עָבַד avad

Hebrew word for “to serve” · Strong’s H5647 · used 288 times in 261 verses

Explore it in the Word Atlas

Meaning

: minister/serve[God/tabernacle/temple]/worship;

Senses in the lexicon

• to serve: minister (157)
• to serve (97)
• to serve: labour (32)
• to serve: burden (2)

How it is translated

Glosses given for avad in context, with how often each is used:

• will serve 74
• serve 56
• served 44
• have served 11
• may serve 10
• serving 9
• those who serve 7
• will labor 7
• will work 5
• work 4
• must be enticed to serve 3
• one who serves 3

Where it is used

Also in 13 more books.

Chapters where it is used most

Joshua 24 (11), Jeremiah 27 (9), Numbers 4 (7), Genesis 29 (6), Exodus 10 (6), Numbers 8 (6), Deuteronomy 28 (6), 2 Kings 10 (5), 2 Kings 17 (5), Numbers 18 (4)

Forms

• לעבד 25
• ויעבדו 20
• עבדו 19
• עבד 19
• ועבדו 17
• ועבדתם 17
• תעבד 13
• ויעבד 11
• יעבד 8
• ויעבדני 7

Words used with it

Words that share verses with avad more often than their overall frequency would suggest:

• אַחֵר acher “another” 35
• שָׁחָה shachah “to bow” 31
• עֲבֹדָה avodah “service” 29
• הֶם hem “them” 39
• אָב av “father” 34
• הָלַךְ halakh “to go” 35
• בַּעַל baal “Baal” 17
• אַחַר achar “after” 27
• כֶם khem “you” 23
• אַתָּה attah “you(m.s.)” 27
• עָזַב azav “to leave” 17
• גּוֹי goy “nation” 20

Key verses

The verses using avad that are most connected by cross-references (King James Version):

• Exodus 10:3 — And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me? let…
• Exodus 20:5 — Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto…
• Deuteronomy 4:19 — And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to…
• Deuteronomy 10:12 — And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy…
• Deuteronomy 13:6 — If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly,…
• Deuteronomy 28:64 — And the LORD shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou…
• Joshua 24:15 — And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side…
• 1 Samuel 7:3 — And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from…
• 1 Kings 16:31 — And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of…
• 1 Chronicles 28:9 — And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and…
• Malachi 3:17 — And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.
• Malachi 3:18 — Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.

See all 261 verses in the Word Atlas

Hebrew and Greek text, tagging, glosses and lexicon definitions: STEPBible.org, Tyndale House Cambridge (TAHOT, TAGNT, TBESH, TBESG; CC BY 4.0), adapted. Counts follow King James verse numbering; a word counts each time it is written.