עָגַן
𐤏𐤂𐤍
ʻâgan
H5702 verb
SILEX Entry
Definition
To restrain, keep back, or withhold—especially in the sense of preventing or holding someone back from marriage or participation. Used to describe the state of being kept, held back, or delayed, particularly affecting women who are prevented from marrying, often due to wartime absence of husbands or other restraining circumstances. Broadly, to detain, hinder, or keep in a state of waiting or restriction.
Semantic Range
to restrain, withhold, keep back from marriage, detain, delay marriage, keep in a state of waiting or restriction
Root / Etymology
Root: עגן. The core root meaning is 'to restrain, keep back, detain.' The verb form עָגַן developed the specific nuance of being held back from marriage or normal family formation, typically through imposed waiting or lack of release.
Historical & Contextual Notes
עָגַן appears extremely rarely in the Hebrew Bible, found in the Niphal and Pual forms (cf. Isaiah 54:6, 1 Samuel 21:7 in textual traditions) to describe a woman who is 'forsaken' or 'left,' especially in contexts where her marital prospects are blocked by external circumstances. In biblical usage, this often relates to women left in limbo due to absent husbands, sometimes in conflict or exile situations. The concept is distinct from related roots such as שׁאה (to be desolate) or עזב (to abandon), as עָגַן emphasizes an imposed state of waiting or being withheld rather than active abandonment or devastation. In later Hebrew (Rabbinic literature), the derived noun עַגּוּנָה ('agunah') specifically refers to a woman unable to remarry due to lack of formal divorce or proof of husband's death, a sense already latent in the biblical verb. Standard English translations often render it too narrowly as 'to refuse' or 'to prevent from marrying,' but the semantic range includes broader senses of restriction and enforced waiting.
Original Strong's Gloss (1890)
a primitive root; to debar, i.e. from marriage; stay.
Bantu Hebrew
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עגן (ʿ-g-n) — restrain, hold back, detain
Word Forms
1 distinct form
| SIDANCE | Surface | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | Occurrences |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H5702-01 |
תֵּֽעָגֵ֔נָה | teagenah | HVNi2fp |
refrain | you will be restrained | 1 |
Occurrences in Scripture
1 total occurrence
| SIDANCE | Reference | Word | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H5702-01 |
Ruth 1:13 | תֵּֽעָגֵ֔נָה | teagenah | HVNi2fp |
refrain | you will be restrained |