עָשָׂה

𐤏𐤔𐤄

ʻâsâh

H6213 verb

SILEX Entry

Definition

To do, make, perform, act, or carry out an action or activity. The word often refers broadly to producing or effecting something, whether in creation, manufacture, preparation, management, accomplishing a result, or complying with commands or obligations. The semantic range covers actions as diverse as creating the world, making objects, preparing offerings, performing rites, carrying out law or justice, and acting with regard to persons or policies.

Semantic Range

to do, to make, to effect, to accomplish, to perform (an action, task, or obligation), to create (material or non-material things), to prepare (especially food or offerings), to act (judicially or politically), to carry out, to work, to manufacture, to celebrate (a feast), to observe (commands or laws), to comply, to execute, to behave

Root / Etymology

From the root עשה, which has the core idea of doing or making. As a verb, עָשָׂה is a basic active root in Hebrew, suggesting the idea of purposeful action, production, or accomplishment. The meaning of the verb itself is broader and more general than its root, as it can be used for a wide variety of activities, both concrete and abstract, physical and conceptual.

Historical & Contextual Notes

עָשָׂה is one of the most common verbs in Biblical Hebrew, functioning as a general-purpose verb for a wide range of actions, especially where the specific nature of the action is determined by context. It is similar in function to 'to do' or 'to make' in English, though its usage can overlap with more specific Hebrew verbs such as פָּעַל (to work, especially labor), בָּרָא (to create, used specifically in divine acts of creation), יָצַר (to form, especially shaping or molding), and עָבַד (to work, serve, till). In narrative and legal texts, עָשָׂה appears in formulas (e.g., “and he did according to …”) and covers actions from daily tasks to significant cultic or political activities. In ritual or covenant contexts, it can mean 'to perform' rites or 'to comply' with stipulations. In poetic and wisdom texts, the word often appears as a parallel to other verbs of action or execution. The broad, context-dependent use sometimes makes it difficult for translations to capture the nuance of a given instance. In later Hebrew, the verb continues to serve as the general verb for doing or making, but specific senses became the domain of more specialized verbs. The Greek Septuagint often translates with ποιέω but uses more specific Greek verbs where context clarifies the precise sense.

Translation Consistency

primary "do" 32 occurrences

‘Do’ is the most frequent and versatile rendering for עָשָׂה in the SILEX range: it naturally covers acting, performing, carrying out, making, and accomplishing—so it best supports a single consistent base verb across all forms (do/did/done/doing) while remaining natural English. Alternate senses (e.g. ‘make’ for creation) are common but secondary and can be handled by context or idiomatic phrasing.

Alternatives (18 occurrences):
"made" (9x) "make" (4x) "doer" (2x) "bearing" (1x) "us make" (1x) "prepared" (1x)

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

a primitive root; to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest application; accomplish, advance, appoint, apt, be at, become, bear, bestow, bring forth, bruise, be busy, [idiom] certainly, have the charge of, commit, deal (with), deck, [phrase] displease, do, (ready) dress(-ed), (put in) execute(-ion), exercise, fashion, [phrase] feast, (fight-) ing man, [phrase] finish, fit, fly, follow, fulfill, furnish, gather, get, go about, govern, grant, great, [phrase] hinder, hold (a feast), [idiom] indeed, [phrase] be industrious, [phrase] journey, keep, labour, maintain, make, be meet, observe, be occupied, offer, [phrase] officer, pare, bring (come) to pass, perform, pracise, prepare, procure, provide, put, requite, [idiom] sacrifice, serve, set, shew, [idiom] sin, spend, [idiom] surely, take, [idiom] thoroughly, trim, [idiom] very, [phrase] vex, be (warr-) ior, work(-man), yield, use.

Bantu Hebrew

No Bantu Hebrew comparisons have been recorded for this word yet.

Root Family

עשה (Yaasu) — to do, to make, to act

Root עשה to do, make, accomplish, perform
Strong's Lemma SIBI-P1
H3299 יַעֲשׂוּ They-will-act
H3300 יַעֲשִׂיאֵל And God-has-made
H4639 מַעֲשֶׂה in your deeds
H4640 מַעֲשַׂי and Yah-has-performed
H4641 מַעֲשֵׂיָה Yahweh has accomplished

Word Forms

178 distinct forms

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2 Occurrences
H6213-01 עָשָׂ֔ה asah HVqp3ms he did he did he did 359
H6213-131 וַ/יַּ֣עַשׂ vayaas HC/Vqw3ms And he made and he did and he did 236
H6213-62 לַ/עֲשׂ֣וֹת laasot HR/Vqc to do to do or make to do 220
H6213-31 עָשׂ֤וּ asu HVqp3cp they did they did they did 158
H6213-101 תַּֽעֲשֶׂ֔ה taaseh HVqi2ms you shall make you shall do you shall do 130
H6213-170 יַּעֲשֶׂ֣ה yaaseh HVqi3ms does he will do he will do 122
H6213-84 עֹשֶׂ֛ה oseh HVqrmsa who does doer doer 117
H6213-143 וְ/עָשִׂ֥יתָ veasita HC/Vqq2ms And you shall make and you shall do and you shall do 91
H6213-20 עָשִׂ֖יתִי asiti HVqp1cs I have done I did I did 79
H6213-135 וַ/יַּעֲשׂ֥וּ vayaasu HC/Vqw3mp and they did and they did and they did 79

Occurrences in Scripture

2640 occurrences

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2
H6213-131 Genesis 1:7 וַ/יַּ֣עַשׂ vayaas HC/Vqw3ms and he made and he did and he did
H6213-84 Genesis 1:11 עֹ֤שֶׂה oseh HVqrmsa producing doer doer
H6213-84 Genesis 1:12 עֹֽשֶׂה oseh HVqrmsa bearing doer bearing
H6213-131 Genesis 1:16 וַ/יַּ֣עַשׂ vayaas HC/Vqw3ms and made and he did and he did
H6213-131 Genesis 1:25 וַ/יַּ֣עַשׂ vayaas HC/Vqw3ms And made and he did and it made
H6213-76 Genesis 1:26 נַֽעֲשֶׂ֥ה naaseh HVqi1cp let us make we will do we will do
H6213-01 Genesis 1:31 עָשָׂ֔ה asah HVqp3ms he had made he did he did
H6213-01 Genesis 2:2 עָשָׂ֑ה asah HVqp3ms he had made he did he made
H6213-01 Genesis 2:2 עָשָֽׂה asah-2 HVqp3ms he had made he did he made
H6213-62 Genesis 2:3 לַ/עֲשֽׂוֹת laasot HR/Vqc and made to do or make to do
H6213-27 Genesis 2:4 עֲשׂ֛וֹת asot HVqc that to do to do
H6213-46 Genesis 2:18 אֶֽעֱשֶׂהּ eeseh HVqi1cs I will make I will do I will do
H6213-01 Genesis 3:1 עָשָׂ֖ה asah HVqp3ms had made he did he did
H6213-135 Genesis 3:7 וַ/יַּעֲשׂ֥וּ vayaasu HC/Vqw3mp and made and they did and they did
H6213-13 Genesis 3:13 עָשִׂ֑ית asit HVqp2fs you have done you did you did
H6213-14 Genesis 3:14 עָשִׂ֣יתָ asita HVqp2ms you have done you have done you have done
H6213-131 Genesis 3:21 וַ/יַּעַשׂ֩ vayaas HC/Vqw3ms and made and he did and he did
H6213-14 Genesis 4:10 עָשִׂ֑יתָ asita HVqp2ms have you done you have done you have done
H6213-01 Genesis 5:1 עָשָׂ֥ה asah HVqp3ms He made he did he did
H6213-01 Genesis 6:6 עָשָׂ֥ה asah HVqp3ms He had made he did he made
H6213-21 Genesis 6:7 עֲשִׂיתִֽ/ם asitim HVqp1cs/Sp3mp I have made them I have made them I have made them
H6213-08 Genesis 6:14 עֲשֵׂ֤ה aseh HVqv2ms make Do! Make
H6213-101 Genesis 6:14 תַּֽעֲשֶׂ֣ה taaseh HVqi2ms you shall make you shall do you shall do
H6213-101 Genesis 6:15 תַּֽעֲשֶׂ֖ה taaseh HVqi2ms you shall make you shall do you shall do
H6213-101 Genesis 6:16 תַּֽעֲשֶׂ֣ה taaseh HVqi2ms you shall make you shall do you shall do
H6213-102 Genesis 6:16 תַּֽעֲשֶֽׂ/הָ taaseha HVqi2ms/Sp3fs you shall make you will make it you shall make it
H6213-131 Genesis 6:22 וַ/יַּ֖עַשׂ vayaas HC/Vqw3ms And he did and he did and he did
H6213-01 Genesis 6:22 עָשָֽׂה asah HVqp3ms he did he did he did
H6213-20 Genesis 7:4 עָשִׂ֔יתִי asiti HVqp1cs I have made I did I did
H6213-131 Genesis 7:5 וַ/יַּ֖עַשׂ vayaas HC/Vqw3ms And Noah did and he did and he did
H6213-01 Genesis 8:6 עָשָֽׂה asah HVqp3ms he had made he did he did
H6213-20 Genesis 8:21 עָשִֽׂיתִי asiti HVqp1cs I have done I did I did
H6213-01 Genesis 9:6 עָשָׂ֖ה asah HVqp3ms He made he did he made
H6213-01 Genesis 9:24 עָ֥שָׂה asah HVqp3ms had done he did he did
H6213-152 Genesis 11:4 וְ/נַֽעֲשֶׂה venaaseh HC/Vqh1cp and let us make and let us do and let us make
H6213-62 Genesis 11:6 לַ/עֲשׂ֑וֹת laasot HR/Vqc to do to do or make to do
H6213-62 Genesis 11:6 לַֽ/עֲשֽׂוֹת laasot-2 HR/Vqc to do to do or make to do
H6213-149 Genesis 12:2 וְ/אֶֽעֶשְׂ/ךָ֙ veeesekha HC/Vqi1cs/Sp2ms and I will make you and I will make you and I will make you
H6213-31 Genesis 12:5 עָשׂ֣וּ asu HVqp3cp they had acquired they did they made
H6213-14 Genesis 12:18 עָשִׂ֣יתָ asita HVqp2ms have you done you have done you have done
H6213-01 Genesis 13:4 עָ֥שָׂה asah HVqp3ms he had made he did he made
H6213-31 Genesis 14:2 עָשׂ֣וּ asu HVqp3cp made war they did they made
H6213-11 Genesis 16:6 עֲשִׂי asi HVqv2fs do Do! Do!
H6213-101 Genesis 18:5 תַּעֲשֶׂ֖ה taaseh HVqi2ms you shall do you shall do you shall do
H6213-115 Genesis 18:6 וַ/עֲשִׂ֥י vaasi HC/Vqv2fs and make and do! and make
H6213-62 Genesis 18:7 לַ/עֲשׂ֥וֹת laasot HR/Vqc to prepare to do or make to do
H6213-01 Genesis 18:8 עָשָׂ֔ה asah HVqp3ms he had prepared he did he had prepared
H6213-84 Genesis 18:17 עֹשֶֽׂה oseh HVqrmsa am doing doer doer
H6213-62 Genesis 18:19 לַ/עֲשׂ֥וֹת laasot HR/Vqc to do to do or make to do
H6213-31 Genesis 18:21 עָשׂ֣וּ asu HVqp3cp they have done they did they did