Bible Lexicons

אָוֶן m. with suff. אוֹנֵךְ, אוֹנָם Jeremiah 4:14; Psalms 94:23 pl. אוֹנִים Proverbs 11:7 from the root אוּן which see.

(1) emptiness, vanity, also something empty and vain, Isaiah 41:29; Zechariah 10:2 specially used of the vanity of idols, and of all things pertaining to idolatry (comp. הֶבֶל), 1 Samuel 15:23, and even of the idols themselves, Isaiah 66:3. Hence in Hosea, the city בֵּית־אֵל “house of God,” as being devoted to idols, is called in contempt בֵּית־אָוֶן “house of idols,” Hosea 4:15, 10:5. To this should also be referred

(a) בִּקְעַת אָוֶן “the valley of the idol,” Amos 1:5 i.e. some valley near the city of Damascus.

(b) אָוֶן for אוֹן Heliopolis, Ezekiel 30:17, with the notion of city of idolatry. Specially it is

(2) vanity of words, falsehood, fraud (Falfchheit), Psalms 36:4; Proverbs 17:4.

(3) wickedness, Nichtswürdigkeit, iniquity, Numbers 23:21; Job 36:21; Isaiah 1:13 אַנְשֵׁי־אָוֶן, מְתֵי־אָוֶן “wicked men,” Job 22:15, 34:36 פֹּעֲלֵי אָוֶן “workers of iniquity,” Job 31:3, 34:8, 22 Job 34:22. In pl. אוֹנִים Proverbs 11:7, probably for אַנְשֵׁי אָוֶן according to LXX., Syr., Arab., Chald.

(4) misfortune, adverse circumstances, calamity, Unheil; Psalms 55:4, “they cast calamity upon me.” Proverbs 22:8, “he who sows iniquity, shall reap calamities.” Psalms 90:10; Job 15:35; Habakkuk 3:7. Specially, sorrow, Genesis 35:18, בֶּן־אוֹנִי “son of my sorrow,” mein Schmerzensfohn; לֶחֶם אוֹנִים “bread of sorrow,” i.e. the food of mourners, which was unclean, Hosea 9:4 comp. Deuteronomy 26:14. Care must be taken by learners not to confound אָוֶן with suffixes with אוֹן with which it corresponds in form.

I. אוֹן m. (from the root אוּן No. 3, 4), faculty, ability, hence

(1)  strength, power, Job 18:7, 12 Job 18:12, 40:16 Hosea 12:9 specially of virile and genital power, רֵאשִׁית הָאוֹן “first fruits of strength,” firstborn, Genesis 49:3; Deuteronomy 21:17; Psalms 105:36 pl. אוֹנִים Isaiah 40:26, 29 Isaiah 40:29; Psalms 78:51.

(2) substance, wealth (Bermögen), Hosea 12:9; Job 20:10.

(3) [On], pr.n. m. Numbers 16:1.

II. אוֹן [On], Genesis 41:50, and אֹן Genesis 41:45, 46:20 a domestic pr.n. of an ancient city of Egypt, Ezekiel 30:17, written אָוֶן (see that word, No. 1. b); called also by the Hebrews from a translation of the name בֵּית שֶׁמֶשׁ Jeremiah 43:13 by the Greeks, Heliopolis; by the Arabs, عين شمس i.e. fountain of the sun. In the Coptic books it is constantly called ⲱⲛ, and it can hardly be doubted that in the ancient language this signified light, especially the sun. In the more modern Egyptian, some rightly compare ⲟⲩⲉⲓⲛ, ⲟⲉⲓⲛ, ⲟⲩⲱⲓⲛⲓ, light; [“see Peyron, Lex. p. 273”]. This city stood on the eastern shore of the Nile, a few miles to the north of Memphis, and was celebrated for the worship and the temple of the sun (Diod.i.85; Herod.ii.59), and for the obelisks, which in part are even now in existence. Traces of the ancient city, are now called عين شمس [“’Ain Shems”], and the modern adjacent village, Matarie; comp. Description de l’Egypte, Antiquités, vol. v. pl. 26, 27.