English · KJV
H5010

נָאַר

nâʼar /naw-ar'/ Ask about this word
Roota primitive root
Meaningto reject
KJV usageabhor, make void.

Word Study

In depth

A plain-language study of nâʼar — the range of meaning it carries, how Scripture actually uses it, and where it points. Written for readers who don’t know the original language.

Core Meaning & Semantic Range

The Hebrew word nâʼar, represented by H5010, is a primitive root that means to reject; abhor, make void. Though it appears only 2 times across 2 unique verses in the Bible, its usage conveys a profound and severe sense of repudiation. It describes an active and total rejection of things once held sacred.

Biblical Occurrences & Contextual Analysis

In its biblical usage, H5010 depicts acts of divine judgment. In Lamentations, it is used to describe God's response to sin, where The Lord H136 has abhorred his sanctuary H4720, casting off His altar and giving the walls of the palaces over to the hand of the enemy H341 Lamentations 2:7. In the Psalms, the word is used to express a feeling of abandonment, where the psalmist states that God has made void the covenant of his servant and profaned his crown Psalms 89:39.

Related Words & Concepts

Several related words help clarify the solemn context of H5010:

  • H2186 zânach: This root, meaning to push aside, i.e.; reject, forsake, fail, appears alongside H5010 in Lamentations 2:7, where the Lord has cast off His altar, intensifying the theme of abandonment.
  • H2490 châlal: This word means to profane... to break (one's word). It is used in parallel with H5010 in Psalms 89:39 to describe how God has profaned his servant's crown, linking the voiding of the covenant with desecration.
  • H5462 çâgar: Meaning to shut up; figuratively, to surrender, this term is used to describe how God has given up the sanctuary walls to the enemy, showing the tangible outcome of the abhorrence described in Lamentations 2:7.

Theological Significance

The theological weight of H5010 is significant, highlighting the severity of divine judgment.

  • Rejection of the Sacred: The word demonstrates that even the most consecrated places are not immune to God's judgment. God himself is shown to abhor His own sanctuary H4720 as a direct consequence of defilement Lamentations 2:7.
  • Nullification of Covenant: It is used to describe the breaking of a divine promise. The act of making a covenant void Psalms 89:39 is a powerful statement about the consequences of unfaithfulness, where God's own word appears to be nullified.
  • Divine Sovereignty in Judgment: In both instances, the action is initiated by The Lord H136. This shows that the rejection and abhorrence are not accidental but are sovereign and deliberate acts of God in response to a broken relationship.

Summary

In summary, H5010 is a potent and rare term that signifies a complete and forceful rejection. It is not a simple dismissal but a profound abhorrence that results in the voiding of covenants and the abandonment of sacred spaces. The use of nâʼar illustrates the solemn reality of divine judgment, where God Himself will cast off and abhor that which has been profaned.

How the KJV Renders It

Translation

Strong’s lists the renderings but not their weight. These are counted from the King James text of the tagged verses — the bar under each is how often the translators actually reached for it. Select one to filter the occurrences below.

Grammatical Forms

Morphology

In the Hebrew Old Testament, this word appears as a verb across 2 occurrences, inflected in 2 grammatical forms — each row is one form, and the bar is how often it is that form. Select any form to read what each part of its name means, and to filter the occurrence list to it.

  • נֵאַרְתָּה
  • נִאֵר

Related Words

Related

Other entries the study above points to — each one is drawn from a reference it makes. Follow the trail to see how the words connect.

H136 אֲדֹנָי an emphatic form of אָדוֹן; the Lord (used as a proper name of God only); (my) Lord. H4720 מִקְדָּשׁ or מִקְּדָשׁ; (Exodus 15:17), from קָדַשׁ; a consecrated thing or place, especially, a palace, sanctuary (whether of Jeh H341 אֹיֵב or (fully) אוֹיֵב; active participle of אָיַב; hating; an adversary; enemy, foe. H2186 זָנַח a primitive root meaning to push aside, i.e.; reject, forsake, fail; cast away (off), remove far away (off). H2490 חָלַל a primitive root (compare חָלָה); also denominative (from חָלִיל); properly, to bore, i.e. (by implication) to wound, t H5462 סָגַר a primitive root; to shut up; figuratively, to surrender; close up, deliver (up), give over (up), inclose, [idiom] pure,

Theographic Context

Context

The people, places, and span of history the verses containing this word touch on — drawn from the theographic tagging of Scripture. Select any name to isolate its verses in the occurrence list.

Biblical Distribution

Distribution

Appears in 2 verses across 2 of the 39 books. Most frequent in Psalms and Lamentations (1 verse each); never once in the other 37.

1
Psalms
1
Lamentations

Every Occurrence

Concordance

Every verse where the word is tagged in the King James text. Filter by book, by the English word the translators chose, by grammatical form, or search within the verses.

Sources. Definition and numbering: James Strong, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890). Morphology: STEPBible / Tyndale House (CC BY). Verse tagging: the King James text keyed to Strong’s numbers. Every count on this page is computed from the tagged corpus, not estimated.