An action (good or bad); generally, a transaction ; abstractly, activity ; by implication, a product (specifically, a poem ) or (generally) property
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H4639, maʿăšeh, names something done or made: a deed, action, work, practice, product, design, workmanship, accomplishment, or result. It can point to God's works, human labor, crafted objects, habitual conduct, idolatrous products, a particular deed, or the outcome associated with righteousness.
Reader summary
Full entry for מַעֲשֶׂה (H4639) · Open the biblical lexicon
H4639, maʿăšeh, names something done or made: a deed, action, work, practice, product, design, workmanship, accomplishment, or result. It can point to God's works, human labor, crafted objects, habitual conduct, idolatrous products, a particular deed, or the outcome associated with righteousness.
The BSB source-word alignment has 246 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include the work (37), . . . (19), work (10), the works (9), his work (6).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 5:29. Its strongest book concentrations include Exodus (40), Psalms (40), Isaiah (29), Ecclesiastes (21).
This entry includes 1 verse guide that explain exact original-language forms in context.
H4639, maʿăšeh, names something done or made: a deed, action, work, practice, product, design, workmanship, accomplishment, or result. It can point to God's works, human labor, crafted objects, habitual conduct, idolatrous products, a particular deed, or the outcome associated with righteousness. The noun does not separate activity from artifact in advance. Readers must identify the maker, the action or product, the moral setting, and the result. A work can display God's glory, receive a prayer for endurance, embody skill, become an idol, reveal repentance, or come under judgment.
The contrast between God's work and human manufacture is especially important. The tablets are God's work and carry His writing, while Deuteronomy warns that exile will expose Israel to gods made by human hands that cannot see, hear, eat, or smell. Psalm 19 sees the heavens proclaiming the work of God's hands; Psalm 90 asks the Lord to establish the work of human hands. Human making is not condemned simply because it is human. Craft, labor, poetry, agriculture, and righteous action can be good. Idolatry arises when a created product is treated as divine, and injustice arises when actions contradict God's character while hiding behind religious or productive success.
H4639 also brings conduct into accountable view. God sees Nineveh's actions, specifically that the people turned from evil ways. Isaiah says the work of righteousness will be peace, tracing moral action toward communal quiet and confidence. Ecclesiastes concludes that God will bring every deed, including hidden things, into judgment. The noun does not teach salvation by accumulated achievements, nor does divine grace make deeds irrelevant. Actions disclose allegiance, affect neighbors, produce consequences, and remain answerable to God. Christian teaching can therefore pray for meaningful work, celebrate skill, practice repentance, and pursue righteous outcomes while refusing both self-justification and empty profession. The Lord establishes what is faithful, exposes what is hidden, and receives glory for works no creature could accomplish.
H4639 names things done or made, ranging from toil, workmanship, and products to divine works, idolatrous manufacture, righteous action, repentance, and deeds brought into judgment.
And he named him Noah, saying, “May this one comfort us in the labor and toil of our hands caused by the ground that the Lord has cursed.”
Lamech names Noah amid painful work on cursed ground and voices hope for comfort. The saying belongs to Genesis' developing story and does not make Noah the final remover of the curse.
The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.
The tablets' workmanship and writing are attributed to God before Moses breaks them in response to Israel's idolatry. Divine work and covenant revelation stand over against the manufactured calf.
And there you will serve man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell.
The work of human hands becomes a false god that lacks creaturely senses, much less divine life. The verse condemns worship of the product, not responsible craftsmanship itself.
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.
Creation's ordered expanse witnesses to its Maker's glory. The psalm moves from cosmic witness to the Lord's instruction and the worshiper's accountable words.
May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish for us the work of our hands—yes, establish the work of our hands!
Moses' prayer places fragile human work under divine favor and establishment. Repetition expresses dependence, not a guarantee that every project will survive or succeed.
The work of righteousness will be peace; the service of righteousness will be quiet confidence forever.
Righteousness produces peace, quietness, and confidence in Isaiah's promised renewal. The fruit is communal and covenantal, not merely an inward feeling detached from justice.
When God saw their actions—that they had turned from their evil ways—He relented from the disaster He had threatened to bring upon them.
Nineveh's actions evidence a real turning from evil rather than payment for mercy. The narrative highlights God's freedom to show compassion and Jonah's resistance to it.
For God will bring every deed into judgment, along with every hidden thing, whether good or evil.
Ecclesiastes closes by placing visible and hidden deeds before God's judgment. Accountability gives moral weight to action amid life's unresolved enigmas.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Verse-level guides showing how this original-language form works in its specific context, including grammar, verse function, and guarded interpretation.
Hebrew word. Deed encompassing both moral action and its concrete result or product; work as evidence of character or effort.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 4 selected witnesses from 235 lexical occurrence verses.
מַעֲשֶׂה is built from this root:
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
H4639 helps Scripture place what is done and made under the light of its maker and its fruit. Genesis knows toil on cursed ground. Exodus can call the tablets God's work while exposing a calf manufactured for worship. Deuteronomy mocks idols as human products without life, yet the broader canon honors skilled workmanship and asks God to establish the work of human hands.
Psalm 19 sees creation itself declaring the glory of its Maker. Isaiah traces righteousness toward peace, Jonah identifies repentance through a real turning from evil, and Ecclesiastes brings every deed, including hidden action, before divine judgment. These passages refuse two shortcuts. Deeds cannot purchase grace or allow workers to boast before God. Deeds also cannot be dismissed as spiritually unimportant, because they embody allegiance, harm or help neighbors, and reveal whether repentance has taken form.
The prayer of Psalm 90 is therefore wiser than a productivity slogan: finite people ask the eternal God to give durable significance to their work. Faithful preaching celebrates craft without worshiping products, calls for action without preaching self-salvation, and tests claims by their fruit. God's works reveal His glory; human works need His favor, His moral judgment, and His merciful correction.
Eccl.12.14
H4639 is a masculine noun with singular, plural, construct, absolute, and suffixed forms. Its broad range covers act, deed, work, practice, design, workmanship, product, property, accomplishment, and result. The governed word table has 246 tokens across 232 verses and 31 books, eleven more than the selected artifact count, so contextual classification must follow the direct verse evidence rather than a single English gloss.
The New Testament likewise distinguishes God's saving work, good works prepared for believers, works that reveal faith, and works that cannot justify boasting. Final judgment according to deeds and salvation by grace are held together through their own arguments. Greek ergon often overlaps deed and work language, but it is not a mechanical equivalent for every H4639 product, practice, or design.