Aramaic word · H6033
עֲנָי
'anayin
to afflict
Afflicted, humbled, bowed down, and so poor. The root ʿnh means to be low or pressed down. The word covers material poverty, oppression by the powerful and social helplessness together. It is closely related to Hebrew ʿānî, the classic word for the poor whom kings and judges are obliged to protect.
A Biblical Aramaic word, from the parts of the Old Testament written in Aramaic. Why Aramaic?
Appears once in the Aramaic of the Old Testament.
What it means
v
1) (P'al) to be humble, be low
adj
2) poor, needy
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
- Range of meaning
Afflicted, humbled, bowed down, and so poor. The root ʿnh means to be low or pressed down. The word covers material poverty, oppression by the powerful and social helplessness together. It is closely related to Hebrew ʿānî, the classic word for the poor whom kings and judges are obliged to protect.
- Against the English
KJV and WEB have 'the poor'. BSB, ESV and NIV have 'the oppressed'. Each choice picks up half the word: the poor are often poor because they have been pressed down.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Hebrew ʿānî appears constantly in the royal and legal texts: Psalm 72:2–4, 12 (the ideal king 'delivers the needy… and the afflicted'), Proverbs 31:9, Isaiah 10:2. Theodotion has penētōn, 'the poor, those who labour for a living.'
Where it appears
Daniel · 1
-
Daniel 4:27 עֲנָ֑יִן poor people
Therefore, may my advice be pleasing to you, O king. Break away from your sins by doing what is right, and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed. Perhaps there will be an extension of your prosperity.”
Here: 'The afflicted ones.' These are people bowed down by poverty, debt or mistreatment. The word covers both the poor and the oppressed, which is why translations divide between the two.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.