read it as reflexive or tolerative ('he let himself be humbled'). WEB folds it into a time clause ('when he was afflicted').

Used elsewhere in the period

The same root gives 'anaw/'ani, the 'lowly, poor, humble' of the Psalms and Prophets. It is cognate with the 'afflicted' of 53:4 ('stricken, smitten by God and afflicted', me'unneh).

From the study of Isaiah 58:3

Range of meaning

The verb ʿanah in this intensive form means to press down, humble, afflict or make low. It can describe oppression by others (Exodus 1:11–12, of Egypt) or self-denial. With nefesh ('self, life, appetite, throat') as its object, it becomes a fixed phrase for fasting and self-denial before God.

Against the English

KJV and WEB: 'afflicted our soul.' BSB, NIV and ESV: 'humbled ourselves.' 'Humbled ourselves' is accurate but loses the physical edge of hunger. 'Afflicted our soul' keeps the edge but suggests inner emotional pain.

How it drifted

Starting with Greek psychē and Latin anima, 'soul' came to mean a non-physical inner part distinct from the body. Hebrew nefesh is the whole living, desiring self, and the root sense 'throat/appetite' makes 'afflicting the nefesh' naturally mean going hungry.

Used elsewhere in the period

Leviticus 16:29, 31; 23:27, 32; Numbers 29:7 (Day of Atonement: 'you shall afflict your selves'); Numbers 30:13 (a vow of self-denial); Psalm 35:13 ('I afflicted my nefesh with fasting'). The Septuagint here: etapeinōsamen tas psychas hēmōn, 'we humbled our souls.' Later Jewish law (Mishnah Yoma 8:1) defines the Atonement 'affliction' as abstaining from food, drink, washing, anointing and sex.