What does יָנָה (yānāh) mean in the Bible?
Oppression and exploitation are prohibited in dealings with foreign residents, transactions and the exercise of power. Exodus names Israel's own former foreign residence in its prohibition.
Hebrew · H3238
יָנָה
Oppression and exploitation are prohibited in dealings with foreign residents, transactions and the exercise of power. Exodus names Israel's own former foreign residence in its prohibition.
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יָנָהH3238
Pronunciationyānāh
What does יָנָה (yānāh) mean in the Bible?
Reader summary
Full entry for יָנָה (H3238) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H3238?
The BSB source-word alignment has 19 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include oppress (4), of the oppressor (2), take advantage (2), are oppressed (1), by evicting them (1).
Where does יָנָה (yānāh) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Exodus 22:21. Its strongest book concentrations include Ezekiel (7), Jeremiah (4), Leviticus (3), Deuteronomy (1).
What This Word Actually Means
Oppression and exploitation are prohibited in dealings with foreign residents, transactions and the exercise of power. Exodus names Israel's own former foreign residence in its prohibition. Leviticus forbids mistreating the foreigner and wrongdoing in selling or buying, with the surrounding land instructions supplying the transaction setting. Deuteronomy protects the escaped slave's choice of residence rather than directing his return to a master.
Ezekiel joins refusal to oppress with restoring a pledge, feeding the hungry and clothing the naked; its later vision prohibits a prince's seizure of the people's property. These texts examine the conduct of those who can harm others. They do not blame the person with less power or make support conditional on submission. A congregation can hear reports, check its own dealings and protect vulnerable people without pretending ancient legal procedures are identical to every present legal system.
How the Bible Uses It
Foreign residents, land transactions, an escaped slave, debtors and people facing a prince's seizure receive concrete protection. The prohibited conduct belongs to the person exercising harmful power rather than to the vulnerability of its target.
- Exod.22.21
You must not exploit or oppress a foreign resident, for you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
The command forbids exploiting or oppressing a foreign resident and recalls the hearers' own foreign residence in Egypt.
- Lev.19.33
When a foreigner resides with you in your land, you must not oppress him.
The command forbids mistreating a foreigner who resides in the land, before requiring treatment as native and love.
- Lev.25.14
If you make a sale to your neighbor or a purchase from him, you must not take advantage of each other.
Selling land or buying from a neighbor must not involve wrongdoing within the following jubilee valuation instructions.
- Deut.23.16
Let him live among you wherever he chooses, in the town of his pleasing. Do not oppress him.
The escaped slave may live where he chooses, and the hearers must not oppress him in that protected residence.
- Ezek.18.7
He does not oppress another, but restores the pledge to the debtor. He does not commit robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing.
Refusal to oppress is joined to restoring a debtor's pledge, refusing robbery, feeding and clothing people.
- Ezek.46.18
The prince must not take any of the inheritance of the people by evicting them from their property. He is to provide an inheritance for his sons from his own property, so that none of My people will be displaced from his property.’”
The prince must not seize the people's inheritance by oppression or scatter them from their property.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itoppress4×Leviticus 19:33, Ezekiel 18:7, Ezekiel 18:16, Ezekiel 45:8
of the oppressor2×Jeremiah 25:38, Jeremiah 46:16
take advantage2×Leviticus 25:14, Leviticus 25:17
are oppressed1×Ezekiel 22:7
by evicting them1×Ezekiel 46:18
exploit1×Exodus 22:21
He oppresses1×Ezekiel 18:12
I will make your oppressors1×Isaiah 49:26
of oppressors1×Zephaniah 3:1
oppress him1×Deuteronomy 23:16
the oppressor’s1×Jeremiah 50:16
They have oppressed1×Ezekiel 22:29
We will crush them1×Psalms 74:8
wrong1×Jeremiah 22:3
Show sample aligned rows
Exodus 22:21תוֹנֶ֖הtoexploitVerb - Hifil - Imperfect - second person masculine singularLeviticus 19:33תוֹנ֖וּtooppressVerb - Hifil - Imperfect - second person masculine pluralLeviticus 25:14תּוֹנ֖וּtotake advantageVerb - Hifil - Imperfect - second person masculine pluralLeviticus 25:17תוֹנוּ֙totake advantageVerb - Hifil - Imperfect - second person masculine pluralDeuteronomy 23:16תּוֹנֶֽנּוּ׃סtooppress himVerb - Hifil - Imperfect - second person masculine singular | third person masculine singularPsalms 74:8נִינָ֣םtoWe will crush themVerb - Qal - Imperfect Cohortative if contextual - first person common plural | third person masculine pluralIsaiah 49:26מוֹנַ֙יִךְ֙toI will make your oppressorsVerb - Hifil - Participle - masculine plural construct | second person feminine singularJeremiah 22:3תֹּנוּ֙towrongVerb - Hifil - Imperfect - second person masculine pluralJeremiah 25:38הַיּוֹנָ֔הtoof the oppressorArticle | Verb - Qal - Participle - feminine singularJeremiah 46:16הַיּוֹנָֽה׃toof the oppressorArticle | Verb - Qal - Participle - feminine singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowExodus 22:21
Aligned rows19
Books represented8
Exodus1Leviticus3Deuteronomy1Psalms1Isaiah1Jeremiah4Ezekiel7Zephaniah1
Source forms
הוֹנָ֔ה2xhō·w·nāhEzekiel 18:12, Ezekiel 18:16
הַיּוֹנָ֔ה2xhay·yō·w·nāhJeremiah 25:38, Jeremiah 50:16
הַיּוֹנָֽה׃2xhay·yō·w·nāhJeremiah 46:16, Zephaniah 3:1
ה֥וֹנוּ1xhō·w·nūEzekiel 22:7
הוֹנ֔וּ1xhō·w·nūEzekiel 22:29
יוֹנֶ֔ה1xyō·w·nehEzekiel 18:7
יוֹנ֨וּ1xyō·w·nūEzekiel 45:8
לְהֽוֹנֹתָם֙1xlə·hō·w·nō·ṯāmEzekiel 46:18
Parsing patterns
Article | Verb - Qal - Participle - feminine singular4xJeremiah 25:38, Jeremiah 46:16, Jeremiah 50:16, Zephaniah 3:1
Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - second person masculine plural4xLeviticus 19:33, Leviticus 25:14, Leviticus 25:17, Jeremiah 22:3
Verb - Hifil - Perfect - third person common plural2xEzekiel 22:7, Ezekiel 22:29
Verb - Hifil - Perfect - third person masculine singular2xEzekiel 18:12, Ezekiel 18:16
Preposition-l | Verb - Hifil - Infinitive construct | third person masculine plural1xEzekiel 46:18
Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - second person masculine singular1xExodus 22:21
Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - second person masculine singular | third person masculine singular1xDeuteronomy 23:16
Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - third person masculine plural1xEzekiel 45:8
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Listen to harm reports and examine the conduct of those with power without blaming dependence.
- Protect safety and practical needs while keeping present legal procedures distinct from ancient instructions.
Avoid claiming...
- The verb cannot make exploitation the vulnerable person's fault or require unsafe submission to an aggressor.
- Religious office cannot authorize dispossession, forced return, retaliatory violence or certainty about every modern legal remedy.
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Rage that manifests as oppression; violence directed at suppression of the vulnerable through aggressive domination.
Strong'sH3238
Lexical occurrences19 versesWord forms1 form11 referencesVerse guides0 guides
Study linkLeviticus 19:33-34Source Gloss
to rage or be violent ; by implication, to suppress , to maltreat
Extended definitionSource: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Rage that manifests as oppression; violence directed at suppression of the vulnerable through aggressive domination.
to rage or be violent; by implication, to suppress, to maltreat BDB: suppress Usage: destroy, (thrust out by) oppress(-ing, -ion, -or), proud, vex, do violence.
Grammatical Forms
How the stem changes the meaning of this verb across the biblical text.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Form groups1Aligned forms11
Hiphilcausative active — the subject causes someone else to perform the action11×
ImperfectLev 19:33 · Lev 25:17 · Exod 22:20 · Ezek 18:7 · Ezek 45:85×
PerfectEzek 18:12 · Ezek 18:16 · Ezek 22:7 · Ezek 22:294×
JussiveJer 22:3 · Lev 25:142×
Selected Scripture Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
prohibition against maltreatment or oppression of resident aliens
Showing 1 selected witness from 19 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
יָנָה is a primitive root - no further derivation.
Cross-Language Connections
Greek words that correspond to or develop the meaning of this Hebrew word in the New Testament.
G2388LXX equivalentGreek
For the Preacher and Teacher
Oppression is confronted through specific dealings rather than a vague label for someone else's group. Exodus recalls the hearers' own foreign residence; Leviticus continues from the ban on mistreatment to treating the foreigner as native and loving that person. Its land-sale instructions address wrongdoing in transactions through their own jubilee setting. Deuteronomy's escaped slave is allowed to choose a place to live, and the command prohibits oppression rather than requiring forced return.
Ezekiel's account ties non-oppression to restoring a pledge, rejecting robbery and supplying food and clothing. The prince in the later vision cannot secure an inheritance by seizing the people's property and scattering them. A congregation should examine its own power, listen to people who report harm and support concrete protection. It must not blame vulnerable people, require unsafe submission or turn religious authority into a property claim.
Ancient procedures remain in their stated settings while the conduct and protection they name guide accountable reflection.
Anchor passage
Ezek.18.7
Doctrinal connections
- Exodus recalls former foreign residence while forbidding exploitation of the present foreign resident.
- Leviticus joins the ban on mistreatment with native treatment and love for the foreigner.
- Leviticus prohibits wrongdoing in land transactions within its stated jubilee valuation instructions.
- Deuteronomy protects the escaped slave's choice of residence and prohibits oppression there.
- Ezekiel joins non-oppression with restored pledges and practical provision of food and clothing.
- Ezekiel limits the prince's inheritance so that the people are not dispossessed or scattered.
The verb describes oppressing or exploiting through its actual agent and object. Nineteen BSB tokens in nineteen verses remain distinct from canonical nineteen; attested constructions and artifact transliteration are preserved without making a stem label an intensity scale or transferring the offender's responsibility to a vulnerable target.
From Old to New Testament
James 5:1-6 confronts rich people over hoarded treasure, withheld wages, luxury and condemnation of the righteous. Its account of workers' cries reaching the Lord of Hosts offers a canonical comparison of economic wrongdoing and accountability. It is not a direct Hebrew-verb occurrence, a universal accusation against every wealthy person or a commission for retaliatory violence.