נָתַק
nâthaq · H5423 · Hebrew · 27 occurrences
Meanings
-
to pull off, to tear off, to wrench off, to tear out, to remove, to drag away
Causative action by which an object is removed from its place with some force
ExamplesLeviticus 22:24 ‘Also anything with its testicles squashed, crushed, torn off, or cut off, you shall not offer to the LORD, nor sacrifice in your land,
Joshua 4:18 It came about when the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD had come up from the middle of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet were lifted up to the dry ground, that the waters of the Jordan returned to their place, and went over all its banks as before.
Job 18:14 “He is torn from the security of his tent, And they march him before the king of terrors.
-
to tear, to break, to snap
Causative action by which humans exert force on an object with the purpose of tearing it or breaking it in two
ExamplesJudges 16:9 Now she had men prepared for an ambush in an inner room. And she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he tore the tendons to pieces just like a thread of flax is torn apart when it comes too close to fire. So his strength was not discovered.
Judges 16:12 So Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” For the men in the ambush were waiting in the inner room. But he tore the ropes from his arms like thread.
Job 17:11 “My days are past, my plans are torn apart, The wishes of my heart.
-
to draw away
Causative action by which humans cause other humans to move away from a certain place
ExamplesJoshua 8:6 “They will come out after us until we have lured them away from the city, for they will say, ‘They are fleeing before us just as they did the first time.’ So we will flee before them.
Joshua 8:16 And all the people who were in the city were called together to pursue them, and they pursued Joshua and were lured away from the city.
Judges 20:31 When the sons of Benjamin went out against the people, they were lured away from the city, and they began to strike and kill some of the people as at other times, on the roads (one of which goes up to Bethel, and the other to Gibeah), and in the field, about thirty men of Israel.
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
26 occurrences in 16 groups
- Not stated: I 4
- Not stated: he, she or it 4
- Not stated: they 3
- Other words · 13 groups that occur once or twice (15) 15
What it acts on, or what is saidObject
15 occurrences in 8 groups
- מוֹסֵרthong 6
- הֶםthem 3
- יֶתֶרremainder 1
- מוֹטָהyoke, bar 1
- שַׁדbreast 1
- שֶׁרֶשׁroot 1
With prepositionsPrepositional phrases
12 occurrences in 11 groups
- מִןfrom+ עִירcity, town 4
- Other words · 10 groups that occur once or twice (10) 10
With adverbsAdverbs
4 occurrences in 2 groups
- לֹאnot 3
- בַּלnot 1
What is done to itIt is the object
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- קָרַבto come near, to offer 1
After prepositionsPrepositional phrases
2 occurrences in 2 groups
- עַדto, as far as, until 1
- כlike/as 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.
Near synonyms 5 words
- נָתַר nâthar · H5425 · to give one's hand free play
- Both terms describe distinct detachment or separation actions — one "break off, pluck, root out," the other "drive asunder, loose, undo" — genuinely overlapping in sense within contexts of separation.
- שָׁלַף shâlaph · H8025 · to pull out, to draw, swordsman
- Both words denote forcible removal or detachment: breaking off, pulling out, plucking off, drawing off.
- קָצַץ qâtsats · H7112 · to cut off, to sever, to strip
- Both terms denote forcible separation or detachment actions, overlapping in sense as words that remove or detach parts from wholes.
- פָּרַק pâraq · H6561 · to break off, to tear off, to pull off
- Both words denote violent separation or detachment with a “breaking” quality, in the sense of forceful detachment.
- נָתַשׁ nâthash · H5428 · to uproot, to destroy
- Both words denote forceful removal or extraction (breaking off, tearing away, uprooting) and could substitute in contexts of violent separation.
In the other Testament 2 words
- διαῤῥήσσω diarrhḗssō · G1284 · to tear, to rip
- Greek διαῤῥήσσω specifically denotes violent tearing or rending asunder (often of garments or bonds in dramatic contexts), while Hebrew נָתַק encompasses a broader range of breaking/separating actions including uprooting, drawing away, and plucking off, not necessarily violent; the Greek term represents the forceful-rupture subset of the Hebrew semantic range.
- διασπάω diaspáō · G1288 · to pull apart, to tear apart
- διασπάω (diaspáō, G1288) specifically denotes violent tearing apart or dismemberment, while נָתַק (nâthaq, H5423) encompasses a broader range of breaking/separation actions including both violent rupture and simple detachment or removal.
Semantic domains 3 entries
- Detach002003001006
- The word describes tearing or plucking something away from its attachment, as tendons are torn apart like flax near fire (Judges 16:9), tying the word to the severing of a bound connection.
- Impact002001001024
- The word's tearing sense ties it to the forceful violent action causing this severing, a broader impact sense than the bare state of detachment.
- Space002002001017
- The word is used of being drawn or lured away from a location, as the men of Ai are drawn away from their city in pursuit (Joshua 8:6, 8:16), tying the word to displacement from a fixed spatial position.
Word family 3 words
Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H5423. nathaq [נָתַק] verb pull, draw, tear away, apart, off (Late Hebrew id.; נְתַק ᵑ7…
[נָתַק] verb pull, draw, tear away, apart, off (Late Hebrew id.; נְתַק ᵑ7 in derived species (rare), pull off, tear off; Christian-Palestinian Aramaic shake off, SchwIdioticon 58; Arabic pull off, draw out, shake; Di660 compare Ethiopic detrahere, etc.); —
Qal Perfect1plural suffix וּנְתַקְּנוּהוּ consecutive Jdg 20:32 (on dagesh forte dirimens see Ges§ 20h); Imperfect1singular suffix אֶתְּקֶנְךָּ Jer 22:24 (compare Ges§ 58, i); Passive participle נָתוּק Lev 22:24; —
1 draw away warriors from (מִן) city, unto (אֶלֿ) high road Jdg 20:32.
2 draw or pull off ring from (מִן) finger Jer 22:24 (figurative of rejection of king of Judah by ׳י).
3 pull, tear away Lev 22:24 (passive, of testicles, + כָּרוּת כָּתוּת, מָעוּךְ,).
Niph`al Perfect3masculine singular נִתַּק Isa 5:27; Isa 5:3plural נִתְּקוּ Jos 4:18; Job 17:11, נִתָּ֑קוּ Jer 6:29; Jer 10:20; Imperfect3masculine singular יִנָּתֵק Jdg 16:9 Jdg 16:2t.; 3 masculine plural וַיִּנָָּֽתְקוּ Jos 8:16, יִנָּתֵ֑קוּ Isa 33:20; —
1 be drawn away from (מִן) city Jos 8:16 (compare Qal 1); of soles of feet, be drawn out (from water) unto (אֶלֿ) dry ground Jos 4:18.
2 be torn apart, or in two, snapped: of sandal-thong Isa 5:27, strand of tow Jdg 16:9 (simile), cord Ecc 4:12; especially tent-cord (in figurative) Isa 33:20; Jer 10:20, so מִבְטַחוֺ מֵאָהֳלוֺ יִנָּתֵק Job 18:14; metaphor of plans (זִמֹּת) Job 17:11.
3 be separated, in smelting, figurative, נִתָּ֑קוּ לֹא רָעִים Jer 6:29.
Pi`el Perfect1singular נִתַּקְתִּי Jer 2:20; Jer 2:3plural נִתְּקוּ Jer 5:5; Imperfect3masculine singular יְנַתֵּק Eze 17:9; Psa 107:14, וַיְנַתֵּק Jdg 16:9, suffix וַיְנַתְּקֵם Jdg 16:12; Jdg 16:2feminine singular תְּנַתֵּ֑קִי Eze 23:34; Eze 23:1singular אֲנַתֵּק Nah 1:13; Nah 1:1plural נְנַתְּקָה cohortative Psa 2:3; Psa 2:2masculine plural תְּנַתֵּ֑קוּ Isa 58:6; —
1 tear apart, snap, with accusative הַיְתָרִים Jdg 16:9 the cords, Jdg 16:12 (+ זְרֹעֹתָיו מֵעַל); especially with accusative מוֺסֵרוֺת, bonds (figurative) Nah 1:13; Jer 2:20; Jer 5:5; Jer 30:8; Psa 2:3; Psa 107:14; object מוֺטָה Isa 58:6 (|| מַּתֵּחַ, and מוֺטָה אֲגֻדּוֺת הַתֵּר).
2 tear out, up, object roots Eze 17:9 (in figurative); tear out, away, object breasts Eze 23:34 (in violent figurative of Jerusalem as drunken woman).
Hiph`il 1. Infinitive construct suffix הַתִּיקֵנוּ: draw away warriors from (מִן) city Jos 8:6 (= Qal 1).
2 Imperative masculine singular suffix הַתִּקֵם drag them away like sheep to slaughter Jer 12:3 (of ׳יs dealing with wicked).
Hoph`al Perfect (si vera lectio) מִןהָֿעִיר הָנְתְּקוּ Jdg 20:31 they were drawn away from the city (compare Niph`al 1), but probably gloss, see GFM.
Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain
Topical studies with this word 3 entries
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
New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org.