יָנָה
ya.nah (H3238)
to oppress
AI Word Study
# Analysis of יָנָה (yanah) — "to oppress" The Hebrew verb יָנָה (yanah) carries the fundamental meaning of "to oppress," designating an action in which one party exerts harmful pressure or dominance over another. With 19 occurrences across the biblical text, the word represents a significant semantic field in Hebrew discourse about injustice and mistreatment. The verb appears with sufficient frequency to indicate it held meaningful currency in biblical expression, neither rare nor commonplace, suggesting it filled a specific communicative purpose in describing a particular category of wrongdoing. The consistent translation as "oppress" indicates the word functioned to describe systematic or deliberate harm inflicted by one entity upon another, likely encompassing contexts ranging from social exploitation to political domination. The specificity of the lemma—that it is a discrete verb rather than a broader term for harm—suggests biblical writers distinguished this particular form of mistreatment from other modes of wrongdoing. The word's presence throughout the biblical corpus indicates that oppression was a recognizable social phenomenon worthy of direct linguistic reference, reflecting real interpersonal dynamics the biblical texts deemed important enough to name explicitly.
AI synthesis uses only provided lexicon data -- never training knowledge.
“You shall not wrong an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.
“ ‘If a stranger lives as a foreigner with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong.
“ ‘If you sell anything to your neighbor, or buy from your neighbor, you shall not wrong one another.
You shall not wrong one another, but you shall fear your God; for I am Yahweh your God.
He shall dwell with you, among you, in the place which he shall choose within one of your gates, where it pleases him best. You shall not oppress him.
They said in their heart, “We will crush them completely.” They have burned up all the places in the land where God was worshiped.
I will feed those who oppress you with their own flesh; and they will be drunk on their own blood, as with sweet wine. Then all flesh shall know that I, Yahweh, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”
Yahweh says: “Execute justice and righteousness, and deliver him who is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor. Do no wrong. Do no violence to the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow. Don’t shed innocent blood in this place.
He has left his covert, as the lion; for their land has become an astonishment because of the fierceness of the oppression, and because of his fierce anger.
He made many to stumble. Yes, they fell on one another. They said, ‘Arise! Let’s go again to our own people, and to the land of our birth, from the oppressing sword.’
Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him who handles the sickle in the time of harvest. For fear of the oppressing sword, they will each return to their own people, and they will each flee to their own land.
and has not wronged any, but has restored to the debtor his pledge, has taken nothing by robbery, has given his bread to the hungry, and has covered the naked with a garment;
has wronged the poor and needy, has taken by robbery, has not restored the pledge, and has lifted up his eyes to the idols, has committed abomination,
hasn’t wronged any, hasn’t taken anything to pledge, hasn’t taken by robbery, but has given his bread to the hungry, and has covered the naked with a garment;
In you have they treated father and mother with contempt. Among you they have oppressed the foreigner. In you they have wronged the fatherless and the widow.
The people of the land have used oppression and exercised robbery. Yes, they have troubled the poor and needy, and have oppressed the foreigner wrongfully.
In the land it shall be to him for a possession in Israel. My princes shall no more oppress my people; but they shall give the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes.”
Moreover the prince shall not take of the people’s inheritance, to thrust them out of their possession. He shall give inheritance to his sons out of his own possession, that my people not each be scattered from his possession.” ’ ”
Woe to her who is rebellious and polluted, the oppressing city!