Hebrew word · Strong's H4399

מְלָאכָה

mᵉlâʼkâh · mel-aw-kaw' · noun · “work, labor”

In a sentence

Melakah means work or labor — the kind of work God did in creation, and the kind he gives his people to do well as offerings to him.

Melakah covers craftsmanship and labor — the productive work of human hands. God rested from his melakah on the seventh day; Israel was to rest from theirs as well.

The word dignifies work. Worship and labor are not at odds in the Bible: skillful, honest melakah, done before God, is part of how we image him in the world.

Strong's reference

Definition: properly, deputyship, i.e. ministry; generally, employment (never servile) or work (abstractly or concretely); also property (as the result of labor)

KJV usage: business, [phrase] cattle, [phrase] industrious, occupation, ([phrase] -pied), [phrase] officer, thing (made), use, (manner of) work((-man), -manship).

Reference gloss from Strong's Concordance (1890, public domain).

Key verses BSB · Public Domain (CC0)

Genesis 2:2 “And by the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on that day He rested from all His work.” Exodus 20:9 “Six days you shall labor and do all your work,” Proverbs 22:29 “Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will be stationed in the presence of kings; he will not stand before obscure men.”

Original BibleDawn word study. Original-language data and the public-domain Strong's (1890) gloss are referenced; see sources.