עָצַב

Genesis 6:6 וַיִּתְעַצֵּ֖ב and he was pained

And the LORD regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.

Here: "And he was pained." The root means hurt, grief and painful toil. It echoes the "pain" and "toil" announced to the woman and the man in 3:16–17, and Lamech's "painful toil" in 5:29. The pain God attached to human life is now felt by God.

Genesis 34:7 וַיִּֽתְעַצְּבוּ֙ and they were indignant

When Jacob’s sons heard what had happened, they returned from the field. They were filled with grief and fury, because Shechem had committed an outrage in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter—a thing that should not be done.

Here: An inner, wounding distress, both grief and the sting of an injury done to one's own. It is the same verb form used of God in Genesis 6:6, 'it pained him to his heart.'

Genesis 45:5 תֵּעָ֣צְב֗וּ you be grieved

And now, do not be distressed or angry with yourselves that you sold me into this place, because it was to save lives that God sent me before you.

Here: "Don't be pained." The verb covers inner hurt, distress and anguish. Joseph sees his brothers' terror and guilt (v.3, they were "dismayed") and speaks to it directly.

1 Samuel 20:3 יֵֽעָצֵ֑ב he should be grieved

But David again vowed, “Your father knows very well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he has said, ‘Jonathan must not know of this, or he will be grieved.’ As surely as the LORD lives and as you yourself live, there is but a step between me and death.”

Here: 'He would be hurt' or 'it would pain him'. This is inner anguish, not mild sadness. The same verb comes back in 20:34, where Jonathan 'was grieved for David', so Saul's fear comes true.

1 Samuel 20:34 נֶעְצַב֙ he was grieved

Jonathan got up from the table in fierce anger and did not eat any food that second day of the month, for he was grieved by his father’s shameful treatment of David.

2 Samuel 19:2 נֶעֱצַ֥ב he is grieved

And that day’s victory was turned into mourning for all the people, because on that day they were told, “The king is grieving over his son.”

1 Kings 1:6 עֲצָב֨וֹ he had rebuked him

(His father had never once reprimanded him by saying, “Why do you act this way?” Adonijah was also very handsome, born next after Absalom.)

1 Chronicles 4:10 עָצְבִּ֑י to hurt me

And Jabez called out to the God of Israel, “If only You would bless me and enlarge my territory! May Your hand be with me and keep me from harm, so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted the request of Jabez.

Here: 'My being pained' or 'my causing pain'. It is the same root as his name and as his mother's 'in pain' (v. 9). He asks that the pain built into his name not become his life.

Nehemiah 8:10 תֵּ֣עָצֵ֔בוּ you be grieved

Then Nehemiah told them, “Go and eat what is rich, drink what is sweet, and send out portions to those who have nothing prepared, since today is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

Here: "Be pained, distressed, grieved". This is exactly the form Joseph uses to his guilt-stricken brothers (Genesis 45:5, "do not be distressed"). It is pain mixed with self-reproach.

Nehemiah 8:11 תֵּעָצֵֽבוּ׃ you be grieved

And the Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be still, since today is holy. Do not grieve.”

Job 10:8 עִ֭צְּבוּנִי they formed me

Your hands shaped me and altogether formed me. Would You now turn and destroy me?

Here: A rare verb for careful shaping or modelling, the way an artisan shapes a figure. It sounds exactly like the common word for 'to hurt, grieve' and is related to the noun for 'toil, pain'. A Hebrew ear may have caught a bitter echo: the hands that shaped him are now the hands that hurt him.

Psalm 56:5 יְעַצֵּ֑בוּ they twist

All day long they twist my words; all their thoughts are on my demise.

Here: "They hurt / they twist." The verb normally means to cause pain or grief. Here its object is "my words" (or "my affairs"), so they are damaging what he says or does, possibly by bending it into a different shape. The verb form shows repeated, ongoing action.

Psalm 78:40 יַ֝עֲצִיב֗וּהוּ they grieved him

How often they disobeyed Him in the wilderness and grieved Him in the desert!

Here: "They caused him pain" / "they hurt him". The root covers physical pain and emotional hurt (compare Gen 6:6, where God is "grieved to his heart"). It answers the first verb: their defiance did more than break a rule. It wounded someone. Same repeated-past force and same direct object "him".

Ecclesiastes 10:9 יֵעָצֵ֖ב he will be hurt

The one who quarries stones may be injured by them, and he who splits logs endangers himself.

Isaiah 54:6 וַעֲצ֥וּבַת and grieved of

For the LORD has called you back, like a wife deserted and wounded in spirit, like the rejected wife of one’s youth,” says your God.

Here: Another passive participle, "pained, hurt", linked to the next word: "pained of spirit". In Hebrew it sounds very close to ʿăzûbâ (ʿazuvah / ʿatsuvat). The sound-play ties the two together: being left and being hurt go hand in hand.

Isaiah 63:10 וְעִצְּב֖וּ and they grieved

But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit. So He turned and became their enemy, and He Himself fought against them.

Here: "And they pained / hurt." The verb form means causing pain, not just disappointing someone. The people did real hurt to God's spirit. This is the language of a wounded relationship.

Jeremiah 44:19 לְהַ֣עֲצִבָ֔ה to form image her

“Moreover,” said the women, “when we burned incense to the Queen of Heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, was it without our husbands’ knowledge that we made sacrificial cakes in her image and poured out drink offerings to her?”