Original Word: עֹצֶב
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: `otseb
Pronunciation: o-tseb'
Phonetic Spelling: (o'-tseb)
KJV: idol, sorrow, X wicked
Word Origin: [a variation of H6089 (עֶצֶב - Sorrow)]

1. an idol (as fashioned)
2. also pain (bodily or mental)

idol, sorrow, wicked

A variation of etseb; an idol (as fashioned); also pain (bodily or mental) -- idol, sorrow, X wicked.

see HEBREW etseb

I. עֹ֫צֶב noun [masculine] pain; — ׳ע 1 Chronicles 4:9 (of travail); ׳דֶּרֶחעֿ Psalm 139:24 hurtful way (of any wicked habit; > ᵑ7 Thes way of idolatry; II.עֹצֶב); suffix עָצְבְּךָ Isaiah 14:3 of the pain of exile.

II. [עֹ֫צֶב] noun masculine idol; — suffix עָצְבִּי Isaiah 48:5.

Semantic range and imagery

עֹצֶב evokes inward ache that arises from wounding, toil, or grief and may surface as a “hurtful way” (Psalm 139:24) or the physical and societal misery imposed by oppressive powers (Isaiah 14:3). Though rooted in personal experience, the term readily broadens to corporate suffering and ultimately to the universal burden of sin’s consequences.

Occurrences in canonical context

1 Chronicles 4:9 – The birth-name “Jabez” is formed from עֹצֶב. His mother’s exclamation, “Because I bore him in pain,” testifies that the word can describe the sharp, unforgettable sting of child-bearing. In the narrative, Jabez seeks Divine reversal: “Oh, that You would bless me and enlarge my territory!” The Lord answers, signaling that covenant grace can transform inherited pain into blessing.

Psalm 139:24 – David prays, “See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Here עֹצֶב becomes moral. What wounds God’s holiness also wounds the supplicant, so the king pleads for exposure and redirection. Personal piety is pictured as the removal of an inner abscess that would otherwise fester.

Isaiah 14:3 – Addressed to Judah, the oracle foretells a day when “the LORD will give you rest from your pain.” National agony under Babylonian tyranny is termed עֹצֶב; the promised sabbath-relief anticipates the broader prophetic motif of messianic consolation.

Biblical theology of pain and relief

1. Origin: Human pain traces back to Genesis 3, where the same root (“in pain you will bring forth children”) first appears. עֹצֶב therefore belongs to the primordial vocabulary of the fall.
2. Persistence: Its spread into royal, individual, and imperial arenas (David, Jabez, Babylon) shows that no social stratum escapes the reach of pain.
3. Remedy: Each text pairs עֹצֶב with Divine intervention—answered prayer, sanctifying guidance, or national deliverance—foreshadowing the ultimate healing accomplished by the Suffering Servant, “a man of sorrows” who bears our griefs.

Historical and redemptive trajectory

• Early Israel viewed physical and emotional pain as an echo of Edenic curse. Naming a child Jabez kept the memory alive while simultaneously inviting Yahweh’s counter-action.
• David’s introspective use signals the rise of wisdom spirituality, where sin is recognized as the deepest pain.
• Isaiah shifts the focus to geopolitical bondage, enlarging the hope of rest to an eschatological scale. Post-exilic readers saw in this promise the seeds of messianic expectation fulfilled when Jesus proclaimed, “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

Pastoral and ministry implications

• Prayer as protest and petition: Jabez teaches believers to name their pain and ask boldly for reversal.
• Self-examination: Psalm 139 turns pain into a diagnostic tool; exposure of hidden offenses becomes the pathway to everlasting life.
• Prophetic comfort: Isaiah 14 encourages preaching that holds together realism about oppression and confidence in God’s decisive intervention.

Counsel and worship

• Lament liturgies may incorporate עֹצֶב to articulate both personal guilt and external affliction.
• Counseling settings can trace the biblical arc from pain acknowledged to pain redeemed, directing counselees to the Cross where sorrows are borne.
• Missionally, ministries among the oppressed can root their advocacy in Isaiah’s vision of rest granted by the LORD of hosts.

Christological fulfillment

All three nuances—birth pangs, moral offense, and societal anguish—converge at Golgotha. The resurrection vindicates the promise of Isaiah 14:3, offering eternal rest that already begins in the believer’s heart and culminates in the new creation where “there will be no more pain” (Revelation 21:4).

Summary

עֹצֶב captures the multifaceted reality of human pain but never in isolation from covenant hope. Scripture consistently pairs the word with Divine response, steering readers from honest lament to assured deliverance and inviting every generation to bring its sorrows to the God who heals.

בְּעֹֽצֶב׃ בעצב׃ מֵֽעָצְבְּךָ֖ מעצבך עֹ֥צֶב עצב ‘ō·ṣeḇ ‘ōṣeḇ bə‘ōṣeḇ bə·‘ō·ṣeḇ beOtzev mê‘āṣəbəḵā mê·‘ā·ṣə·bə·ḵā meatzebeCha OtzevInterlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel Texts