StrongerBible

nasag

נָשַׂג

HebrewH5381overtake, reach, ...

Appears 50 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Gen 31:25Gen 44:4Gen 44:6Gen 47:9Exo 14:9Exo 15:9Lev 5:11Lev 14:21Lev 14:22Lev 14:30Lev 14:31Lev 14:32Lev 25:26Lev 25:47Lev 25:49Lev 26:5 (2×)Lev 27:8Num 6:21Deu 19:6Deu 28:2Deu 28:15Deu 28:45Jos 2:51Sa 14:261Sa 30:8 (3×)2Sa 15:142Ki 25:51Ch 21:12Job 24:2Job 27:20Job 41:26(18)Psa 7:5(6)Psa 18:37(38)Psa 40:12(13)Psa 69:24(25)Pro 2:19Isa 35:10Isa 51:11Isa 59:9Jer 39:5Jer 42:16Jer 52:8Lam 1:3Ezk 46:7Hos 2:7(9)Hos 10:9Zec 1:6
Word studynaw-SAGverb

What nasag means

to overtake or reach something that was ahead of or beyond you: to close the gap and arrive at it

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintySettled

At its heart this verb pictures a gap being closed. Someone or something is out in front, or out of reach, and the action of the verb is catching up to it, arriving at it, getting hold of it. The English Bible has to reach for several different words to carry that one idea, depending on what is being caught.

Most often it is a chase. A pursuer runs down the one who fled and finally lays hands on him: armies overtake a fleeing king, a master overtakes his runaway, a hunter overtakes his prey. From there the same word turns figurative: blessings or curses, troubles or guilt are pictured as pursuers that finally catch up with a person. The thing you cannot outrun reaches you.

The word also stretches to simple arrival at a target, with no chase in view. Years can reach the span of earlier years, a harvest can run right up to the next planting, a hand can reach to the mouth, a sword can reach its mark. And in the laws of Israel it settles into a fixed money idiom: when a person's hand reaches far enough, that is, when their means stretch to cover the cost, they can afford the offering. The poor person whose hand does not reach brings the cheaper sacrifice instead.

The senses below are not separate words but one motion seen in different settings: a runner catching the runner ahead, a calamity catching a fugitive, a measure reaching its mark, and a purse reaching a price.

Nuances

1ato catch up with and lay hold of someone fleeing or pursued
Gen 31:25Gen 44:4Gen 44:6Exo 14:9Exo 15:9Jos 2:51Sa 30:8 (3×)2Sa 15:142Ki 25:5Jer 39:5Jer 52:8Lam 1:3
1bof blessings, curses, troubles, or guilt: to catch up with a person as if in pursuit
Deu 28:2Deu 28:15Deu 28:451Ch 21:12Job 27:20Psa 40:12(13)Psa 69:24(25)Isa 35:10Isa 51:11Isa 59:9Jer 42:16Zec 1:6
1cto reach or extend to a point, measure, or mark, with no chase in view
Gen 47:9Lev 26:5 (2×)1Sa 14:26Job 24:2Job 41:26(18)Pro 2:19
1dof a person's hand or means: to reach far enough to cover a cost, that is, to be able to afford
Lev 5:11Lev 14:21Lev 14:22Lev 14:30Lev 14:31Lev 14:32Lev 25:26Lev 25:47Lev 25:49Lev 27:8Num 6:21Ezk 46:7

What scholars say about nasag

The standard lexica (BDB, HALOT, DCH) treat נשׂג as a single hiphil-only verb meaning to reach or overtake, with a well attested transferred use for blessings and curses overtaking a person and a fixed legal idiom (hissig yad, the hand reaches) for having sufficient means, concentrated in the priestly material of Leviticus and Numbers and recurring at Ezekiel 46:7. The idiom is discussed in commentaries on Leviticus (e.g. Milgrom, Leviticus, Anchor Bible) as a graded-offering formula by which a worshiper's economic capacity determines the required sacrifice. Job 24:2 is text-critically debated because the consonants align with the homonymous verb meaning to displace a boundary marker; the morphology in the source data here parses it under this root.

Sources

  • BDB, s.v. נשׂגlexicon
  • HALOT, s.v. נשׂגlexicon
  • DCH, s.v. נשׂגlexicon
  • Jacob Milgrom, Leviticus 1-16 (Anchor Bible)commentary

All attested forms of נָשַׂג

hiphil imperfect 3fs

תַּשִּׂיג, תַּשִּׂיגֵ

Lev 5:11, Lev 14:22, Lev 14:30, Lev 14:31, Lev 14:32, Lev 25:47, Lev 27:8, Num 6:21

hiphil consecutive-imperfect 3mp

וַיַּשִּׂגוּ, וַיַּשִּׂיגוּ

2Ki 25:5, Jer 39:5, Exo 14:9, Jer 52:8

hiphil imperfect 3mp

יַשִּׂיגוּ

Job 24:2, Pro 2:19, Isa 35:10, Isa 51:11

hiphil perfect 3cp

הִשִּׂיגוּ

Gen 47:9, Psa 40:12, Lam 1:3, Zec 1:6

hiphil consecutive-perfect 3cp

וְהִשִּׂיגוּ, וְהִשִּׂיגֻ

Deu 28:15, Deu 28:45, Deu 28:2

hiphil consecutive-perfect 3ms

וְהִשִּׂיג, וְהִשִּׂגָ

Lev 26:5, Deu 19:6, 2Sa 15:14

hiphil consecutive-imperfect 3ms

וַיַּשִּׂגֵ, וַיַּשֵּׂג

Gen 44:6, Gen 31:25

hiphil imperfect 1cs

אַשִּׂגֶ, אַשִּׂיג

1Sa 30:8, Exo 15:9

hiphil imperfect 3ms

יַשִּׂיג, יַשִּׂיגֵ

Lev 26:5, Psa 69:24

hiphil participle f s absolute

מַשֶּׂגֶת

Lev 14:21, 1Ch 21:12

hiphil conjunctive-imperfect 1cs

וְאַשִּׂיגֵ

Psa 18:37

hiphil consecutive-perfect 2ms

וְהִשַּׂגְתָּ

Gen 44:4

hiphil consecutive-perfect 3fs

וְהִשִּׂיגָה

Lev 25:26

hiphil imperfect 2mp

תַשִּׂיגוּ

Jos 2:5

hiphil imperfect 2ms

תַּשִּׂיג

1Sa 30:8

hiphil infinitive-absolute absolute

הַשֵּׂג

1Sa 30:8

hiphil jussive 3ms

יַשֵּׂג

Psa 7:5

hiphil participle m s absolute

מַשִּׂיג

1Sa 14:26

hiphil participle m s construct

מַשִּׂיגֵ

Job 41:26

hiphil perfect 3fs

הִשִּׂיגָה

Lev 25:49