Properly, to front , i.e. stand boldly out opposite; by implication (causatively), to manifest ; figuratively, to announce (always by word of mouth to one present); specifically, to expose , predict , explain , praise
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Nāgad means to tell, to declare, to make known, to announce — but it is not mere communication. The word regularly appears in contexts where something that was hidden, unknown, or distant is brought before someone so that they can act on it.
Reader summary
Full entry for נָגַד (H5046) · Open the biblical lexicon
Nāgad means to tell, to declare, to make known, to announce — but it is not mere communication. The word regularly appears in contexts where something that was hidden, unknown, or distant is brought before someone so that they can act on it.
The BSB source-word alignment has 370 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include tell (30), and told (20), was told (17), told (15), . . . (9).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 3:11. Its strongest book concentrations include 1 Samuel (52), 2 Samuel (37), Genesis (36), Isaiah (32).
This entry includes 2 verse guides that explain exact original-language forms in context.
Nāgad means to tell, to declare, to make known, to announce — but it is not mere communication. The word regularly appears in contexts where something that was hidden, unknown, or distant is brought before someone so that they can act on it. To nāgad is to bring a truth into the open in the presence of the one who needs to hear it. It is used when Joseph's identity is disclosed to his brothers, when prophets declare the word of God to kings, when God makes his name and character known to Moses, and when the psalmist announces God's righteousness in the great assembly.
The word's root sense of standing boldly in front of someone gives it a quality of directness and public accountability that mere reporting lacks. When a prophet nāgads the word of the Lord, he is not passing along information; he is placing truth before a person or people who must now respond. This is why nāgad becomes one of the characteristic words of prophetic proclamation.
What the Lord has done, what the Lord has said, what the Lord requires — these are the kinds of content that demand declaration, not whisper. Psalm 22:31 uses the word at the end of the psalm's great reversal: his righteousness will be declared to a people not yet born. The word thus reaches from the personal (tell me who you are) to the cosmic (declare his glory among the nations) and belongs at the center of any account of how God makes himself known.
Nāgad appears in the local Hebrew index about 371 times across the Hebrew canon, with particular concentration in the Historical Books (1-2 Samuel, 1-2 Kings), the Psalms, and the prophetic literature, especially Isaiah and Jeremiah. Its range covers interpersonal disclosure (report what you have seen), prophetic proclamation (declare the word of the Lord), liturgical praise (tell of his works to the congregation), and eschatological announcement (declare to the nations what God has done).
They will come and proclaim His righteousness to a people yet unborn—all that He has done.
This closing verse of Psalm 22 is one of the most eschatologically charged uses of nāgad in the Hebrew Bible. The declaration of righteousness extends across generations to people not yet born. What God has done is so comprehensive that its announcement cannot be contained within one generation or one people. Jesus' cry from the cross (Ps.22.1) and the resurrection that follows fulfills the psalm's trajectory.
Behold, the former things have happened, and now I declare new things. Before they spring forth I proclaim them to you.”
The Servant Songs in Isaiah deploy nāgad to establish God's unique ability to announce future events before they occur. This distinguishes the Lord from idols, who cannot nāgad anything because they know nothing. Prophetic declaration is thus a claim about God's comprehensive knowledge and sovereign control over history.
“Joseph is still alive,” they said, “and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt!” But Jacob was stunned, for he did not believe them.
When Joseph's brothers nāgad to their father that Joseph is alive, the word carries the weight of everything unrevealed for twenty years. The declaration overwhelms Jacob. What was hidden is now brought into the open. The word here shows its root character: bringing a person face-to-face with a reality they could not see.
Sing to the Lord, all the earth. Proclaim His salvation day after day.
The liturgical assembly is commanded to nāgad God's salvation continually. This is not announcement for the uninformed only; it is doxological declaration as a way of life. The congregation that tells of God's saving acts is itself formed by that telling. Proclamation is both outward-facing (the nations hear) and inward-forming (the worshippers rehearse what God has done).
Announce in Judah, proclaim in Jerusalem, and say: “Blow the ram’s horn throughout the land. Cry aloud and say, ‘Assemble yourselves and let us flee to the fortified cities.’
Here nāgad is a warning declaration — the announcement of coming judgment so that the people can respond. The prophetic proclamation is urgent, public, and calls for action. To declare (nāgad) is to create a moment of decision. Silence would be complicity in the catastrophe.
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.
Verse-level guides showing how this original-language form works in its specific context, including grammar, verse function, and guarded interpretation.
Hebrew word. To make manifest or declare boldly to someone present; speaking truth that exposes or makes things known.
How the stem changes the meaning of this verb across the biblical text.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 371 lexical occurrence verses.
נָגַד is a primitive root - no further derivation.
Defines the Lord’s revelatory authority over history. Isaiah 41:21-29
Highlights God’s authoritative revelation of future events. Isaiah 46:8-11
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Nāgad is a preacher's word. Not because it describes what preachers do professionally, but because it captures what faithful proclamation actually requires: standing in front of people with truth that is not your own and placing it before them so they must respond. The prophets who use this word are not sharing opinions. They are declaring what the Lord has said, what the Lord has done, what the Lord requires.
The authority of the declaration comes entirely from the source, not from the messenger. This has at least two implications for those who preach and teach. First, the content matters more than the delivery. To nāgad is to bring something real into the open — the word shapes the declaration, not the other way around. Second, the posture matters. The root sense of standing boldly opposite someone means that genuine declaration puts something in front of people that they must now deal with.
The preacher who softens, hedges, or withholds in order to avoid the requirement of response has failed at the verb. Psalm 22 uses nāgad to point toward the declaration that will outlast every generation — the righteousness of God made known to people not yet born. Every faithful sermon participates in that declaration, however humbly. The great assembly the psalmist envisions is still being gathered, and the announcement of what God has done still awaits voices willing to stand and tell it.
Ps.22.31
Nāgad's etymological sense involves the idea of being in front of, facing, or standing opposite — related to the preposition neged (in front of, opposite). To nāgad is to put something directly before a person, not merely to send a message. The Hiphil stem (causative) meaning to tell or cause to know is the primary form in the biblical text. The word appears in paired synonymous constructions with ʾāmar (to say), qārāʾ (to proclaim), and bāśar (to announce good news), suggesting its family of meaning is closely tied to all forms of authoritative public speech.
The trajectory of nāgad into the New Testament passes through Isaiah's herald tradition. The great declaration passages in Isaiah 40-55 — tell the cities of Judah, declare the salvation of God, announce what God has done — become the scriptural background for the New Testament's proclamation vocabulary. Luke 4:18-19 (Jesus quoting Isaiah 61) draws on the same root impulse: the Spirit of the Lord anoints a herald to announce.
Paul's mission theology in Romans 10 (how shall they hear without someone declaring?) carries the nāgad imperative into the gentile mission. The Psalms' vision of declaration across generations (Ps. 22. 31, Ps. 78. 4) is fulfilled in the church's continued witness to what God has done in Christ — a declaration that will not be complete until every people group has heard.
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