Word

נָגַן

nâgan · H5059 · Hebrew · 15 occurrences

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Meanings

to play

Action by which humans play an instrument with strings, such as a lute or lyre, which can be for silent meditation or to accompany singing and dancing

Examples
1 Samuel 16:16 “May our lord now command your servants who are before you. Have them search for a man who is a skillful musician on the harp; and it shall come about whenever the evil spirit from God is upon you, that he shall play the harp with his hand, and you will become well.”
1 Samuel 16:17 So Saul said to his servants, “Now select for me a man who can play well, and bring him to me.”
1 Samuel 16:18 Then one of the young men responded and said, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is a skillful musician, a valiant mighty man, a warrior, skillful in speech, and a handsome man; and the LORD is with him.”
musician

Person playing an instrument with strings, such as a lute or lyre

Examples
2 Kings 3:15 “But now bring me a musician.” And it came about, when the musician played, that the hand of the LORD came upon him.
Psalm 68:25 The singers went on, the musicians after them, In the midst of the young women beating tambourines.

How it’s used In 6 roles

Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.

the word studied the word it goes with

Who or what does itSubject

9 occurrences in 6 groups

דָּוִדDavid 2
Not stated: he, she or it 2
Not stated (infinitive) 2
נָגַןto play 1
Not stated: we 1
Not stated (participle) 1

With prepositionsPrepositional phrases

7 occurrences in 5 groups

בin/on/with+ יָדhand, power 4
עַלon, upon, over, against+ בַּיִתhouse, household 1
בin/on/with+ כִּנּוֹרsmall lyre 1
בin/on/with+ תְּרוּעָהshout 1
כlike/as+ יוֹםday, time 1

What it doesIt is the subject

1 occurrences in 1 groups

נָגַןto play 1

What is done to itIt is the object

6 occurrences in 3 groups

יָטַבto be good, to do good, to go well 3
יָדַעto know 2
לָקַחto take, to receive 1

What it is said to bePredicate

1 occurrences in 1 groups

אַחַרafter, behind 1

After prepositionsPrepositional phrases

2 occurrences in 2 groups

כlike/as 1
לto/for 1

When two words share a role, as in “Paul and Barnabas said”, the verse appears under each, so a section’s counts can add up to more than the number of occurrences.

MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.

Semantic domains 2 entries

Play002003001013: נָגַן denotes playing a stringed instrument, used repeatedly of David playing the harp to soothe Saul's troubled spirit (1 Samuel 16:16-23, 18:10), tying the word to the skilled performance of instrumental music.
People001001003: The word also functions substantively for a musician or player, as in the description of David sought out as "a man who can play well" (1 Samuel 16:17), associating the term with the person who performs rather than only the act of playing.

Word family 3 words

Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.

נָגַןnâgan · H5059נְגִינָה nᵉgîynâh · H5058 · stringed instrument, music · 14×מַנְגִּינָה mangîynâh · H4485 · mocking song · 1×

Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H5059. nagan [נָגַּן] verb touch (strings), play a stringed instrument (Late Hebrew…

H5059. nagan
[נָגַּן] verb touch (strings), play a stringed instrument (Late Hebrew Pi`el; Aramaic נְגַן Pa`el); —
Qal Participle נֹגְנִים Psa 68:26 players (|| תּוֺפֵפוֺת עֲלָמוֺת שָׁרִים,).
Pi`el Perfect וְנִגֵּן 1Sa 16:16 (consecutive), 1Sa 16:23; Imperfect1plural נְנַגֵּן Isa 38:20; Infinitive construct נַגֵּן 1Sa 16:17 1Sa 16:5t.; Participle מְנַגֵּן 1Sa 16:16 1Sa 16:4t.; — play בַּכִנּוֺר 1Sa 16:16; בְּיָדוֺ 1Sa 16:16; 1Sa 16:23 (כִּנּוֺר in context), 1Sa 18:10; 1Sa 19:9; with accusative of cognate meaning Isa 38:20; in simile נַגֵּן מֵטִב Eze 33:32 (|| יְפֵהקֿוֺל עֲגָבִים שִׁיר); לְנ ׳מֵיטִיב אִישׁ 1Sa 16:17, compare Psa 33:3; Isa 23:16 (both || שִׁיר), נ ׳יָדַע 1Sa 16:18; also 2Ki 3:15; Participle = player, minstrel (compare Qal) 2Ki 3:15 (twice in verse); compare also בַכִנּוֺר מְנַגֵּן יֹדֵעַ אִישׁ 1Sa 16:16 (Ges§ 120b).

Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain

Topical studies with this word 2 entries

People3 occurrences Play12 occurrences

Meanings adapted from the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament, © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0 and the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew (from the Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew), © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0; MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.

Sources

eRhema lexical overview, based on the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew and the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (© United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Macula Hebrew and Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0); released under CC BY-SA 4.0