An oracle
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' The local OT index currently counts about 376 uses in the OT and is found almost entirely in the prophetic literature — primarily Jeremiah (165x), Ezekiel, Isaiah, and the minor prophets. The word functions as a divine speech-act marker: it signals that what follows (or what has just been spoken) is not the prophet's own opinion or analysis but the direct utterance of YHWH himself.
Reader summary
Full entry for נְאֻם (H5002) · Open the biblical lexicon
' The local OT index currently counts about 376 uses in the OT and is found almost entirely in the prophetic literature — primarily Jeremiah (165x), Ezekiel, Isaiah, and the minor prophets. The word functions as a divine speech-act marker: it signals that what follows (or what has just been spoken) is not the prophet's own opinion or analysis but the direct.
The BSB source-word alignment has 376 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include declares (357), the prophecy (4), Thus declares (3), [This is] the prophecy (2), says (2).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 22:16. Its strongest book concentrations include Jeremiah (176), Ezekiel (85), Isaiah (25), Amos (21).
נְאֻם (neum) is a specialized Hebrew noun that almost never appears without the name YHWH attached: נְאֻם יְהוָה (neum YHWH), translated 'declares the Lord,' 'oracle of the Lord,' or 'says the Lord.' The local OT index currently counts about 376 uses in the OT and is found almost entirely in the prophetic literature — primarily Jeremiah (165x), Ezekiel, Isaiah, and the minor prophets.
The word functions as a divine speech-act marker: it signals that what follows (or what has just been spoken) is not the prophet's own opinion or analysis but the direct utterance of YHWH himself. It is both an authentication formula ('this is God speaking, not me') and a gravity marker ('what you just heard is the direct word of the Almighty').
The pastoral significance of neum YHWH is that it gives the prophetic word its authority and its weight. When a prophet says neum YHWH, they are staking everything on the claim that God himself has spoken through them. This makes prophecy the highest-risk enterprise in the OT: a false prophet who says neum YHWH when God has not spoken is under the severest judgment (Jer 23:31-32). And it makes authentic prophecy the highest possible assurance: what YHWH declares cannot be revoked, cannot fail, and cannot be superseded.
The local OT index currently counts about 376 uses of neum YHWH language, almost all in the prophetic corpus (Jeremiah alone has 165). Its function is always the same: to mark a divine utterance as coming directly from YHWH and therefore as carrying the full weight of divine authority. The prophetic claim implicit in every neum YHWH is radical — the prophet is claiming to be the mouthpiece of the living God.
This claim is either the most important fact about the text or a disqualifying lie. The OT has no middle category: neum YHWH either is or is not authentic, and the authentic ones cannot fail (Isa 55:11).
Neum YHWH is the prophetic literature's primary marker of divine authority. It roots the prophetic word not in human insight or spiritual impression but in the direct speech of YHWH himself. The NT's 'It is written' and Jesus's 'I say to you' are the hermeneutical successors: the authority that neum YHWH carried in the prophetic tradition, Jesus carries in his own person ('I say to you' in the Sermon on the Mount, Matt 5:21-48, without appealing to neum YHWH because he himself is the speaker).
The Spirit's ministry in the NT church includes reminding believers of all that Christ said (John 14:26) — the ongoing application of the authoritative divine word.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Hebrew word. an oracle
an oracle BDB: utterance Usage: (hath) said, saith.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
נְאֻם is built from this root:
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Neum YHWH opens the theology of prophetic authority and the weight of the divine word. In a culture where religious claims are assessed primarily by their usefulness or emotional impact, the prophetic formula insists that the issue is not 'is this helpful' but 'is this from God?' Preaching from neum YHWH texts gives the congregation a framework for evaluating all claims to speak for God — and for receiving Scripture itself as neum YHWH in written form.
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