ava · crave, desire

What it means

ava (אָוָה) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “crave, desire”.

Desire strongly, crave something.

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. To long for something, sometimes a craving.

From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)

How it is translated

The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.

• desires ×5
• craves ×4
• desired ×4
• desire ×3
• longed ×3
• crave ×2
• felt ×2
• they had ×1
• those who long for ×1

Related words

Words of the same family, by Strong’s numbering.

Where it appears

• Numbers×2
• Deuteronomy×3
• 2 Samuel×2
• 1 Kings×1
• 1 Chronicles×1
• Job×1
• Psalms×4
• Proverbs×6
• Ecclesiastes×1
• Isaiah×1
• Jeremiah×1
• Amos×1
• Micah×1

• Numbers 11:4

  And the crowd that was among them felt a great desire, and the sons of Israel also wept again and said, “Who will give us to eat meat?

• Numbers 11:34

  And the name of that place was called Kibroth-hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had felt the desire.

• Deuteronomy 5:21

  Nor shall you covet your neighbor’s wife; nor shall you desire your neighbor’s house, his field, or his male slave, or his female slave, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

• Deuteronomy 12:20

  When YHWH your Elohim enlarges your territory as he has spoken to you, and you say, “I will eat meat,” because your soul craves to eat meat, you may eat meat with all the desire of your soul.

• Deuteronomy 14:26

  And you shall spend the silver on all that your soul desires: on oxen or on sheep, on wine or on intoxicating drink, or on anything that your soul asks of you; and you shall eat there before YHWH your Elohim and rejoice, you and your household.

• 2 Samuel 3:21

  Abner said to David, “Let me arise and go and gather to my lord the king all Israel, that they may make a covenant with you, and you will reign over all that your soul desires.” So David sent Abner away, and he went in peace.

• 2 Samuel 23:15

  David longed and said, “Who will give me a drink of water from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate?”

• 1 Kings 11:37

  And you I will take, and you shall reign over all that your soul desires, and you shall be king over Israel.

• 1 Chronicles 11:17

  David longed and said, “Who will give me a drink of water from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate?”

• Job 23:13

  But he is one, and who can turn him back? What his soul desires, that he does.

• Psalms 45:11

  and the king will desire your beauty; for he is your lord; bow down to him.

• Psalms 106:14

  And they had a great craving in the wilderness, and put El to the test in the desert.

• Psalms 132:13

  For YHWH has chosen Zion; he has desired it as a place to dwell for himself:

• Psalms 132:14

  “This is my rest forever; here I will dwell, for I have desired it.

• Proverbs 13:4

  The soul of the sluggard craves, and there is nothing; but the soul of the diligent will be filled to the full.

• Proverbs 21:10

  The soul of the wicked craves evil; his neighbor finds no favor in his eyes.

• Proverbs 21:26

  All day long he craves with craving, but the righteous gives and does not hold back.

• Proverbs 23:3

  Do not crave his delicacies, for they are bread of lies.

• Proverbs 23:6

  Do not eat the bread of the evil of eye, and do not crave his delicacies;

• Proverbs 24:1

  Do not envy evil men, and do not desire to be with them;

• Ecclesiastes 6:2

  a man to whom Elohim gives riches and possessions and honor, and he is not lacking for his soul anything of all that he desires; but Elohim does not give him power to eat from it, for a foreigner eats it. This is vapor and a bad sickness.

• Isaiah 26:9

  With my soul I have longed for you in the night; yes, with my spirit within me I seek you early, for when your judgments are on the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.

• Jeremiah 17:16

  But I have not hurried from being a shepherd after you, and the day beyond remedy I have not desired; you know it; what comes out of my lips has been before your face.

• Amos 5:18

  Woe to those who long for the day of YHWH! What will this day of YHWH be for you? It is darkness, and not light.

• Micah 7:1

  Woe is me! For I have become like the gatherings of summer fruit, like the gleanings of the grape harvest; there is no cluster to eat, no early fig that my soul desired.