Original Word: עָמָל
Part of Speech: Noun
Transliteration: `amal
Pronunciation: ah-mahl
Phonetic Spelling: (aw-mawl')
KJV: grievance(-vousness), iniquity, labour, mischief, miserable(-sery), pain(-ful), perverseness, sorrow, toil, travail, trouble, wearisome, wickedness
NASB: labor, trouble, mischief, fruit of my labor, toil, wickedness, anguish
Word Origin: [from H5998 (עָמַל - labored)]

1. toil, i.e. wearing effort
2. (hence) worry, wheth. of body or mind

grievance, iniquity, labor, mischief, misery, painful, perverseness, sorrow,

From amal; toil, i.e. Wearing effort; hence, worry, wheth. Of body or mind -- grievance(-vousness), iniquity, labour, mischief, miserable(-sery), pain(-ful), perverseness, sorrow, toil, travail, trouble, wearisome, wickedness.

see HEBREW amal

Word Origin
from amal
Definition
trouble, labor, toil
NASB Translation
anguish (1), fruit of his labor (1), fruit of my labor (3), labor (16), mischief (9), misery (1), sorry (1), toil (3), toils (1), trouble (13), troublesome (1), unjust decisions (1), wickedness (2), work (1).

I. עָמָל noun masculine^{Job 4:8} feminine^{Ecclesiastes 10:15} (against Albr^{ZAW xvi (1896), 113}, see Kö^{Synt. § 249 m}) trouble, labour, toil (on this form as abstract see Lag^{BN 143} Ba^{NB 105}); — ׳ע Numbers 23:21 +; construct עֲמַל Judges 10:16 +; suffix עֲמָלִי Genesis 41:51 +, etc.; —

1 trouble ("" sorrow): one's own suffering, עָמָל וְיָגוֺן Jeremiah 20:18; וָכַעַס ׳ע Psalm 10:14; עֳנִי ׳וע Deuteronomy 26:7; Psalm 25:18; וָאָ֑וֶן ׳ע Psalm 90:10; "" אָוֶן Numbers 23:21; Job 5:6; "" שָֽׁוְא Job 7:3; נפשׁו ׳ע Isaiah 53:11; בְּעֵינָ֑י ׳ע Psalm 73:16; מֵעֵינָ֑י ׳וַיַּסְתֵּר ע Job 3:10; ׳מְנַחֲמֵי ע Job 16:2; ׳אדם לע יוּלָּד Job 5:7; אנושׁ אינימוֺ ׳בע Psalm 73:5; ׳שׁכח ע Job 11:16; ׳נַשַּׁנִי ע Genesis 41:51 (E); לא זכר ׳ע Proverbs 31:7; תקצר ׳נפשׁו בע Judges 10:16.

2 trouble, mischief, as done to others: "" שֹׁד Proverbs 24:2; ׳יֹצֵר ע Psalm 94:20; "" רָע Habakkuk 1:13; בְראֹשׁוֺ ׳יָשׁוּב ע Psalm 7:17; וָאָ֑וֶן ׳ע Psalm 10:7; ׳און וע Psalm 55:11; "" אָוֶן Isaiah 10:1; Isaiah 59:4; Habakkuk 1:3; Psalm 7:15; Job 4:8; Job 15:35; עֲמַל שְׂפָתֵימוֺ Psalm 140:10 mischief of their lips.

3 toil, labour (late in Hebrew): Ecclesiastes 2:10 (twice in verse); Ecclesiastes 2:21,24; Ecclesiastes 3:13; Ecclesiastes 4:4,6,8,9; Ecclesiastes 5:14; Ecclesiastes 5:18; Ecclesiastes 6:7; Ecclesiastes 8:15; Ecclesiastes 10:15; with עָמַל (q. v.) Ecclesiastes 1:3; Ecclesiastes 2:11,19,20; Ecclesiastes 5:17; שֶׁאֲנִי שְׁהוּא) עָמֵל ׳ע Ecclesiastes 2:18,22; אֲשֶׁר עָמֵל ׳ע Ecclesiastes 9:9; = fruit of labour, לְאֻמִּים יִירָ֑שׁוּ ׳ע Psalm 105:44; לִבָּם ׳וַיַּכְנַע בע Psalm 107:12 he humbled their mind by toil.

Semantic Scope

‘Amal denotes strenuous labor that wears the body, but also the moral and emotional burden that weighs on the soul—“toil, trouble, misery, grievous effort, oppressive gain.” It combines the idea of sweat-producing work with the pain, anxiety, or wickedness that so often accompanies that work in a fallen world.

Canonical Distribution

The noun is attested roughly fifty-five times. It appears first in Genesis (41:51-52), is prominent in Job and the Psalms, permeates Wisdom literature (especially Ecclesiastes), and surfaces in the Major and Minor Prophets (Isaiah 53:11; Habakkuk 1:3, etc.). Every section of the Hebrew canon gives voice to ‘amal, underscoring its universality.

‘Amal and the Human Condition

1. Post-Edenic reality

Though ‘amal is not used in Genesis 3, the concept of cursed toil (3:17-19) sets the backdrop for every subsequent occurrence. Joseph names Manasseh, “For God has made me forget all my toil” (Genesis 41:51), revealing how divine providence can soften the sting of labor performed in exile.

2. Job’s lament

Job employs the term more than any other book. “For misery does not spring from the dust” (Job 5:6), yet ‘amal is undeniably present in a righteous man’s experience. Job’s complaints acknowledge the enigma of suffering without accusing God of injustice, pointing toward the need for a Mediator.

‘Amal in Worship and Wisdom

1. Psalms—cry and confidence
• Psalm 10:14: “But You have seen it, for You behold trouble and grief, to repay with Your hand.”
• Psalm 55:10-11 portrays a city whose very streets are filled with “destruction, trouble, and deceit.”

The psalmists bring both the oppression they suffer and the oppression they see into the sanctuary, confident that the Lord “upholds the cause of the oppressed” (Psalm 146:7).

2. Ecclesiastes—vanity of toil

“What does a man gain from all the labor at which he toils under the sun?” (Ecclesiastes 1:3). Throughout the book, ‘amal describes the wearying chase for meaning apart from God. The Teacher concludes that toil finds its purpose only when God is “remembered” (12:1, 13).

Prophetic Indictment of Social Evil

The prophets turn ‘amal outward, exposing structural injustice.
• Habakkuk 1:3: “Why do You make me see iniquity, and why do You tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me; strife is ongoing, and conflict escalates.”
• Jeremiah 20:12 appeals to the Lord who “tests the righteous and sees the mind and the heart,” asking Him to avenge the oppressed.
• Micah 2:1-2 condemns those who “devise iniquity…they oppress (ʿāmal) a man and his house.”

Thus ‘amal becomes a forensic term: the evidence of society’s covenant breach.

Redemptive Trajectory

Isaiah 53:11 unites the strands: “After the anguish of His soul, He will see the light of life and be satisfied.” The Servant bears humanity’s ‘amal and converts it into atonement. All preceding cries meet their answer in His substitutionary travail.

Eschatological Hope

Nahum 1:13 promises the removal of Assyrian bondage: “Now I will break off his yoke from you and tear away your shackles.” Revelation echoes this hope when it foretells a new creation where “there will be no more curse” (Revelation 22:3), implying the abolition of futile toil.

Practical Ministry Implications

• Pastoral care must acknowledge both the dignity and the drudgery of labor.
• Social ethics demand resistance to systems that manufacture ‘amal for the vulnerable (Proverbs 24:2; Isaiah 10:1-2).
• Gospel proclamation centers on the One who invites, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden” (Matthew 11:28), fulfilling the prophetic vision of toil transformed into rest.

בֶּעָמָ֣ל בַּעֲמַ֣ל בַּעֲמַ֥ל בַּעֲמָל֑וֹ בַּעֲמָלָֽם׃ בַעֲמָל֔וֹ בַעֲמָל֗וֹ בעמל בעמלו בעמלם׃ הֶ֣עָמָ֔ל העמל וְ֝עָמָ֗ל וְעָמָ֣ל וַ֝עֲמָל֗וֹ וַעֲמַ֖ל וַעֲמָלִ֑י וּבֶֽעָמָ֖ל וּבַעֲמָ֣לְךָ֔ ובעמל ובעמלך ועמל ועמלו ועמלי לְעָמָ֣ל לעמל מֵעֲמַ֤ל מעמל עֲמַ֖ל עֲמַ֥ל עֲמָל֑וֹ עֲמָל֔וֹ עֲמָל֣וֹ עֲמָל֣וֹ ׀ עֲמָלִ֔י עֲמָלִֽי׃ עֲמָלֵ֖נוּ עָ֘מָ֤ל עָ֝מָ֗ל עָ֭מָל עָמָ֖ל עָמָ֗ל עָמָ֣ל עָמָ֥ל עָמָֽל׃ עמל עמל׃ עמלו עמלי עמלי׃ עמלנו שֶׁעֲמָל֛וֹ שעמלו ‘ă·mā·lê·nū ‘ă·mā·lî ‘ă·mā·lōw ‘ă·mal ‘ā·māl ‘ămal ‘āmāl ‘ămālênū ‘ămālî ‘ămālōw aMal amaLenu amaLi amaLo Amol ba‘ămal ba‘ămālām ba‘ămālōw ḇa‘ămālōw ba·‘ă·mā·lām ba·‘ă·mā·lōw ḇa·‘ă·mā·lōw ba·‘ă·mal baaMal baamaLam baamaLo be‘āmāl be·‘ā·māl beaMal he‘āmāl he·‘ā·māl heaMal lə‘āmāl lə·‘ā·māl leaMal mê‘ămal mê·‘ă·mal meaMal še‘ămālōw še·‘ă·mā·lōw sheamaLo ū·ḇa·‘ă·mā·lə·ḵā ū·ḇe·‘ā·māl ūḇa‘ămāləḵā ūḇe‘āmāl uvaaMalcha uveaMal vaaMal vaamaLi vaamaLo veaMal wa‘ămal wa‘ămālî wa‘ămālōw wa·‘ă·mā·lî wa·‘ă·mā·lōw wa·‘ă·mal wə‘āmāl wə·‘ā·mālInterlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel Texts