עָתַר

Genesis 25:21 וַיֶּעְתַּ֨ר וַיֵּעָ֤תֶר and he prayed, and he was entreated

Later, Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. And the LORD heard his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived.

Here: "And he pleaded." This is not the everyday word for prayer. It is a rarer verb for earnest pleading, often with something at stake, and it opens a sequence of events told one after another.

Exodus 8:8 הַעְתִּ֣ירוּ pray

Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray to the LORD to take the frogs away from me and my people. Then I will let your people go, that they may sacrifice to the LORD.”

Here: A plural command: 'You two, plead!' It is a word for urgent asking on someone else's behalf. Pharaoh cannot or will not go to YHWH himself, so he asks for go-betweens.

Exodus 8:9 אַעְתִּ֣יר will I pray

Moses said to Pharaoh, “You may have the honor over me. When shall I pray for you and your officials and your people that the frogs (except for those in the Nile) may be taken away from you and your houses?”

Exodus 8:28 הַעְתִּ֖ירוּ pray

Pharaoh answered, “I will let you go and sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness, but you must not go very far. Now pray for me.”

Exodus 8:29 וְהַעְתַּרְתִּ֣י and I will pray

“As soon as I leave you,” Moses said, “I will pray to the LORD, so that tomorrow the swarms of flies will depart from Pharaoh and his officials and his people. But Pharaoh must not act deceitfully again by refusing to let the people go and sacrifice to the LORD.”

Exodus 8:30 וַיֶּעְתַּ֖ר and he prayed

Then Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the LORD,

Exodus 9:28 הַעְתִּ֙ירוּ֙ pray

Pray to the LORD, for there has been enough of God’s thunder and hail. I will let you go; you do not need to stay any longer.”

Here: A plural command: Pharaoh tells both Moses and Aaron to plead with YHWH for him. The verb means a request made to a god to take away trouble, not prayer in general. Pharaoh has used it in earlier plagues (8:8, 8:28; 8:4, 8:24 in Hebrew numbering).

Exodus 10:17 וְהַעְתִּ֖ירוּ and pray

Now please forgive my sin once more and appeal to the LORD your God, that He may remove this death from me.”

Exodus 10:18 וַיֶּעְתַּ֖ר and he prayed

So Moses left Pharaoh’s presence and appealed to the LORD.

Judges 13:8 וַיֶּעְתַּ֥ר and he prayed

Then Manoah prayed to the LORD, “Please, O Lord, let the man of God You sent us come to us again to teach us how to raise the boy who is to be born.”

2 Samuel 21:14 וַיֵּעָתֵ֧ר and he was entreated

And they buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in Zela in the land of Benjamin, in the tomb of Saul’s father Kish. After they had done everything the king had commanded, God answered their prayers for the land.

2 Samuel 24:25 וַיֵּעָתֵ֤ר and he was entreated

And there he built an altar to the LORD and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. Then the LORD answered the prayers on behalf of the land, and the plague upon Israel was halted.

1 Chronicles 5:20 וְנַעְתּ֥וֹר and he was entreated

And because they cried out to God in battle, they were helped against their enemies, and the Hagrites and all their allies were delivered into their hands. Because they put their trust in God, He answered their prayers.

Here: "And he let himself be entreated." The form is a bare verb with no stated subject (an infinitive used in place of a normal verb, a habit of later Hebrew). The understood subject is God, who accepted their plea and acted on it.

2 Chronicles 33:13 וַיֵּעָ֤תֶר and he was entreated

And when he prayed to Him, the LORD received his plea and heard his petition. So He brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD is God.

Here: God is the subject. The verb form means 'allowed himself to be moved by pleading': God responds to the plea. It is the same word used when Isaac pleaded for barren Rebekah and YHWH 'let himself be entreated' (Gen 25:21).

2 Chronicles 33:19 וְהֵֽעָתֶר־ and being entreated

His prayer and how God received his plea, as well as all his sin and unfaithfulness, and the sites where he built high places and set up Asherah poles and idols before he humbled himself, they are indeed written in the Records of the Seers.

Here: A verb form used as a noun: 'the being-moved-by-pleading'. It is God's response, not Manasseh's request: God let himself be won over by the plea, echoing 'he was entreated by him' in verse 13.

Ezra 8:23 וַיֵּעָתֵ֖ר and he was entreated

So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and He granted our request.

Here: "And he let himself be entreated." The verb is a technical term for a prayer that succeeds: God allowed himself to be moved by their plea and responded. Exactly the same form is used when Isaac prays for his barren wife (Gen 25:21) and when God hears prayer for the land (2 Sam 24:25).

Job 22:27 תַּעְתִּ֣יר you will pray

You will pray to Him, and He will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows.

Here: Earnest pleading with God for help, the kind of prayer made in trouble, not general conversation with God. It stands first with no 'and', so the line opens on the act of pleading itself.

Job 33:26 יֶעְתַּ֤ר he prays

He prays to God and finds favor; he sees God’s face and shouts for joy, and God restores His righteousness to that man.

Here: Earnest, pleading prayer, the word used for urgent appeals to God (Isaac for his barren wife, Moses for Pharaoh). The sick man, pulled back from the edge of death, now turns to God himself and pleads.

Isaiah 19:22 וְנֶעְתַּ֥ר and he will be entreated

And the LORD will strike Egypt with a plague; He will strike them but heal them. They will turn to the LORD, and He will hear their prayers and heal them.