אבה

Aramaic

Verb

אָבָה, אָבֵי • (transliteration needed)

1. to be willing

References

• Jastrow, Marcus (1903) A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature, London, New York: Luzac & Co., G.P. Putnam's Sons

Hebrew

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Semitic *ʔabay-. Compare Akkadian 𒁍𒀪𒄿𒌈 (bu-ʾ-i-tum /⁠buʾītu⁠/, “a thing wished, willed, desired”), Arabic أَبَى (ʔabā, “he rejected, refused, was unwilling, unwilling to do otherwise; originally to hold back, to desire to stay or wish to remain”) and the root ء ب ب (ʔ b b, “to prepare to go out for”) in the phrase أَبَّ إِلَى (ʔabba ʔilā, “to long after, to want to go forth to, to yearn or have a desire to go to something”), Egyptian ꜣbj (“to desire, to want, to be happy”) and ꜣb (“to take a break, to tarry or stay awhile, to refuse to go”).

Pronunciation

• (Modern Israeli Hebrew) IPA^(key): /(ʔ)aˈva/
• (Biblical Hebrew, Tiberian Hebrew) IPA^(key): /ʔɔˈvɔː/

• Audio

  (file)

Verb

אָבָה • (ava) third-singular masculine past (pa'al construction)

1. to be willing
   • Exodus 10:27

     וַיְחַזֵּק יְהוָה אֶת־לֵב פַּרְעֹה וְלֹא אָבָה לְשַׁלְּחָֽם׃

     vaykhazek hashem et lev par'o v'lo ava l'shal'kham.

     But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he was not willing to let them go.

Conjugation

Derived terms

• אֲבוֹי (avoy)

References

Anagrams

• אהב, באה, הבא