StrongerBible

nataq

נָתַק

HebrewH5423break, draw away, ...

Appears 27 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Lev 22:24Jos 4:18Jos 8:6Jos 8:16Jdg 16:9 (2×)Jdg 16:12Jdg 20:31Jdg 20:32Job 17:11Job 18:14Psa 2:3Psa 107:14Ecc 4:12Isa 5:27Isa 33:20Isa 58:6Jer 2:20Jer 5:5Jer 6:29Jer 10:20Jer 12:3Jer 22:24Jer 30:8Ezk 17:9Ezk 23:34Nam 1:13
Root family
Word studyna-TAQverb

What nataq means

to pull something apart by force: to snap what binds, drag a person away, or wrench a thing loose

TranslatabilityApproximateCertaintySettled

At its center this word is about a forced separation. Something that was joined, held, or fixed in place is torn free: a rope snaps, a captive is set loose, an enemy is drawn out of his stronghold, a ring is pulled off a finger. The same action can be done TO a thing (someone snaps the cord) or can happen to it (the cord gives way), which is why English translations shift between active and passive without changing the underlying picture.

Most of its weight falls on breaking bonds. Cords, ropes, tent lines, sandal straps, and above all the yoke are the classic objects. From there it becomes one of the Bible's stock images for freedom and for rebellion at once: God snaps the chains of the oppressed, and in the very same breath rebels boast of snapping the restraints God has placed on them.

A second cluster is spatial rather than about ties. To draw or lure people away from a city is a set military move, the bait that pulls defenders out of position so the ambush can spring. Related to it is the plain sense of wrenching a fixed thing loose: a signet ring off a hand, roots out of the ground, flesh torn from the body.

Because the action is the same everywhere and only the object changes, this is a single word with a wide reach rather than several unrelated words.

Nuances

1ato snap or break the cords, ropes, or yoke that bind, often as an image of throwing off control or being set free
Jdg 16:9 (2×)Jdg 16:12Psa 2:3Psa 107:14Isa 58:6Jer 2:20Jer 5:5Jer 30:8Nam 1:13
1bof a cord, thread, or strap: to snap or give way under strain
TranslatabilityDirect
Jdg 16:9 (2×)Job 17:11Ecc 4:12Isa 5:27Isa 33:20Jer 10:20
1cto draw, drag, or lure a person or group away from the place they hold
Jos 4:18Jos 8:6Jos 8:16Jdg 20:31Jdg 20:32Job 18:14Jer 6:29Jer 12:3
1dto tear off or wrench out a physical thing fixed in place: a ring, roots, or flesh
Lev 22:24Jer 22:24Ezk 17:9Ezk 23:34

What scholars say about nataq

The lexica treat H5423 נתק as a single root with a unified core of tearing or pulling apart, its senses distributed largely across the verbal stems: intransitive snapping and being drawn off in the niphal, active severing of bonds in the piel, and drawing or luring away in the qal and hiphil (BDB; HALOT). The dominant idiom is the breaking of the yoke and of bonds, which carries both a liberative sense (Nahum 1:13; Psalm 107:14; Isaiah 58:6) and a rebellious one (Psalm 2:3; Jeremiah 2:20; 5:5), a polarity treated in the theological dictionaries under the yoke and bond imagery (TDOT; TWOT). It should not be confused with the homonymous noun נתק, a skin affliction in Leviticus 13 to 14 (a separate lexical entry). The verb is well attested and its meaning is not in dispute.

Sources

  • BDB, s.v. נתקlexicon
  • HALOT, s.v. נתקlexicon
  • TWOT, s.v. נתקtheological-dictionary

All attested forms of נָתַק

niphal perfect 3cp

נִתְּקוּ, נִתָּקוּ

Jos 4:18, Job 17:11, Jer 6:29, Jer 10:20

niphal imperfect 3ms

יִנָּתֵק

Jdg 16:9, Job 18:14, Ecc 4:12

piel consecutive-imperfect 3ms

וַיְנַתְּקֵ, וַיְנַתֵּק

Jdg 16:12, Jdg 16:9

piel imperfect 1cs

אֲנַתֵּק

Jer 30:8, Nam 1:13

piel imperfect 3ms

יְנַתֵּק

Psa 107:14, Ezk 17:9

hiphil imperative 2ms

הַתִּקֵ

Jer 12:3

hiphil infinitive-construct construct

הַתִּיקֵ

Jos 8:6

hophal perfect 3cp

הָנְתְּקוּ

Jdg 20:31

niphal consecutive-imperfect 3mp

וַיִּנָּתְקוּ

Jos 8:16

niphal imperfect 3mp

יִנָּתֵקוּ

Isa 33:20

niphal perfect 3ms

נִתַּק

Isa 5:27

piel cohortative 1cp

נְנַתְּקָה

Psa 2:3

piel imperfect 2fs

תְּנַתֵּקִי

Ezk 23:34

piel imperfect 2mp

תְּנַתֵּקוּ

Isa 58:6

piel perfect 2fs

נִתַּקְתִּי

Jer 2:20

piel perfect 3cp

נִתְּקוּ

Jer 5:5

qal consecutive-perfect 1cp

וּנְתַקְּנֻ

Jdg 20:32

qal imperfect 1cs

אֶתְּקֶ

Jer 22:24

qal passive-participle m s absolute

נָתוּק

Lev 22:24