StrongerBible

yanaq

יָנַק

HebrewH3243suck, nurse, ...

Appears 33 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Gen 21:7Gen 24:59Gen 32:15(16)Gen 35:8Exo 2:7 (2×)Exo 2:9 (2×)Num 11:12Deu 32:13Deu 32:25Deu 33:191Sa 1:231Sa 15:31Sa 22:191Ki 3:212Ki 11:22Ch 22:11Job 3:12Job 20:16Psa 8:2(3)Sng 8:1Isa 11:8Isa 49:23Isa 60:16 (2×)Isa 66:11Isa 66:12Jer 44:7Lam 2:11Lam 4:3Lam 4:4Jol 2:16
Root family
Word studyya-NAKverb

What yanaq means

to nurse at the breast: to draw milk as an infant, or to give it as a mother or nurse

TranslatabilityApproximateCertaintySettled

This single word covers both sides of one act: the baby who takes milk at the breast and the mother or hired nurse who gives it. Hebrew names the whole scene of nursing with one root, so the same word swings between the child and the woman depending on the grammar. English has to split that into different words (suck, give suck, suckle, nurse), but in Hebrew it is all one picture.

From that root come two everyday nouns for the people in the scene. One is the nursing child, the infant still at the breast, which the Bible pairs again and again with the very old and the very small to name the most vulnerable people in a town. The other is the nurse or nursing mother, the woman who suckles a child, whether the child's own mother or a woman hired for the task.

The word also stretches into a picture of drawing in wealth and plenty. Israel is said to suck honey from the rock, to suck the abundance hidden in the seas and sand, and one day to suck the milk of nations. In these lines the language of an infant feeding at the breast becomes a way of speaking about being richly nourished and provided for.

Nuances

1ato suck: an infant drawing milk at the breast
Job 3:12Sng 8:1
1bto give suck, to nurse: a mother or nurse suckling a child
Gen 21:7Gen 32:15(16)Exo 2:7 (2×)Exo 2:9 (2×)1Sa 1:231Ki 3:21Lam 4:3
1ca nursing child, a suckling: the infant still at the breast
Num 11:12Deu 32:251Sa 15:31Sa 22:19Psa 8:2(3)Isa 11:8Jer 44:7Lam 2:11Lam 4:4Jol 2:16
1da nurse, a nursing mother: the woman who suckles a child
Gen 24:59Gen 35:8Exo 2:7 (2×)2Ki 11:22Ch 22:11Isa 49:23
1eto suck figuratively: to draw in nourishment or riches, as from the sea, the nations, or a rock
Deu 32:13Deu 33:19Job 20:16Isa 60:16 (2×)Isa 66:11Isa 66:12

What scholars say about yanaq

The lexica treat ינק as a single root with a clean grammatical distribution: the qal means to suck (the infant), and the causative hiphil means to give suck, to nurse (the mother or wet-nurse). BDB and HALOT list under this root the two substantival participles that carry much of its weight: the qal active participle יוֹנֵק, the suckling or nursing child, and the hiphil feminine participle מֵינֶקֶת, the nurse or nursing mother. The nursing child appears formulaically alongside עוֹלֵל and the aged to denote a population's most defenseless (Deuteronomy 32:25; 1 Samuel 15:3; Lamentations 2:11). A well-attested figurative extension applies the verb to drawing in abundance: honey from the rock (Deuteronomy 32:13), the wealth of the seas and hidden treasures of the sand (Deuteronomy 33:19), and, eschatologically, the milk of the nations (Isaiah 60:16; 66:11-12). The sense is not in dispute in the standard reference works.

Sources

  • BDB, s.v. יָנַקlexicon
  • HALOT, s.v. ינקlexicon
  • TWOT, s.v. יָנַק (no. 874)theological-dictionary

All attested forms of יָנַק

m s absolute

יוֹנֵק, וְיוֹנֵק, יֹּנֵק

Deu 32:25, 1Sa 15:3, 1Sa 22:19, Isa 11:8, Lam 4:4, Jer 44:7, Lam 2:11, Num 11:12

f s construct

מֵינִקְתּוֹ

2Ki 11:2, 2Ch 22:11

hiphil consecutive-imperfect 3fs

וַתֵּינֶק, וַתְּנִיקֵ

1Sa 1:23, Exo 2:9

f p construct

מֵינִיקֹתַיִךְ

Isa 49:23

f s absolute

מֵינֶקֶת

Exo 2:7

f s construct

מֵינֶקֶת

Gen 35:8

f s construct

מֵנִקְתָּהּ

Gen 24:59

hiphil conjunctive-imperfect 3fs

וְתֵינִק

Exo 2:7

hiphil consecutive-imperfect 3ms

וַיֵּנִקֵ

Deu 32:13

hiphil imperative 2fs

הֵינִקִ

Exo 2:9

hiphil infinitive-construct construct

הֵינִיק

1Ki 3:21

hiphil participle f p absolute

מֵינִיקוֹת

Gen 32:15

hiphil perfect 3cp

הֵינִיקוּ

Lam 4:3

hiphil perfect 3fs

הֵינִיקָה

Gen 21:7

m p absolute

יֹנְקִים

Psa 8:2

m p construct

יֹנְקֵי

Jol 2:16

m s construct

יוֹנֵק

Sng 8:1

qal consecutive-perfect 2fs

וְיָנַקְתְּ

Isa 60:16

qal consecutive-perfect 2mp

וִינַקְתֶּם

Isa 66:12

qal imperfect 1cs

אִינָק

Job 3:12

qal imperfect 2fs

תִּינָקִי

Isa 60:16

qal imperfect 3mp

יִינָקוּ

Deu 33:19

qal imperfect 3ms

יִינָק

Job 20:16

qal jussive 2mp

תִּינְקוּ

Isa 66:11