To strike (lightly or severely, literally or figuratively)
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נָכָה (nakah) is a frequent Hebrew verb for striking. Its range extends from a blow, as when Zedekiah strikes Micaiah on the cheek in 1 Kings 22:24, to lethal violence, as when Moses strikes down the Egyptian in Exodus 2:12, and to military defeat in Joshua 10:10.
Reader summary
Full entry for נָכָה (H5221) · Open the biblical lexicon
נָכָה (nakah) is a frequent Hebrew verb for striking. Its range extends from a blow, as when Zedekiah strikes Micaiah on the cheek in 1 Kings 22:24, to lethal violence, as when Moses strikes down the Egyptian in Exodus 2:12, and to military defeat in Joshua 10:10.
The BSB source-word alignment has 499 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include struck down (18), and struck down (11), he struck down (10), killed (10), struck (10).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 4:15. Its strongest book concentrations include 2 Kings (55), 1 Samuel (52), 2 Samuel (47), Joshua (38).
This entry includes 2 verse guides that explain exact original-language forms in context.
נָכָה (nakah) is a frequent Hebrew verb for striking. Its range extends from a blow, as when Zedekiah strikes Micaiah on the cheek in 1 Kings 22:24, to lethal violence, as when Moses strikes down the Egyptian in Exodus 2:12, and to military defeat in Joshua 10:10. The verb itself does not specify the force, moral character, or outcome of every strike. Subject, object, and narrative setting supply those distinctions.
Exodus uses nakah for divine judgment in the plagues. In Exodus 12:12 the Lord says he will strike Egypt's firstborn, and verse 13 says the destructive plague will not enter the blood-marked houses when he strikes the land. The passage grounds Israel's rescue in God's stated sign and promise. It should not be expanded into a guarantee that faithful people will avoid every form of suffering, nor should every later use of nakah be made part of one atonement formula.
Isaiah 53:4 says the observers regarded the servant as struck by God and afflicted. The surrounding song corrects their moral assessment by saying his wounds concern their transgressions and that he suffers for the people's wrongdoing. Zechariah 13:7 voices a command to strike the shepherd so that the sheep scatter, a verse Jesus applies to his disciples' scattering in Matthew 26:31 and Mark 14:27. These passages support a redemptive and representative reading of the servant and shepherd, but the lexical verb alone does not settle every question about divine and human agency or every model of atonement.
Nakah names many kinds of striking: interpersonal blows, lethal assault, judicial punishment, military defeat, and divine acts of judgment. Isaiah 53 and Zechariah 13 place the verb within servant and shepherd passages later received in relation to Jesus.
Moses strikes down the Egyptian and hides the body, so the context makes the lethal force explicit.
The Lord announces that he will strike Egypt's firstborn in judgment during the Passover night.
Covenant law addresses an owner's striking of an enslaved person and imposes accountability, locating the verb within a difficult legal and social setting.
The conquest narrative uses the verb for the Lord striking and Israel pursuing opposing forces in battle.
Zedekiah strikes Micaiah on the cheek, illustrating a nonlethal blow used to shame and challenge a prophet.
The servant is regarded by observers as struck by God, while the song redirects attention to his bearing of others' griefs and transgressions.
The sword is commanded to strike the shepherd, and the sheep scatter; Jesus later applies the line to his disciples' flight.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Verse-level guides showing how this original-language form works in its specific context, including grammar, verse function, and guarded interpretation.
Hebrew word. Strike spans lethal violence to divine punishment; core notion is forceful impact with moral or consequential weight.
How the stem changes the meaning of this verb across the biblical text.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 502 lexical occurrence verses.
נָכָה is a primitive root - no further derivation.
Describes decisive divine action against Assyria. Isaiah 37:36-38
God’s striking represents disciplinary action intended to call his people to repentance. Isaiah 9:13-17
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Nakah helps teachers speak soberly about violence, judgment, and representative suffering without making every strike mean the same thing. Exodus 2 names Moses' lethal act plainly. Exodus 12 presents a specific judgment on Egypt and a specific covenant sign protecting Israelite households. Exodus 21 regulates accountability within an ancient institution and must not be treated as approval of abuse or slavery.
Isaiah 53 and Zechariah 13 open a canonical path toward the suffering and scattering surrounding Jesus, yet the preacher should derive claims from the full passages, not from the mere recurrence of a verb. This approach can affirm the gravity of judgment and the redemptive significance of Christ's suffering while rejecting contemporary religious violence, blaming sufferers for their pain, or portraying God as arbitrary or cruel.
Isa.53.4
The verb commonly occurs in causative forms. Because it can name both a single blow and killing or military defeat, the complement and narrative outcome determine severity.
Jesus quotes Zechariah 13:7 in connection with the disciples' scattering. The passion narratives also describe human agents striking Jesus, and New Testament writers receive Isaiah 53 in accounts of his representative suffering. These links depend on passage-level interpretation rather than a claim that every occurrence of a striking verb predicts the cross.
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