body
tired
עיף · יעף · יגע
Bottom line
Ayef is tired, the common word and the one Modern Hebrew kept. Yaef is the same three letters in a different order and reads exhausted, one with nothing left; that is the whole point of ha'nosen la'yaef koach in the morning berachos. Yagea is worn out from toil, weariness traced to exertion rather than to a man's own capacity. The trap is that English "tired" will swallow all three; where a passage turns on the degree, hold ayef and yaef apart.
At a glance
| Hebrew | translit | English | what sets it apart |
|---|---|---|---|
| עיף | ayef | tired, weary | still has some strength in reserve (Schwab); tired from repeated, continuous action (Rabbi Yosef of Saragossa); also "thirsty" by extension (Radak) |
| יעף | yaef | exhausted, spent | energy entirely used up (Schwab); for the Rid, merely ayef with the letters transposed |
| יגע | yagea | worn out from toil | fatigue produced by exertion, not by constitution (Malbim); from working too fast (Rabbi Yosef of Saragossa) |
Where the authorities disagree
Whether ayef and yaef differ at all. The Rid (Rabbi Yishaya of Trani) says they do not: the two are one word by metathesis, the ayin and yud trading places, exactly as kesev and keves are one word for a lamb. Rabbi Shimon Schwab says they differ in degree, and reads the morning berachah accordingly: the pasuk in Yeshayahu could have said ayef, and its choice of yaef teaches that Hashem strengthens not only the tired but the utterly spent.
Which of the two is the heavier word. Schwab: yaef, since ayef still retains some energy. Rabbi Shlomo Aharon Wertheimer: ayef itself already means fatigue to the point of fainting, which is how it comes to mean thirsty as well, since dehydration is what makes a tired man faint (Radak, Sefer HaShorashim, on the thirst sense at Iyov 22:7 and Tehillim 63:2). These two cannot both stand. The Bottom line follows Schwab, whose reading accounts for the word choice in Yeshayahu 40:29 and in the berachah; Wertheimer's fainting sense is right wherever ayef stands alone, without yaef beside it.
What sets yagea apart from ayef. Rabbi Yosef of Saragossa (a talmid of the Ran): both mean tired, but from different causes, ayef from persistence in an action and yagea from its speed, the man having overexerted himself. Malbim: ayef is the ordinary tiredness of one whose energy runs low by nature, yagea the tiredness that follows exertion. The two accounts agree that yagea points at what the man did and ayef at the man; they differ on whether the trigger is speed or effort as such.
Distinctions
ayef (עיף)
The commoner of the pair in Tanach and the surviving word in Modern Hebrew. Radak (Sefer HaShorashim) records its borrowed sense of thirsty, as at Iyov 22:7 and Tehillim 63:2. Wertheimer builds on that: the word denotes fatigue severe enough to bring a man to faint, and thirst is the usual cause. Schwab and Malbim both treat it as the lighter word of the set.
yaef (יעף)
Yeshayahu 40:29, in the haftarah of Lech Lecha: "He gives strength to the weary (yaef), and to those without vigor, abundant might." The phrase is paraphrased in the morning berachah ha'nosen la'yaef koach, and authors commonly print it at the close of a sefer to say that the stamina to finish came from Above. The Rid treats the form as ayef transposed; Schwab treats the transposition as meaningful.
yagea (יגע)
Three occurrences only: Devarim 25:18, of Amalek falling on those who lagged behind, ayef veyagea; Shmuel II 17:2; and Koheles 1:8. It belongs with the verb yaga, to toil, so the weariness in it is earned weariness.
Rendering guidance
- Yeshayahu 40:29 and the berachah: "He gives strength to the exhausted." "Tired" there flattens exactly the word Schwab says was chosen on purpose.
- Devarim 25:18 puts ayef and yagea side by side. Render them separately: "weary and worn out", or "faint and exhausted from toil". One English word covering both is the standard failure here.
- Keep thirsty available for a standalone ayef where the context is water (Iyov 22:7, Tehillim 63:2), and note the fatigue sense rather than losing it.
- Yagea as an adjective is worn out; the related noun yegiah is toil, and should not be translated as tiredness.
Sources
Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, "Energizing the Tired and Exhausted," What's in a Word?, Ohr Somayach, 8 Cheshvan 5778 (2017-10-28): raw text in sources/whats-in-a-word/raw/6774-energizing-the-tired-and-exhausted.md. Primary loci cited: Yeshayahu 40:29; Devarim 25:18; Shmuel II 17:2; Koheles 1:8; Iyov 22:7; Tehillim 63:2; Radak, Sefer HaShorashim s.v. עיף; the Rid on the kesev/keves metathesis; Malbim; Rabbi Yosef of Saragossa; Rabbi Shlomo Aharon Wertheimer; Rabbi Shimon Schwab on ha'nosen la'yaef koach.