a.vo.dah denotes assigned work, especially ordered duties for the house of the LORD, and also burdensome labor or an appointed observance.

The term most often denotes organized, assigned duties connected with the house of the LORD: priestly and Levitical divisions, music, guarding, vessels, offerings, and the work required to maintain them. It also names work under a king or in the land, harsh imposed labor, and the prescribed observance kept in a particular month.

1. Ordered duties for the house of the LORD · dominant

   In its construct forms, the noun is repeatedly linked to the house, tent, or sanctuary and to the work performed there. In 1 Chronicles 23:28 the APB renders duties in the courts, chambers, purification of holy things, and “the work of the service of the house of God”; in 2 Chronicles 35:16 it renders the ordered Passover and altar activity as “all the service of the LORD.”

   1 Chronicles 23:281 Chronicles 25:61 Chronicles 28:132 Chronicles 31:22 Chronicles 35:16Exodus 36:1
2. Work or duty assigned in public and practical tasks · occasional

   The noun can refer to assigned work beyond the house of the LORD. In 1 Chronicles 26:30 the APB places it alongside oversight of Israel and “the service of the king,” while 1 Chronicles 27:26 describes work of the land in connection with the land.

   1 Chronicles 26:301 Chronicles 27:262 Chronicles 34:131 Chronicles 26:8
3. Harsh imposed labor or subjection · occasional

   In Exodus 1:14, absolute and construct occurrences appear in a clause about lives made bitter through work in clay, bricks, and the field; the APB renders this as “hard service” carried out “with severity.” In 1 Kings 12:4, the construct form is associated with a harsh yoke that the people ask to have lightened.

   Exodus 1:14Exodus 2:23Deuteronomy 26:61 Kings 12:42 Chronicles 12:8
4. Prescribed commemorative observance · rare

   In Exodus 12:25 and Exodus 12:26, the absolute noun identifies an observance that is to be kept and about which children ask, “What does this service mean to you?” Exodus 13:5 likewise places it in the command to perform the observance in a specified month.

   Exodus 12:25Exodus 12:26Exodus 13:5

In the Anselm Project Bible: Across these verses, the APB commonly uses “service,” often alongside “work,” and in burden contexts uses “hard service” or “labor.” These English expressions indicate the surrounding clause’s presentation rather than a fixed one-for-one rendering.