Etsev (H6089) means pain, toil, or sorrow — the hardship that comes from labor under the curse. It first appears in Genesis 3:16–17 as the consequence of the fall: painful toil in work and childbirth. It marks the gap between what God designed and what sin produced.
The Jabez prayer (1 Chronicles 4:9–10) revolves around this word: Jabez was named for etsev (sorrow/pain) and cried out to be free from it. God answered. The gospel is the reversal of etsev: Christ bore our sorrows (Isaiah 53:4), and the New Creation promises no more pain (Revelation 21:4). The trajectory of Scripture moves from painful toil in Eden to painless paradise restored.