Bible word study

Nagash (Strong’s H5066): Meaning in the Bible

Nagash (נָגַשׁ) is the Hebrew word numbered H5066 in Strong’s concordance of the Bible. Strong’s defines it as to be or come (causatively, bring) near (for any purpose); euphemistically, to lie with a woman; as an enemy, to attack; religious to worship; causatively, to present; figuratively, to adduce an argument; by reversal, to stand back. In the King James Bible it is translated (make to) approach (nigh), bring (forth, hither, near), (cause to) come (hither.

• Original wordנָגַשׁ
• Transliterationnâgash
• Pronunciationnaw-gash'
• Part of speechverb (v)
• Strong’s numberH5066
• LanguageHebrew

The full Strong’s definition

Derivation. a primitive root;

How the King James Bible translates it

Where Nagash appears in the Bible

In the King James Bible’s text tagged with Strong’s numbers, Nagash (H5066) stands behind 127 English renderings in 112 verses across 23 of the 66 books. It is most frequent in Genesis (21), 1 Samuel (15), Exodus (13).

How the King James Bible renders Nagash, by count

• near56 of 127 (44 percent)
• nigh13 of 127 (10 percent)
• brought9 of 127 (7 percent)
• came9 of 127 (7 percent)
• hither7 of 127 (6 percent)
• approach5 of 127 (4 percent)

Three places to read Nagash

• Genesis 18:23 And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?
• Deuteronomy 25:9 Then shall his brother’s wife come unto him in the presence of the elders, and loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face, and shall answer and say, So shall it be done unto that man that will not build up his brother’s house.
• 2 Kings 2:5 And the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho came to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he answered, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace.

Counts are made at build time from the King James text tagged with Strong’s numbers (eBible.org, public domain). Verses are read from the stored King James text, never typed.

Why the word matters

Every word the biblical writers chose carries weight. Studying Nagash in the original Hebrew lets you read the passages where it appears more carefully, closer to what the first hearers understood, so the meaning is drawn from the text itself rather than from the English alone.

The lexical data on this page comes from the public-domain Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890), a Hebrew and Greek dictionary keyed to the King James Bible. It is a reference tool, not a settled verdict: no single word decides a doctrine, and meaning is finally shaped by how a word is used in its sentences. Read the passages themselves, prayerfully, and in full.

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