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Word of the day: לעבוד - to work

25 September 2016

It's the second working day in Israel and the first working day outside Israel.

The Hebrew for "work" is עֲבוֹדָה avoda, and the corresponding verb is לַעֲבֹד ~ לעבוד la'avod:

אֲנִי עוֹבֵד בִּשְׁתֵי עֲבוֹדוֹת
Ani oved bi-shtei avodot.
I work on two jobs.

The word לעבוד can also be applied to inanimate objects ("my computer doesn't work"). You can also use the verb לִפְעֹל ~ לפעול lif'ol in that sense: הַמַּחְשֵׁב שֶלִּי לֹא פּוֹעֵל ha-machshev sheli lo po'el.

In the context of religion, עבודה means "worship": עֲבוֹדַת ה׳ avodat ha-Shem "(Jewish) religious service" (literally: G-d-worship), עֲבוֺדָה זָרָה avoda zara "idol worship, paganism" (literally: foreign worship).

Related to לעבוד are words עֶבֶד eved "slave" and עַבְדוּת avdut "slavery". The same root עב״ד "work" is found in other Semitic languages – for example, it occurs in the Arabic names "Abdullah" (slave of Allah), "Abdurrachman" (slave of the merciful one – and note that רַחְמָן rach(a)man also means "merciful" in Hebrew). There is also a derived root שפע״ל with a causative meaning: לְשַׁעְבֵּד lesha'abed "to enslave".

Hope your עבודה is not עבדות for you. When you have a couple of minutes, listen to שִיר הָהֲבוֹדָה shir ha-avoda "The Work Song" by the band גָזוֹז Gazoz ("Soda"):

Have a nice day!

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