Hebrew word · H6064

עָנַשׁ

anoosh

to fine

In the Qal: to fine, impose a penalty or levy. In the Niphal (used here): to be fined, pay a penalty, suffer loss.

Appears 9 times in 8 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to fine, amerce, punish, condemn, mulct

1a) (Qal) to fine, punish

1b) (Niphal) to be fined, be punished, be mulcted

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 Proverbs 22:3

Range of meaning

In the Qal: to fine, impose a penalty or levy. In the Niphal (used here): to be fined, pay a penalty, suffer loss.

Against the English

KJV and YLT 'are punished' suggests a judge or God handing down a sentence. The root is more concrete and economic: they get fined, they pay. BSB 'suffer the consequences' and NIV/NASB 'pay the penalty' keep the sense of a cost.

How it drifted

'Punished' in modern English points to an authority deliberately inflicting a penalty. The Hebrew image is closer to 'it cost them.'

Used elsewhere in the period

Exodus 21:22 (a man who causes a miscarriage 'shall surely be fined'), Deuteronomy 22:19 (a fine of 100 shekels), 2 Kings 23:33 (Pharaoh Neco levied a payment on the land), Amos 2:8 ('the wine of those who have been fined'). The noun ʿōneš means 'fine, tribute' (2 Kings 23:33). The Niphal in Proverbs 21:11, 22:3 and 27:12. The Septuagint uses zēmioō, 'to be fined, suffer loss.'

From the study of Amos 2:8

Range of meaning

From the verb 'anash', 'to impose a fine, to penalize' (Exod 21:22; Deut 22:19). Related noun: 'onesh', 'fine, indemnity' (2 Kgs 23:33, the tribute or fine laid on Judah). The form here can be read as 'people who have been fined' or, used as a noun, 'fines, penalties'.

Against the English

KJV's 'the condemned' (following the Latin Vulgate's 'damnatorum') sounds like criminals sentenced to death, or even the damned. The Hebrew is about money penalties: people ordered to pay damages, here paid in wine. BSB 'wine obtained through fines' and WEB 'those who have been fined' are accurate.

How it drifted

Jerome rendered it 'damnatorum' ('of the condemned'). Latin damnare covered 'to fine' or 'to find liable' as well as 'to condemn'. In English, 'condemned' narrowed toward capital or eternal condemnation.

Used elsewhere in the period

Exod 21:22 ('he shall surely be fined'); Deut 22:19 (fined a hundred shekels); 2 Kgs 23:33; Prov 17:26 ('to fine the righteous is not good'). Ancient Israel had no coinage, so fines and debts were often paid in kind: grain, oil, wine. The 8th-century Samaria ostraca record shipments of wine and oil to the capital, and show how central wine was as a form of payment in the northern economy.

From the study of Proverbs 17:26

Range of meaning

To impose a money penalty, to fine. The related noun ʿōneš means a fine, levy or tribute. In the passive the verb broadens to 'suffer the penalty, pay for it' (Prov 22:3; 27:12, where the simple 'go on and pay the penalty').

Against the English

KJV, BSB and WEB say 'punish', which is accurate but generic. YLT and most modern versions keep 'fine'. The generic word hides the step up in this verse from a money penalty (line 1) to a beating (line 2).

Used elsewhere in the period

Exod 21:22: a man who causes a miscarriage 'shall surely be fined' (ʿānôš yēʿānēš). Deut 22:19: a husband who falsely slanders his bride is fined a hundred shekels. 2 Kgs 23:33: Pharaoh Necho imposes a levy (ʿōneš) on Judah. Amos 2:8 condemns those who drink 'the wine of the fined' in their god's house, meaning judicial fines turned into luxury for the powerful.

Where it appears

Exodus · 2

  1. Exodus 21:22 עָנ֣וֹשׁ יֵעָנֵ֗שׁ certainly <to fine>, he will be fined

    If men who are fighting strike a pregnant woman and her child is born prematurely, but there is no further injury, he shall surely be fined as the woman’s husband demands and as the court allows.

    Here: The verb doubled for emphasis ('fining'): the payment is certain and cannot be avoided.

Deuteronomy · 1

  1. Deuteronomy 22:19 וְעָנְשׁ֨וּ and they will fine

    They are also to fine him a hundred shekels of silver and give them to the young woman’s father, because this man has given a virgin of Israel a bad name. And she shall remain his wife; he must not divorce her as long as he lives.

2 Chronicles · 1

  1. 2 Chronicles 36:3 וַֽיַּעֲנֹשׁ֙ and he imposed a fine on

    And the king of Egypt dethroned him in Jerusalem and imposed on Judah a levy of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.

Proverbs · 4

  1. Proverbs 17:26 עֲנ֣וֹשׁ to impose a fine

    It is surely not good to punish the innocent or to flog a noble for his honesty.

    Here: The infinitive 'to fine'. Its core sense is a money penalty or levy (Exod 21:22; Deut 22:19). It is the mildest legal penalty, which sets up the harsher 'striking' in the second line.

  2. Proverbs 21:11 בַּעְנָשׁ־ when punish

    When a mocker is punished, the simple gain wisdom; and when a wise man is instructed, he acquires knowledge.

    Here: "When [someone] penalizes" or "when a penalty is laid on." The verb started out as imposing a fine (Exodus 21:22; Deuteronomy 22:19) and widened to any penalty a person has to pay. The form, "in the penalizing of," sets the time: the moment a scoffer pays for his behaviour.

  3. Proverbs 22:3 וְֽנֶעֱנָֽשׁוּ׃ and they are punished

    The prudent see danger and take cover, but the simple keep going and suffer the consequences.

    Here: 'And they are fined' or 'and they pay for it.' The root comes from the vocabulary of monetary penalties. The naive end up paying the cost of what they walked into. It describes the consequence, not a court sentence.

  4. Proverbs 27:12 נֶעֱנָֽשׁוּ׃ they are punished

    The prudent see danger and take cover, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.

    Here: 'They are fined'. The verb's usual meaning is a monetary fine or a payment someone is made to make (Exod 21:22; Deut 22:19; 2 Kgs 23:33). Here it pictures paying the price for not noticing, and it may mean that literally, since the next verse is about bad loan guarantees.

Amos · 1

  1. Amos 2:8 עֲנוּשִׁים֙ fines

    They lie down beside every altar on garments taken in pledge. And in the house of their God, they drink wine obtained through fines.

    Here: 'Those who have been fined', or 'fines'. Wine was collected as a penalty, paid in goods, from people judged liable, and then drunk by the very people who collected it. It suggests that courts and creditors were profiting from penalties.

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