H183 — אָוָה (ʼâvâh)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H183
Original: אָוָה
Transliteration: ʼâvâh
Pronunciation: aw-vaw'
Part of Speech: Verb (primitive root)
Root: Primitive root; cognate noun is H8378 תַּאֲוָה (taʼăvâh, "desire")
Occurrences: 29 tokens in 25 unique verses across 13 books
First Occurrence: Num 11:4 — "And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

A primitive root; to wish for — covet, (greatly) desire, be desirous, long, lust (after).

The verb denotes a strong inward inclination of will or appetite toward an object. It is morally neutral in itself: it can describe holy longing (Isa 26:9; Ps 132:13–14), legitimate craving (Deut 12:20; 14:26), or illicit lust (Num 11:4; Prov 21:10). The ethical valence is supplied by the object desired, not by the verb itself.

Verb Stem Distribution¶

The verb occurs almost exclusively in two stems, each with a distinct nuance:

Stem	Count	Typical Meaning
Piel	~10	to desire, long for (transitive; takes a direct object or cognate accusative)
Hithpael	~15	to crave, lust after (reflexive/intensive; the subject works up desire within himself)

Piel is used when the focus is on the desired object: "thy soul desireth" (Deut 14:26, 1Ki 11:37), "the LORD hath desired Zion" (Ps 132:13–14), "with my soul have I desired thee" (Isa 26:9).

Hithpael conveys the reflexive working-up of appetite or craving, often with a negative moral tone: "fell a lusting" (Num 11:4), "neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour's wife" (Deut 5:21), "the soul of the sluggard desireth" (Prov 13:4), "woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD" (Amos 5:18).

[Tallied from hebrew_parser.py --lemma אוה output]

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
desire / desireth / desired / desirous	14	56%
longed / longeth	3	12%
lusted / lusteth / lusting	3	12%
coveteth / shalt thou covet	2	8%
Other (Be, have I desired thee, etc.)	3	12%

The KJV distributes the same verb across "desire," "long," "lust," and "covet" depending on whether the desire is judged neutral, tender, sensual, or illicit. The Hebrew draws no such lexical line.

[From search_strongs.py --lookup H183]

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Micah	1	1.0
Proverbs	6	0.7
Amos	1	0.7
Ecclesiastes	1	0.5
Deuteronomy	3	0.3
2 Samuel	2	0.3
Numbers	2	0.2
Psalms	4	0.2
1 Kings	1	0.1
Job	1	0.1
1 Chronicles	1	0.1
Isaiah	1	0.1
Jeremiah	1	0.1

Density is highest in Proverbs (wisdom literature on appetite and restraint) and among the wilderness narratives in Num–Deut. Absent from the Pentateuch's opening books (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus), from the historical Former Prophets apart from Samuel–Kings, and from most of the Writing Prophets.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Permissive / Legitimate Appetite (esp. food)¶

Deut 12:20 — "thou shalt say, I will eat flesh, because thy soul longeth to eat flesh; thou mayest eat flesh, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after"
Deut 14:26 — "thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth"
1 Sam 2:16 — "give me flesh... whatsoever thy soul desireth"

In these texts the verb (Piel) designates ordinary, sanctioned craving — a desire God explicitly permits to be satisfied.

2. Royal / Political Desire¶

2 Sam 3:21 — "thou mayest reign over all that thine heart desireth"
1 Ki 11:37 — "thou shalt reign according to all that thy soul desireth, and shalt be king over Israel"

The verb describes the scope of legitimate ambition granted to a king.

3. Longing for Water / Physical Thirst¶

2 Sam 23:15 = 1 Chr 11:17 — "And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem"

Hithpael — intense, felt craving that breaks into speech.

4. Holy Longing for God / for Zion¶

Isa 26:9 — "With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early"
Ps 132:13 — "For the LORD hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation"
Ps 132:14 — "This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it"

The same verb that describes craving flesh in Numbers describes Yahweh's election-love for Zion and the saint's night-longing for God.

5. Illicit Lust / Covetousness¶

Num 11:4 — "the mixt multitude... fell a lusting"
Num 11:34 — "Kibrothhattaavah: because there they buried the people that lusted"
Deut 5:21 — "Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour's wife, neither shalt thou covet thy neighbour's house"
Ps 106:14 — "But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert"

Hithpael stem, always with an illegitimate or out-of-bounds object. The wilderness rebellion is the paradigm.

6. Wicked / Foolish Desire in Wisdom Literature¶

Prov 13:4 — "The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing"
Prov 21:10 — "The soul of the wicked desireth evil"
Prov 21:26 — "He coveteth greedily all the day long"
Prov 23:3, 6 — "Be not desirous of his dainties... neither desire thou his dainty meats"
Prov 24:1 — "Be not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them"
Job 23:13 — "what his soul desireth, even that he doeth" (of God's sovereign will)

7. Prophetic Complaint / Woe¶

Jer 17:16 — "neither have I desired the woeful day"
Amos 5:18 — "Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD!"
Mic 7:1 — "my soul desired the firstripe fruit"
Ps 45:11 (MT 45:12) — "So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
נֶפֶשׁ (nephesh)	H5315	10x (40%)	"thy soul desireth" — nephesh is the standard subject of ʼâvâh
אֲשֶׁר (ʼasher)	H834	10x (40%)	"whatsoever thy soul desireth" — desire-clause with relative
כֹּל (kol)	H3605	7x (28%)	"all that thy soul desireth" — totalizing the scope of craving
לֹא (lōʼ)	H3808	6x (24%)	negated prohibitions: "shalt not desire / covet"
אָכַל (ʼâkal)	H398	5x (20%)	"desire to eat" — craving paired with eating (esp. Deut 12, 14)
תַּאֲוָה (taʼăvâh)	H8378	3x (12%)	cognate noun used alongside the verb (Num 11:4; Ps 106:14)
רַע (raʻ)	H7451	4x (16%)	desire paired with evil (Prov 21:10; etc.)

The syntactic home of H183 is the construction "nephesh + Piel ʼâvâh + ʼăsher / kol" — "the soul that desireth whatsoever" — which dominates the Deuteronomic food laws and the royal/appetitive idiom of Samuel–Kings.

Word Family / Cognates¶

H8378 תַּאֲוָה (taʼăvâh) — "desire, craving, lust" — the cognate noun, used 20+ times, often in the same verses as the verb (e.g., Num 11:4, "they lusted a lusting"; Ps 106:14). See H8378-taavah.md.
H185 אַוָּה (ʼavvâh) — "desire, longing" — nominal form (Deut 12:15, 20, 21; 18:6; 1 Sam 23:20; Jer 2:24; Hos 10:10).

Synonyms¶

חָמַד (H2530) — near-synonym in the desire/coveting field; the Decalogue tradition places H183 and H2530 side by side as overlapping desire terms.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
חָמַד (châmad)	H2530	"desire," "covet"	châmad emphasizes delight in visible attractiveness (Gen 3:6; Exod 20:17); ʼâvâh emphasizes inward appetite, often of the nephesh
חָפֵץ (châphêts)	H2655	"desire," "delight"	châphêts is volitional pleasure, to take delight in; ʼâvâh is felt craving/appetite
חֵפֶץ (chêphets)	H2656	"desire" (noun)	abstract pleasure, purpose; ʼâvâh is active longing
שָׁאַל (shâʼal)	H7592	"desire" (as request)	shâʼal = to ask/request; ʼâvâh = to inwardly crave
H8378 תַּאֲוָה (taʼăvâh)	H8378	"desire," "lust"	same root — noun vs. verb of the same concept

In the Decalogue, the parallel prohibition uses châmad ("thou shalt not covet," Exod 20:17 // Deut 5:21a), while Deut 5:21b uses ʼâvâh ("neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour's wife"). The pairing treats the two verbs as near-synonyms for the tenth commandment.

Antonyms¶

No antonyms returned by search_relationships.py for H183.

UBS Semantic Domains¶

Code	Domain Label	Notes
002004001001001	Desire	Core desiderative field; this matches H183's central sense of inward appetite or longing.
002004002001001	Wish	Closely related volitional field covering wanting or wishing for something.
002004002007	Know	Secondary association in tool output; not central to the main semantic profile of H183.

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Strong's	Co-occ	PMI	Notes
ἐπιθυμέω (epithyméō)	G1937	17	8.87	Primary equivalent — "to set the heart upon, long for"
ἐπιθυμία (epithymía)	G1939	6	7.12	Nominal form — "longing, desire, lust"
ψυχή (psychḗ)	G5590	8	3.46	Frequent co-occurrence via the nephesh + ʼâvâh idiom
ἐσθίω (esthíō)	G2068	4	2.83	Co-occurrence via "desire to eat" construction

The LXX renders ʼâvâh almost uniformly with ἐπιθυμέω/ἐπιθυμία, the same verb/noun used in the NT Decalogue citation (Rom 7:7; 13:9) and in James 1:14–15 for the pattern of desire → sin → death. This establishes a direct Hebrew-to-Greek bridge from Num 11:4 (lusting in the wilderness) through 1 Cor 10:6 ("we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted"), where Paul uses the cognate ἐπιθυμητής for the wilderness generation.