na.ga.s describes imposing oppressive demands, the agents who do so, and people subjected to such pressure.

The attested uses most often identify an agent who imposes pressure, from Pharaoh’s taskmasters to oppressors whose rule or voice is resisted. Finite forms show demands imposed through loans, labor, or exactions, while Niphal forms portray people as subjected to such pressure.

1. An official or person imposing pressure · dominant

   Active participles regularly identify the person acting against others. In Exodus 5:13 the APB renders the clause “The taskmasters pressed them,” requiring the same daily work; Exodus 3:7 places the plural form with the people’s cry in Egypt, and Job 3:18 says prisoners no longer hear “the voice of the oppressor.” Isaiah 14:4 and Zechariah 9:8 likewise present an oppressor whose activity ceases or who will no longer pass over the protected house.

   Exodus 5:13Exodus 3:7Job 3:18Isaiah 14:4Zechariah 9:8Zechariah 10:4
2. Imposing demands, payment, or labor · occasional

   Qal finite forms portray the act of placing a demand on another. Deuteronomy 15:2 forbids a lender to impose pressure on a neighbor or brother at the remission, while Deuteronomy 15:3 contrasts what may be demanded from a foreigner; in 2 Kings 23:35 the APB describes silver and gold exacted from the people to give Pharaoh-neco. Isaiah 58:3 sets the action alongside oppressing workers on a fast day.

   Deuteronomy 15:2Deuteronomy 15:32 Kings 23:35Isaiah 58:3
3. Being subjected to oppressive pressure · occasional

   Niphal forms describe the affected party rather than the agent. In 1 Samuel 14:24 the APB says that Israel’s men “were oppressed” on the day Saul imposed an oath; Isaiah 3:5 depicts each person being oppressed by another and a neighbor, and Isaiah 53:7 places the afflicted individual’s silence alongside this condition.

   1 Samuel 14:24Isaiah 3:5Isaiah 53:71 Samuel 13:6

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB variously presents the term through “taskmasters pressed them,” “oppressors,” “oppressor,” “oppressed,” and the exaction of payment. Because the APB is a whole-verse translation, these renderings confirm the clauses’ contexts without fixing a separate English equivalent in every occurrence.