H6031 — עָנָה (anah)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H6031
Original: עָנָה
Transliteration: ʻânâh
Pronunciation: aw-naw'
Part of Speech: Verb (primitive root)
Occurrences: 79 unique verses (92 tokens) across 21 books
First Occurrence: Gen 15:13 — "thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

A primitive root (possibly identical with H6030 through the idea of looking down or browbeating); to depress literally or figuratively, transitive or intransitive — abase self, afflict(-ion, self), chasten self, deal hardly with, defile, exercise, force, gentleness, humble (self), hurt, ravish, sing (by mistake for H6030), submit self, weaken, in any wise.

Verb Stem Distribution¶

Stem	Count	Typical Meaning
Piel	~58	afflict, humble, oppress (active, intensive)
Niphal	~8	be afflicted, be humbled (passive/reflexive)
Hithpael	~6	humble oneself, afflict oneself (reflexive)
Pual	~3	be afflicted, be humbled (intensive passive)
Hiphil	~2	cause to be afflicted (causative)
Qal	~3	exercise, be occupied with (Ecclesiastes usage)

The Piel is overwhelmingly dominant (~72%), confirming "afflict/humble" as an active, deliberate action done to another — or to oneself in cultic contexts ("afflict your souls"). The Hithpael ("humble oneself") appears in voluntary self-abasement (Gen 16:9, 1Ki 2:26, Dan 10:12, Ezr 8:21). The Niphal/Pual are the corresponding passive forms ("was afflicted" — Isa 53:7, Psa 119:67).

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
afflict / afflicted / afflictions	~42	53%
humble / humbled	~12	15%
force / forced / ravish	~7	9%
exercise / exercised	~3	4%
submit	1	1%
chasten	1	1%
weaken	1	1%
gentleness	1	1%
hurt	1	1%
Other	~10	13%

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Psalms	16	0.7
Isaiah	8	0.6
Deuteronomy	7	0.7
2 Samuel	6	0.9
Exodus	5	0.4
Genesis	5	0.3
Judges	5	0.8
Leviticus	5	0.6
Numbers	3	0.2
Ecclesiastes	3	1.4
1 Kings	3	0.4
Lamentations	2	1.3
Ezekiel	2	0.2
Job	2	0.2
Nahum	1	2.1
Zephaniah	1	1.9
Zechariah	1	0.5
2 Kings	1	0.1
2 Chronicles	1	0.1
Ezra	1	0.4
Daniel	1	0.3

The word spreads across all major genres — Pentateuch (cultic law, patriarchal narrative), Prophets (divine judgment and comfort), Psalms (lament and petition), Wisdom (Ecclesiastes). Highest density in the minor prophets (Nahum, Zephaniah) and Ecclesiastes. The Psalms cluster includes both lament psalms (88, 102, 119) and imprecatory/prophetic contexts (55, 89, 94).

Semantic Categories¶

1. Cultic Self-Denial ("Afflict Your Souls")¶

The Day of Atonement formula — self-denial through fasting. - Lev 16:29 — "ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever" - Lev 16:31 — "ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever" - Lev 23:27 — "a day of atonement... and ye shall afflict your souls" - Lev 23:29 — "whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off" - Num 29:7 — "ye shall afflict your souls: ye shall not do any work" - Isa 58:3,5 — "wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge?" - Ezra 8:21 — "that we might afflict ourselves before our God"

2. Oppression of People / National Affliction¶

External oppression by enemies or taskmasters. - Gen 15:13 — "they shall afflict them four hundred years" (Egypt) - Exo 1:11-12 — "they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them... the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied" - Deut 26:6 — "the Egyptians evil entreated us, and afflicted us" - 2Ki 17:20 — "the LORD rejected all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them" - Psa 94:5 — "they break in pieces thy people, O LORD, and afflict thine heritage"

3. Divine Discipline / Humbling¶

God deliberately humbling or testing through hardship. - Deut 8:2 — "the LORD thy God led thee... to humble thee, and to prove thee" - Deut 8:3 — "he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna" - Deut 8:16 — "that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end" - Psa 119:67 — "before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word" - Psa 119:71 — "it is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes" - Psa 119:75 — "thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me"

4. Sexual Violation¶

Forcible humiliation — used for rape and sexual coercion. - Gen 34:2 — "he took her, and lay with her, and defiled her" - 2Sa 13:12,14 — "do not force me... being stronger than she, forced her" - Judg 19:24 — "humble ye them, and do with them what seemeth good" - Lam 5:11 — "they ravished the women in Zion" - Eze 22:10-11 — "have they humbled her that was set apart... hath lewdly defiled his daughter in law"

5. Prophetic Suffering / The Afflicted Servant¶

Affliction as unjust suffering borne by the righteous. - Isa 53:4 — "we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted" - Isa 53:7 — "he was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth" - Psa 88:7 — "thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves" - Psa 102:23 — "he weakened my strength in the way; he shortened my days"

6. Voluntary Self-Humbling¶

Reflexive — deliberate humbling before God or authority. - Gen 16:9 — "return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands" - Dan 10:12 — "thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God" - 1Ki 2:26 — "because thou hast been afflicted in all wherein my father was afflicted" - Psa 35:13 — "I humbled my soul with fasting"

7. Ecclesiastes "Exercise" Sense¶

A distinct Qal usage: God giving humans occupation/travail to be exercised with. - Ecc 1:13 — "this sore travail hath God given to the sons of men to be exercised therewith" - Ecc 3:10 — "the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
נֶפֶשׁ (nephesh)	H5315	13x	"afflict your souls" — Day of Atonement formula
יוֹם (yowm)	H3117	13x	"in that same day" — festival calendar contexts
יְהוָֹה (Yehovah)	H3068	16x	God as agent or addressee of affliction
אֱלֹהִים (elohiym)	H430	11x	"before our God" — divine humbling/discipline
אִישׁ (iysh)	H376	10x	Identifies the agent or victim ("a man")
בֵּן (ben)	H1121	10x	"sons of men" (Ecc), "son of" (narrative ID)
פָּנִים (paniym)	H6440	9x	"before" (spatial) — affliction before God
עָשָׂה (asah)	H6213	8x	"do/make" — paired in instruction contexts
מַעַן (maan)	H4616	6x	"in order to" — purposive: "that he might humble thee"
יָדַע (yada)	H3045	6x	"to know/prove" — testing purpose paired with affliction

Word Family / Cognates¶

H6040 עֳנִי (oniy) — affliction, misery (noun; 36v)
H6041 עָנִי (aniy) — poor, afflicted, humble, lowly (adjective; 69v)
H6035 עָנָו (anav) — meek, humble, poor, lowly (adjective; 20v)
H6038 עֲנָוָה (anavah) — humility, meekness, gentleness (noun; 5v)

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
עָנִי (aniy)	H6041	"afflicted"	H6041 is the adjective/state ("the afflicted one"); H6031 is the verb/action ("to afflict")
θλίβω (thlibo)	G2346	"afflicted"	NT Greek word for pressure/tribulation; not a direct cognate but overlaps in English translation

Synonyms (SDBH)¶

Semantic domain "Insignificant" — shares domain with דכא H1792 (crush), דַּכָּא H1793 (contrite)
Semantic domain "Unsafe" — shares domain with אָוֶן H205 (iniquity/vanity), אֵיד H343 (calamity)
Semantic domain "Engage" — shares domain with אָנַס H597 (compel)

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Strong's	Co-occurrences	PMI	Notes
ταπεινόω (tapeinoo)	G5013	46x	25.25	Primary — "to humble, bring low"; dominant LXX rendering
κακόω (kakoo)	G2559	18x	19.67	"to do evil to, mistreat" — oppression sense
περισπάω (perispao)	G4049	3x	10.77	"to distract, be drawn about" — Ecclesiastes sense
νηστεία (nesteia)	G3521	4x	9.21	"fasting" — interpretive rendering of "afflict your souls"
ψυχή (psyche)	G5590	12x	6.16	Co-occurs due to "afflict your souls (psyche)" formula

The dominant bridge G5013 ταπεινόω (tapeinoo, 46 co-occurrences) carries the "humble/bring low" sense into the NT — Jas 4:10 "humble yourselves," Php 2:8 Christ "humbled himself," Mat 23:12 "whosoever shall humble himself shall be exalted." This is a strong LXX bridge.