StrongerBible

nekhar

נֵכָר

HebrewH5236foreigner, foreign, ...

Appears 36 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Gen 17:12Gen 17:27Gen 35:2Gen 35:4Exo 12:43Lev 22:25Deu 31:16Deu 32:12Jos 24:20Jos 24:23Jdg 10:161Sa 7:32Sa 22:452Sa 22:462Ch 14:3(2)2Ch 33:15Neh 9:2Neh 13:30Psa 18:44(45)Psa 18:45(46)Isa 56:3Isa 56:6
Root family
Word studyneh-KHARnoun

What nekhar means

foreignness: what belongs to another people or land, and so is alien to Israel and its God

TranslatabilityApproximateCertaintySettled

This is an abstract word for foreignness, the quality of coming from somewhere else and belonging to another people. It almost never stands alone. Instead it hangs off another word in fixed phrases: a "son of foreignness" is a foreigner, the "gods of foreignness" are foreign gods, and the "soil of foreignness" is a foreign land. In each case the word marks something as not one's own, as belonging to an outside allegiance.

The force of the word is not merely geographic. To call someone or something foreign in this sense is to set it over against Israel and against the LORD. That is why the same word covers a foreign person, a foreign god, and a foreign country: all three name a world outside the covenant, whether that outsider is a threat, a temptation, or simply a stranger far from home.

Because the word is used mostly of gods that Israel is told to put away, it often carries a warning. Yet the range is wide enough that a foreigner who turns to the LORD can also be named with it, as in Isaiah, where the outsider who joins himself to God is welcomed rather than shut out.

Nuances

1aa foreigner: a person belonging to another people, an outsider to Israel (the phrase "son of foreignness")
Gen 17:12Gen 17:27Exo 12:43Lev 22:252Sa 22:452Sa 22:46Neh 9:2Psa 18:44(45)Psa 18:45(46)Psa 144:7Psa 144:11Isa 56:3
1bforeign in worship: the alien gods of other nations, together with the altars and idols that serve them, all set against the LORD
Gen 35:2Gen 35:4Deu 31:16Deu 32:12Jos 24:20Jos 24:23Jdg 10:161Sa 7:32Ch 14:3(2)2Ch 33:15Psa 81:9Jer 5:19
1cforeign land: soil belonging to another country, away from home
Psa 137:4

What scholars say about nekhar

נֵכָר is an abstract noun from the root nkr, attested 36 times and almost always in bound construction: בֶּן־נֵכָר (a foreigner), אֱלֹהֵי (הַ)נֵּכָר and אֵל נֵכָר (foreign gods / a foreign god), plus מִזְבְּחוֹת הַנֵּכָר (foreign altars, 2 Chr 14:3), הַבְלֵי נֵכָר (foreign idols, Jer 8:19), and אַדְמַת נֵכָר (foreign soil, Ps 137:4). BDB, HALOT, and DCH agree the sense is stable, glossing it as foreignness / that which is foreign; the lexica organize it around the person (foreigner) and the impersonal (foreign gods, altars, idols, land). Lexicographers distinguish the root nkr II underlying this word (to be strange/foreign) from the homonymous nkr I (to recognize, regard), and there is discussion of whether these are one root or two, but this concerns etymology, not the settled meaning of נֵכָר. TDOT and TWOT set the word within Israel's graded vocabulary for outsiders alongside גֵּר, זָר, and נָכְרִי, noting the sharp cultic edge of בֶּן־נֵכָר in Ezek 44:7-9 and Exod 12:43 (exclusion from sanctuary and Passover) against its remarkable inclusion in Isa 56:3-6.

Sources

  • HALOT, s.v. נֵכָרlexicon
  • BDB, s.v. נֵכָרlexicon
  • DCH, s.v. נֵכָרlexicon
  • TDOT, s.v. נכרtheological-dictionary
  • TWOT 1368, נכרtheological-dictionary

All attested forms of נֵכָר

m s absolute

נֵכָר, נֵּכָר

Gen 17:12, Gen 17:27, Exo 12:43, Lev 22:25, Deu 32:12, Jos 24:20, 2Sa 22:45, 2Sa 22:46

m s construct

נֵכַר

Deu 31:16