To be or come (causatively, bring ) near (for any purpose); euphemistically, to lie with a woman; as an enemy, to attack ; religious to worship ; causatively, to present ; figuratively, to adduce an argument; by reversal, to stand back
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H5066 names movement toward someone or something and, by context, can describe approaching for worship, presentation, service, confrontation, or attack. The verb does not make nearness automatically holy; the speaker, purpose, object, and response determine whether the approach is welcome, obedient, hostile, or presumptuous.
Reader summary
Full entry for נָגַשׁ (H5066) · Open the biblical lexicon
H5066 names movement toward someone or something and, by context, can describe approaching for worship, presentation, service, confrontation, or attack. The verb does not make nearness automatically holy; the speaker, purpose, object, and response determine whether the approach is welcome, obedient, hostile, or presumptuous.
The BSB source-word alignment has 125 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include approached (16), come near (5), approach (4), Bring (4), draw near (3).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 18:23. Its strongest book concentrations include Genesis (20), 1 Samuel (15), Exodus (13), 1 Kings (9).
H5066 names movement toward someone or something and, by context, can describe approaching for worship, presentation, service, confrontation, or attack. The verb does not make nearness automatically holy; the speaker, purpose, object, and response determine whether the approach is welcome, obedient, hostile, or presumptuous. In 1Kgs. 18. 21, elijah approaches the assembled people and confronts their divided allegiance between the Lord and Baal.
In 1Kgs. 18. 30, elijah invites the people to approach, and their nearness places them beside the repaired altar of the Lord. H5066 opens teaching on how people approach God, hear a summons, present an offering, face a decision, and come near to one another responsibly. It corrects teaching that treats emotional closeness, physical proximity, ritual movement, or confident speech as proof that an approach is faithful.
The pastoral force of H5066 lies in purposeful approach rather than distance alone: Elijah comes near to call Israel to decision, the people come near to a repaired altar, and the prophet steps forward at the appointed offering. For H5066, responsible teaching keeps lexical meaning, passage context, canonical synthesis, and present application distinguishable.
H5066 cannot by itself guarantee divine acceptance, authorize coercive access, or erase the consent and safety boundaries required in human relationships.
H5066 appears across passages that develop approach, worship, covenant decision, presentation, and accountable access. For H5066, the immediate setting decides which part of the range is active, so the witnesses must remain distinct rather than being merged into one formula.
Then Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him. But if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people did not answer a word.
Elijah approaches the assembled people and confronts their divided allegiance between the Lord and Baal.
Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” So all the people approached him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been torn down.
Elijah invites the people to approach, and their nearness places them beside the repaired altar of the Lord.
At the time of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet approached the altar and said, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and have done all these things at Your command.
At the time of sacrifice Elijah steps forward and grounds his prayer in the covenant God and divine command.
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. Core meaning "to approach" spans intimate, hostile, and devotional contexts—fundamentally relational.
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 3 selected witnesses from 125 lexical occurrence verses.
נָגַשׁ is a primitive root - no further derivation.
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
The pastoral force of H5066 lies in purposeful approach rather than distance alone: Elijah comes near to call Israel to decision, the people come near to a repaired altar, and the prophet steps forward at the appointed offering. H5066 names movement toward someone or something and, by context, can describe approaching for worship, presentation, service, confrontation, or attack.
The selected witnesses keep the teaching concrete: 1Kgs. 18. 21 shows that elijah approaches the assembled people and confronts their divided allegiance between the Lord and Baal. , while 1Kgs. 18. 30 shows that elijah invites the people to approach, and their nearness places them beside the repaired altar of the Lord.. 1Kgs. 18. 36 adds that at the time of sacrifice Elijah steps forward and grounds his prayer in the covenant God and divine command..
H5066 opens teaching on how people approach God, hear a summons, present an offering, face a decision, and come near to one another responsibly. It corrects teaching that treats emotional closeness, physical proximity, ritual movement, or confident speech as proof that an approach is faithful. A church teaching H5066 faithfully will name both the promise and the boundary carried by these contexts, attend to vulnerable hearers, and refuse to make the lexical item prove more than its passages support.
H5066 cannot by itself guarantee divine acceptance, authorize coercive access, or erase the consent and safety boundaries required in human relationships.
1Kgs.18.21
H5066 is a Hebrew verb whose broad approach range includes drawing near, bringing something near, presenting a case or offering, and advancing in conflict; syntax and object identify the active sense.
The New Testament repeatedly calls believers to draw near to God through Christ, yet that canonical trajectory must not be treated as if every later Greek approach verb were the same lexical item as H5066.