The Hebrew word *anah* (H6031) carries significant meaning in relation to the Day of Atonement, often describing self-inflicted inner pain or sorrow, frequently accompanied by fasting. In Isaiah 53:4, when *anah* is used in the niphal stem, it indicates reflexive action, meaning the pain or affliction is self-imposed, as seen in Christ voluntarily submitting Himself to affliction. English translations often add words to clarify this self-imposed nature of the humbling. Examples in Scripture further illustrate this concept. In Psalm 35:13, though *anah* is not in the niphal stem, the verse explains the humbling as self-imposed through fasting, with the psalmist stating, "I humbled myself with fasting." Similarly, in Ezra 8:21, a fast is proclaimed to humble the people before God, seeking His guidance, again showing *anah* as a self-inflicted act of humility through fasting. God devotes an entire festival, the most solemn day of the year, to this exercise of self-affliction to promote humility, emphasizing that pride, the root of division and conflict, must be removed. This humbling process, often painful, is designed to impress upon us the need for unity and reconciliation with Him, underscoring that such unity will not occur until pride is driven out.

The fifth reflection focuses on affliction as depicted in Psalm 119, where the word 'anah (H6031) is used to describe being bowed down, humbled, or subjected to harsh and painful treatment. This term, also associated with afflicting ourselves on the Day of Atonement, highlights a necessary process of learning God's way of life through suffering. The psalmist portrays affliction as a beneficial tool that encourages reflection on personal shortcomings and fosters an aversion to behaviors that miss God's mark. In the context of the pandemic, the wretchedness experienced by many in the church can serve as a literal God-send if connected to specific life aspects falling short of God's glory. This affliction offers an opportunity to develop a firm resolve against sin by associating the pain of suffering with wrong behavior, aiding in the cessation of such actions as a means to live according to God's will.

The Hebrew word *anah* (Strong's H6031) carries the meaning of being afflicted, bowed down, humbled, or made meek. It can also imply oppression, emaciation, or suffering, often expressing harsh and painful treatment beyond mere discomfort. In the context of fasting, as seen in Leviticus 23:27, 29, and 32, God commands the affliction of the soul on the Day of Atonement, repeating this directive three times to emphasize its importance. This affliction is directly linked to fasting, as evidenced in Isaiah 58:3, where fasting and afflicting the soul are used in parallel, indicating that to afflict oneself is to deny sustenance and endure self-inflicted hardship. The term *anah* appears in various scriptural contexts to illustrate harsh treatment or suffering. In Genesis 16, Sarah's harsh dealings with Hagar, described by *anah*, were so severe that Hagar fled to escape the misery. In Psalm 105:18, Joseph's affliction in Egypt, again denoted by *anah*, involved painful fetters that caused suffering and restricted his freedom. Deuteronomy 8 shows God using affliction to humble and test the Israelites in the wilderness, allowing them to suffer to reveal their hearts. In I Kings 11:39, God afflicts the house of David as a consequence of idolatry, demonstrating *anah* as a tool for correction. Psalm 90 reflects on God's affliction as a source of anguish, prompting a cry for relief and a return to better days. Through these examples, *anah* conveys a deliberate infliction of pain or oppression intended to provoke change. God desires this self-affliction during fasting to be a voluntary act of humility, encouraging a shift in perception and behavior. By afflicting their souls, individuals are to deny their carnal nature, submit to God's will, and avoid the greater afflictions, such as famine, that come as divine correction or punishment.

The Hebrew word anah (H6031) means to afflict, humble, and force oneself. On the Day of Atonement it describes the commanded fast of neither eating nor drinking for twenty-four hours, which humbles the individual before God to seek His guidance with minimal human resistance to His instructions and urgings. This physical weakness produces spiritual strength, as illustrated by the parallel statement that when one is weak physically then one is strong spiritually. The same day requires complete cessation from work so that time may be spent in sincere introspection and communion with God, recognizing that atonement is accomplished solely by Him and not by human effort. Fasting therefore places the worshipper in the proper frame of mind, reminding the person of the One who provides all things and must be obeyed, and it cultivates the poor and contrite spirit at which God looks favorably. In this way anah expresses the thorough humility that enables mankind to submit to God and receive the salvation and unity that are entirely His doing.

The Hebrew word anah (H6031) carries the primary sense of forcing into submission, inflicting pain, or placing oneself in a stunted, humble, and lowly position, a meaning akin to being cowed. Scripture employs it to describe both external affliction imposed by others and deliberate self-affliction. In Leviticus 23:26-32 God repeatedly commands that the soul be afflicted on the Day of Atonement, yet never uses the term for fasting; the emphasis rests on the inner attitude rather than the physical act. The same word appears when Sarai dealt harshly with Hagar, when taskmasters oppressed Israel, and when Joseph's feet were hurt with fetters, showing that anah can involve emotional, psychological, or physical pain. God Himself applies anah to humble His people, as in Deuteronomy 8:2-3, where forty years of wilderness discomfort were intended to remove pride and teach dependence on every word from His mouth. Isaiah 64:8-12 portrays the same process through the image of clay being shaped by the potter's hand, pain arising because the material resists. The niphal stem renders the action reflexive, indicating voluntary submission, as when Christ was afflicted in Isaiah 53:4 yet laid down His life of His own accord. David and Ezra likewise used anah to describe self-imposed fasting and humility undertaken for the sake of others or to seek God's guidance. This self-affliction on the Day of Atonement confronts the root problem of pride, which separates man from God and produces self-sufficiency, harsh speech, oppression, and every other sin. By voluntarily embracing discomfort, the worshipper acknowledges weakness, breaks pride's deceit, and opens the way to humility that restores oneness with God and with fellow human beings.

Fasting, particularly on the Day of Atonement, centers on the Hebrew word anah, which means to afflict, humble, oppress, mistreat, or deny. This word forms part of the phrase "afflict your soul" found in Leviticus 23:27-32 and Leviticus 16:29-31, where God commands this affliction three times in six verses regarding the Day of Atonement, making it the hallmark of this solemn Sabbath. The phrase combines anah with nephesh (soul, life force, or inner self), indicating that the affliction is meant to occur not merely in the body but in the mind and heart—the inner self. This concept connects directly to fasting, as demonstrated in Isaiah 58:3, where "fasted" and "afflicted our souls" appear in exact parallel structure, showing one-to-one correspondence between the two terms. While the Hebrew word for fasting (sum) simply means voluntary abstinence from food and water, anah reveals the deeper purpose: denying oneself internally, affecting not just physical organs but intellect, thought, and feeling. Scripturally, afflicting one's soul relates to humbling oneself, and can express piety, grief, repentance, or seeking God's will through prayer. However, this practice became corrupted among the Israelites and later the Pharisees, degenerating into empty ritual performed for religious credit and public acclaim rather than genuine inner transformation. Isaiah 58:1-5 exposes this hypocrisy: the people fasted while finding pleasure in it, exploiting laborers, and using fasting to win arguments rather than truly afflicting their souls. Their fasting never penetrated to genuine humility, grief over sin, or desire for change—they remained the same sinful people afterward. God's true intent for the affliction of soul is revealed in Isaiah 58:6-12, which describes the fast He has chosen: loosing bonds of wickedness, freeing the oppressed, breaking every yoke, sharing bread with the hungry, and caring for the needy. This is not merely activity during the fast but the result flowing from it—beginning with breaking sin's grip internally, then expanding outward to affect family, community, and even future generations. Genuine affliction of soul produces humility, defined as recognizing God's greatness and one's own lowliness, leading to acknowledgment of reality about one's continued sinfulness despite justification through Christ. Jesus reinforced this proper understanding in Matthew 6:16-18, teaching that fasting must be private and inconspicuous, done for God alone rather than for human recognition. In Luke 5:33-39, He explained why His disciples did not fast during His earthly ministry—His physical presence made fasting unnecessary—while indicating that fasting would become essential once He departed, as a means of drawing close to Him in His absence. This represented Jesus renewing the original purpose of afflicting the soul, contrasting sharply with corrupted Jewish tradition, much as new wine requires new wineskins. Ultimately, properly afflicting one's soul through fasting serves as a tool, alongside prayer and Bible study, for spiritual growth beyond justification, connecting to the process described in II Peter 1:5-11 of adding character traits to faith, ensuring one's calling and entrance into God's Kingdom.

The Hebrew term transliterated as anavim, rendered variously as poor, afflicted, or humble, forms the foundation for understanding meekness as presented in Psalm 37:8-11, where the meek are promised that they shall inherit the earth and delight themselves in the abundance of peace. F. E. Marsh's sermon Blessings Which Come to the Meek expands on this promise, showing that the anavim receive five specific blessings throughout the Psalms: satisfaction, as they shall eat and be satisfied (Psalm 22:26); instruction, as God will teach them His way (Psalm 25:9); salvation, as God saves all the anavim of the earth (Psalm 76:9); exaltation, as the Lord lifts up the meek (Psalm 147:6); and beautification, as He beautifies the meek with salvation (Psalm 149:4). This Old Testament concept of anavim connects directly to the New Testament Greek term Prah-oos or Pra-utes found in Matthew 5:5, which carries the sense of being subdued, broken, or obedient, like a wild stallion trained for battle. Both terms converge on the same essential quality: not weakness, but strength submitted to God's control. The godly poor or afflicted are not those lacking in power, but those who have positioned themselves in humble dependence upon God, recognizing their own spiritual poverty and culpability, which in turn produces genuine meekness. This recognition of spiritual poverty, described through the lens of anavim, is portrayed as a prerequisite for meekness itself. Awareness of one's own faults and past sins, especially one's complicity in the suffering of Christ, tames self-will and produces the humility necessary for godly character. This poverty of spirit keeps pride, identified as the greatest enemy of meekness, in check, allowing believers to accept life's trials with contentment rather than resentment. The broader message ties this concept of the afflicted or humble ones to the ultimate reward of inheriting the earth, a promise repeated in both Psalm 37 and Matthew 5:5. Those who embody the qualities of the anavim, cultivating humility, submission to God, and freedom from anger and wrath, stand in contrast to evildoers who will be cut off. The afflicted or meek, by trusting in the Lord rather than fretting over the temporary prosperity of the wicked, ultimately receive satisfaction, divine instruction, salvation, exaltation, and beautification, culminating in peace and permanence in contrast to the fleeting tenure of the ungodly. This Hebrew foundation thus establishes meekness not as passive weakness but as the humble, submitted strength that qualifies believers for future blessing and inheritance.

The Hebrew term 'anah (H6031) appears in Ecclesiastes 1:13, translated as "exercised" in the phrase describing "this burdensome task God has given to the sons of man, by which they may be exercised." Phonetically pronounced aw-naw', this term carries the sense of chastisement, being humbled, afflicted, or depressed. Its appearance at this point in Solomon's lecture is significant because it points toward a key conclusion he draws in the closing verses of Ecclesiastes chapter 1: that God is, to some measure, responsible for the way things are in the world. This understanding connects directly to Genesis 3:17-19, where God curses the ground because of Adam's sin, declaring that man would eat bread through toil and sweat, and that thorns and thistles would come forth from the earth. The cursing of the ground, though difficult, was declared to be "for your sake"—meaning it was ultimately intended for mankind's good, even though the immediate effect was hardship. This ties to Romans 8:20, where Paul personifies creation as being "subject to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope." This subjection could only have been done by God, and Paul indicates that God did not do this willingly—it was as though He had no other recourse, given that His righteous standard had to be met following sin. The connection between 'anah and the Genesis curse suggests that the "exercising" or affliction mankind experiences under the sun is a direct consequence of sin, and that this affliction functions much like a severe spanking of massive proportions—one that affected not only Adam and Eve but all their descendants as well. Sin is never contained to a single individual; its effects spread outward, causing pain and frustration to others, much as leaven spreads through and defiles an entire lump of dough. Thousands of years removed from Adam and Eve's original sin, humanity continues to suffer the effects of that curse, compounded now by the weight of its own accumulated sins. Yet this affliction, this "exercising" imposed by God, ultimately serves a beneficial purpose. Just as a spanking, as taught in Proverbs, is intended to correct and instruct, the vanity and affliction that pervade life under the sun serve as a painful and frustrating reminder of what sin produces—pain, frustration, disappointment, discouragement, and ultimately death. This affliction is not gratuitous cruelty but purposeful discipline, meant to press mankind toward recognizing the emptiness of life apart from God and to motivate a turning toward Him. Thus, the term 'anah functions as a linguistic bridge connecting Solomon's opening observations in Ecclesiastes to the foundational narrative of the Fall in Genesis. It establishes that the vanity Solomon will spend the rest of his lecture describing is not random or purposeless but is directly rooted in God's response to sin—a divinely imposed affliction that, despite its painful nature, is designed to work toward mankind's ultimate good by driving people to seek relationship with God rather than satisfaction in a world under judgment.