What does עָשַׁק (ʿāšaq) mean in the Bible?
Oppression names harmful conduct that the selected passages make concrete. Deuteronomy forbids oppressing a poor hired worker, including a foreigner, and requires wages before sunset.
Hebrew · H6231
עָשַׁק
Oppression names harmful conduct that the selected passages make concrete. Deuteronomy forbids oppressing a poor hired worker, including a foreigner, and requires wages before sunset.
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עָשַׁקH6231
Pronunciationʿāšaq
What does עָשַׁק (ʿāšaq) mean in the Bible?
Reader summary
Full entry for עָשַׁק (H6231) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H6231?
The BSB source-word alignment has 36 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include oppress (2), oppress them (2), oppressed (2), against oppressors (1), and have exploited (1).
Where does עָשַׁק (ʿāšaq) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Leviticus 6:2. Its strongest book concentrations include Psalms (6), Proverbs (4), Deuteronomy (3), Ezekiel (3).
What This Word Actually Means
Oppression names harmful conduct that the selected passages make concrete. Deuteronomy forbids oppressing a poor hired worker, including a foreigner, and requires wages before sunset. Ecclesiastes sees the tears of the oppressed and the power in their oppressors' hands without pretending that comfort has already arrived. Samuel invites public testimony about property, cheating and bribery, and offers restoration if a wrong is established; the people's reply does not establish that every later leader is equally innocent.
Micah names seizure of fields, houses and inheritance, while Malachi names withheld wages and denied justice. Proverbs connects treatment of the poor with honoring or insulting their Maker. Read actual conduct and affected people. Teaching should support fair accountability, timely payment and protection without assigning a hidden cause to someone else's poverty or making a present leader the unquestionable judge of every dispute.
How the Bible Uses It
Unpaid workers, tears under unequal power, public accountability, seized homes, denied justice and kindness to needy people give oppression concrete subjects. The stated acts and responses keep the word from becoming an unsupported private accusation.
- Deut.24.14
Do not oppress a hired hand who is poor and needy, whether he is a brother or a foreigner residing in one of your towns.
The command protects a poor hired worker whether a brother or resident foreigner, and the next verse specifies wages before sunset because the worker depends on them.
- Eccl.4.1
Again I looked, and I considered all the oppression taking place under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, and they had no comforter; the power lay in the hands of their oppressors, and there was no comforter.
The observer names tears, lack of comfort and power held by oppressors, preserving the lament rather than assuming the distressed people caused their own oppression.
- 1Sam.12.3
Here I am. Bear witness against me before the Lord and before His anointed: Whose ox or donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated or oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe and closed my eyes? Tell me, and I will restore it to you.”
Samuel invites testimony about theft, cheating, oppression and bribery with an offer to restore, and the people's actual reply reports no such wrong from him.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itoppress2×Deuteronomy 24:14, Zechariah 7:10
oppress them2×1 Chronicles 16:21, Psalms 105:14
oppressed2×Deuteronomy 28:29, Deuteronomy 28:33
against oppressors1×Malachi 3:5
and have exploited1×Ezekiel 22:29
are oppressed1×Jeremiah 50:33
burdened1×Proverbs 28:17
cheated us1×1 Samuel 12:4
defraud1×Leviticus 19:13
for the oppressed1×Psalms 146:7
have I cheated1×1 Samuel 12:3
have practiced1×Ezekiel 22:29
he practiced1×Ezekiel 18:18
if he extorts1×Leviticus 6:2
is oppressed1×Hosea 5:11
longer oppress1×Jeremiah 7:6
O oppressed1×Isaiah 23:12
of his oppressor1×Jeremiah 21:12
of their oppressors1×Ecclesiastes 4:1
oppress me1×Psalms 119:122
oppressed them1×Isaiah 52:4
Oppressing1×Proverbs 22:16
rages1×Job 40:23
taken by extortion1×Leviticus 6:4
the oppressed1×Psalms 103:6
the oppressor1×Psalms 72:4
They deprive1×Micah 2:2
to defraud1×Hosea 12:7
to my oppressors1×Psalms 119:121
to oppress me1×Job 10:3
who oppresses1×Proverbs 28:3
Whoever oppresses1×Proverbs 14:31
you women who oppress1×Amos 4:1
Show sample aligned rows
Leviticus 6:2עָשַׁ֥קtoif he extortsVerb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singularLeviticus 6:4עָשָׁ֔קtotaken by extortionVerb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singularLeviticus 19:13תַעֲשֹׁ֥קtodefraudVerb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine singularDeuteronomy 24:14תַעֲשֹׁ֥קtooppressVerb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine singularDeuteronomy 28:29עָשׁ֧וּקtooppressedVerb - Qal - QalPassParticiple - masculine singularDeuteronomy 28:33עָשׁ֥וּקtooppressedVerb - Qal - QalPassParticiple - masculine singular1 Samuel 12:3עָשַׁ֙קְתִּי֙tohave I cheatedVerb - Qal - Perfect - first person common singular1 Samuel 12:4עֲשַׁקְתָּ֖נוּtocheated usVerb - Qal - Perfect - second person masculine singular | first person common plural1 Chronicles 16:21לְעָשְׁקָ֔םtooppress themPreposition-l | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct | third person masculine pluralJob 10:3תַעֲשֹׁ֗קtoto oppress meVerb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowLeviticus 6:2
Aligned rows36
Books represented16
Leviticus3Deuteronomy31 Samuel21 Chronicles1Job2Psalms6Proverbs4Ecclesiastes1Isaiah2Jeremiah3Ezekiel3Hosea2Amos1Micah1Zechariah1Malachi1
Source forms
עָשׁ֥וּק2x‘ā·šūqDeuteronomy 28:33, Hosea 5:11
תַעֲשֹׁ֥ק2xṯa·‘ă·šōqLeviticus 19:13, Deuteronomy 24:14
הַֽמְעֻשָּׁקָ֞ה1xham·‘uš·šā·qāhIsaiah 23:12
הָעֹשְׁק֣וֹת1xhā·‘ō·šə·qō·wṯAmos 4:1
וּבְעֹשְׁקֵ֣י1xū·ḇə·‘ō·šə·qêMalachi 3:5
וְעֹשֵׁ֣ק1xwə·‘ō·šêqProverbs 28:3
וְעָֽשְׁקוּ֙1xwə·‘ā·šə·qūMicah 2:2
יַעֲשֹׁ֣ק1xya·‘ă·šōqJob 40:23
Parsing patterns
Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine singular4xPsalms 72:4, Proverbs 14:31, Proverbs 22:16, Jeremiah 21:12
Verb - Qal - QalPassParticiple - masculine singular4xDeuteronomy 28:29, Deuteronomy 28:33, Proverbs 28:17, Hosea 5:11
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine singular3xLeviticus 19:13, Deuteronomy 24:14, Job 10:3
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular3xLeviticus 6:2, Leviticus 6:4, Ezekiel 18:18
Preposition-l | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct | third person masculine plural2x1 Chronicles 16:21, Psalms 105:14
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine plural2xJeremiah 7:6, Zechariah 7:10
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person common plural2xEzekiel 22:29
Verb - Qal - QalPassParticiple - masculine plural2xPsalms 103:6, Jeremiah 50:33
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Pursue fair testimony, timely payment and appropriate protection without private punishment rulings.
- Seek needed care and support while allowing lament to remain honest about ongoing harm.
Avoid claiming...
- Every powerful person is guilty or every poor person caused their deprivation.
- A future deliverance promise authorizes present oppression or requires unsafe exposure.
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. To oppress through forceful pressure—combining physical coercion with economic fraud; marks injustice in covenant society.
Strong'sH6231
Lexical occurrences36 versesWord forms1 form22 referencesVerse guides0 guides
Study linkLeviticus 19:13-14Source Gloss
to press upon , i.e. oppress , defraud , violate , overflow
Extended definitionSource: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
To oppress through forceful pressure—combining physical coercion with economic fraud; marks injustice in covenant society.
to press upon, i.e. oppress, defraud, violate, overflow BDB: oppress Usage: get deceitfully, deceive, defraud, drink up, (use) oppress(-ion), -or), do violence (wrong).
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 forms22
Qalbasic active stem — the word in its most common, direct sense22×
Participle passiveDeut 28:29 · Deut 28:33 · Hos 5:11 · Jer 50:33 · Prov 28:17 · Ps 103:66×
PerfectEzek 18:18 · Lev 5:21 · Lev 5:23 · Ezek 22:29 · 1Sam 12:36×
ImperfectDeut 24:14 · Job 10:3 · Lev 19:13 · Jer 7:6 · Job 40:235×
Participle activeJer 21:12 · Prov 14:31 · Prov 22:16 · Ps 72:44×
JussiveZech 7:101×
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
Legal prohibition against defrauding or withholding wages from hired workers
Prophetic indictment of societal injustice and exploitation of the vulnerable and poor
Royal duty to execute justice and cease oppressing the vulnerable, with threat of judgment
Wisdom teaching that oppressing the poor is sinful and contemptuous toward the Creator
Wisdom saying contrasting enrichment through exploitation with eventual impoverishment
Showing 5 selected witnesses from 36 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
עָשַׁק is built from this root:
עָשַׂקH6229
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
The selected contexts make unequal power visible through its effects. A hired worker depends on timely wages, a household loses fields or a home, and an observer sees tears without a comforter. These are concrete relationships rather than a vague judgment that everyone who has power is guilty. Samuel's invitation to testify and his offer of restoration also show accountability without requiring a presumption of wrongdoing; the people's reply belongs to that narrated occasion.
Malachi specifies several denied protections, and Proverbs places treatment of needy people in relation to their Maker. Teach the actual wrong seriously while listening fairly to evidence. Spiritual language must not conceal withheld wages, excuse seizure or blame the person harmed. Neither the lament nor the prohibition gives a teacher complete knowledge of a present person's hidden motives or authorizes private retaliation.
Anchor passage
Deut.24.14
Doctrinal connections
- Deuteronomy 24:14-15 protects poor workers, including foreigners, and requires daily wages before sunset, placing responsibility on the withholding employer.
- Ecclesiastes 4:1-3 laments oppressed people's tears and absence of comfort, retaining the observer's painful comparison rather than presenting death as pastoral advice.
- First Samuel 12:3-5 records accountable questions, an offer of restoration and the people's reply about Samuel, without granting later leaders automatic innocence.
- Micah 2:1-4 identifies planned seizure of fields, houses and inheritance, making the wrongdoing specific instead of equating every possession with oppression.
- Malachi 3:5-7 names denied wages and justice for vulnerable people in the Lord's charge, without letting modern authorities invent punishment schedules.
- Proverbs 14:31 contrasts oppression of the poor with kindness to the needy in relation to their Maker, preserving responsibility without diagnosing poverty's hidden cause.
The licensed Hebrew range includes oppression, defrauding and related forceful treatment. The selected human contexts identify concrete acts, people and responsibilities. Read the worker, employer, witness or household in each sentence rather than using the broad range to decide every dispute or the cause of every person's distress.
From Old to New Testament
Acts 7:6 recalls God's word about Abraham's descendants being enslaved and mistreated, matching the particular promise in Genesis 15:13-14. Read that Greek account beside the Hebrew commands protecting workers without treating their forms as identical. Named oppression remains wrongdoing even when a narrative also states God's future deliverance; a present authority may not use that promise to require someone to stay exposed to harm.