To rest , i.e. settle down; used in a great variety of applications, literal and figurative, intransitive, transitive and causative (to dwell , stay , let fall , place , let alone , withdraw , give comfort , etc.)
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נוּחַ (nuach) is the Hebrew word for rest — the settling down, the ceasing from turmoil, the arrival at the place of quietness where YHWH's provision makes striving unnecessary. It is one of Scripture's most theologically loaded verbs: its range covers the ark resting on Ararat after the flood (Gen 8:4), the Spirit resting on the elders (Num 11:25), YHWH giving his people rest from their enemies (Deut 12:10), and.
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Full entry for נוּחַ (H5117) · Open the biblical lexicon
נוּחַ (nuach) is the Hebrew word for rest — the settling down, the ceasing from turmoil, the arrival at the place of quietness where YHWH's provision makes striving unnecessary. It is one of Scripture's most theologically loaded verbs: its range covers the ark resting on Ararat after the flood (Gen 8:4), the Spirit resting on the elders (Num 11:25), YHWH.
The BSB source-word alignment has 141 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include rest (8), gave them rest (3), had given him rest (3), Leave (3), may rest (3).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 2:15. Its strongest book concentrations include Ezekiel (17), Isaiah (15), Exodus (10), Joshua (9).
This entry includes 3 verse guides that explain exact original-language forms in context.
נוּחַ (nuach) is the Hebrew word for rest — the settling down, the ceasing from turmoil, the arrival at the place of quietness where YHWH's provision makes striving unnecessary. It is one of Scripture's most theologically loaded verbs: its range covers the ark resting on Ararat after the flood (Gen 8:4), the Spirit resting on the elders (Num 11:25), YHWH giving his people rest from their enemies (Deut 12:10), and the eschatological rest that Hebrews 4 calls the Sabbath-rest remaining for the people of God.
Genesis 8:4 gives nuach its deliverance form: 'And the ark rested (vatanach) in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat.' The ark — the vessel of salvation through judgment — rests at last. The nuach of the ark is the sign that the judgment-waters are spent and the new creation can begin. Noah (Noach, from the same root: 'this one will bring us relief') names the man whose name is the promise of what his work will deliver. The ark resting on Ararat is a miniature eschatology: the saved emerge from the vessel into a world that has been through judgment and is ready for a new beginning.
Numbers 11:25-26 gives nuach its Spirit-resting form: 'And YHWH came down in the cloud and spoke to him and took some of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. And when the Spirit rested (vatanach) on them, they prophesied, but they did not continue doing so.' The Spirit of YHWH rests on the elders: the nuach of the Spirit is the moment of empowerment for leadership. Eldad and Medad receive the Spirit in the camp (v. 26) — the Spirit's nuach is not confined to the Tent of Meeting. Joshua objects (v. 28); Moses responds (v. 29): 'Would that all YHWH's people were prophets and that YHWH would put his Spirit on them!' This longing of Moses is fulfilled at Pentecost (Acts 2:16-18).
Deuteronomy 12:10 gives nuach its land-gift form: 'But when you go over the Jordan and live in the land that YHWH your God is giving you to inherit, and when he gives you rest (heniach, Hiphil) from all your enemies around you, so that you live in safety, then to the place that YHWH your God will choose to make his name dwell there...' The Hiphil of nuach — YHWH causes them to rest — is the gift of rest from enemies as the precondition for centralized worship. The land is the rest-space; YHWH's gift of rest enables the people to gather at the one place YHWH chooses. The temple will be built in the rest-season.
Psalm 23:2 gives nuach its pastoral form: 'He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters (al mei menuchot — literally, beside waters of rest).' The mei menuchot are the nuach-waters: the waters that do not roar with threat but rest in quietness. The shepherd-psalm's nuach is the gift of restful provision — the sheep is not fighting for survival at the waterhole but led to waters where rest is possible.
Isaiah 11:10 gives nuach its eschatological form: 'In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples — of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place (menuchah) shall be glorious.' The Messiah's menuchah — his resting place, his dwelling — will be glorious: the place where the Spirit of YHWH rests (v. 2: 'the Spirit of YHWH shall rest upon him') becomes the place of eschatological nuach for the nations.
For the preacher, נוּחַ (nuach) gives the congregation the grammar of divine rest: the rest YHWH gives is not laziness but the arrival at the place of secure provision where striving against threat is no longer necessary.
נוּחַ (nuach) is currently indexed about 67 times in the local Hebrew index. Its theological range covers the ark's nuach after the flood (Gen 8:4), the Spirit's nuach on the elders (Num 11:25), YHWH's Hiphil gift of rest from enemies (Deut 12:10), the pastoral nuach of Psalm 23:2 (waters of rest), and the eschatological Messiah's glorious resting place (Isa 11:10). The noun derivative מְנוּחָה (menuchah, H4496, rest/resting place) is central to the Sabbath-rest theology that Hebrews 4 develops.
He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.
Nuach as pastoral provision: 'He makes me lie down (yarbitseni) in green pastures; he leads me beside mei menuchot (waters of rest).' The Hebrew is mei menuchot — 'waters of rest-places,' the rest being the noun menuchah. The shepherd does not bring the sheep to turbulent or threatening water (which would require the sheep to fight for access) but to still, restful water.
The nuach-waters are the sign of the shepherd's provision: the sheep is in a place where no threat requires vigilance. This is the most pastorally intimate use of the nuach-root in the Psalms.
On the seventeenth day of the seventh month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.
The ark's nuach after the flood: 'vatanach (and it rested) on the mountains of Ararat.' The ark's resting is the first nuach in the post-judgment narrative. The waters of judgment abate; the vessel of salvation settles. The date detail — the seventh month, seventeenth day — carries Sabbath resonance (the seventh month is the month of Yom Kippur and Sukkot). The ark's nuach is the covenant signal that judgment is complete.
The name Noah (Noach, H5146, from nuach) is explained in Genesis 5:29: 'This one will bring us relief (yenachameinu, from nacham) from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.' The nuach-rest and the nacham-comfort share a root context.
Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and He took some of the Spirit that was on Moses and placed that Spirit on the seventy elders. As the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied—but they never did so again.
The Spirit's nuach on the seventy: 'when the Spirit rested (vatanach) on them, they prophesied.' The Spirit resting (nuach) on the elders is the OT's image of Spirit-empowerment: the Spirit settles, stays, rests on the person and enables prophetic speech. The same verb appears in Isaiah 11:2 of the Messiah: 'the Spirit of YHWH shall rest (nuach) on him.' The Spirit's nuach is not a momentary visit but a settling-presence.
Moses's longing (Num 11:29 — 'would that all YHWH's people were prophets') points forward to Joel 2:28-29 and Acts 2:17: the Spirit poured out on all flesh.
When you cross the Jordan and live in the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, and He gives you rest from all the enemies around you and you dwell securely,
YHWH's Hiphil gift of rest as the precondition for worship: 'when he gives you rest (heniach, Hiphil) from all your enemies, so that you live in safety (betach), then to the place YHWH chooses...' The Hiphil of nuach is YHWH's action: he is the one who grants rest. The rest from enemies is not merely physical security — it is the precondition for the central sanctuary and the gathered worship that will happen there.
Joshua 21:44 fulfills this: 'YHWH gave them rest on every side just as he had sworn to their fathers.' The temple is built in the rest-season (1 Kgs 8:56).
On that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples. The nations will seek Him, and His place of rest will be glorious.
The Messiah's glorious menuchah: 'the root of Jesse (shoresh Yishai) who stands as a banner for peoples — the nations shall seek him, and his menuchah (resting place) shall be glorious (kavod).' Isaiah 11:2 establishes that the Spirit of YHWH rests (nuach) on the Messiah; v. 10 extends this: the Messiah's own resting place is glorious. The nations come not to a throne of power but to a menuchah — the place of rest.
Paul quotes Isaiah 11:10 in Romans 15:12 ('the root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope'), applying it to the inclusion of the Gentiles in the messianic community.
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Verse-level guides showing how this original-language form works in its specific context, including grammar, verse function, and guarded interpretation.
Hebrew word. Rest as foundational cessation: physical settling evolves into peaceful dwelling, divine comfort, and covenantal stability.
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 4 selected witnesses from 67 lexical occurrence verses.
נוּחַ 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.
נוּחַ (nuach) gives the congregation the grammar of divine rest: the rest YHWH gives is not idleness but arrival. It is the secure settling-down that becomes possible when threat has been removed by the Shepherd. The ark rests because the flood is over. The Spirit rests on the leaders because YHWH's presence has settled on them. YHWH gives Israel rest from enemies so that worship can begin at the central place.
Psalm 23's sheep lies beside the still waters not because it is sleepy but because the shepherd has led it to a place where rest is safe. And the Messiah's menuchah — his resting place — will be glorious, and the nations will come to it. The Hebrews 4 Sabbath-rest theology is the NT's fullest development of the nuach-line: 'there remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from their own work, just as God did from his' (Heb 4:9-10).
The Christian's entry into rest is not the cessation of all activity but the cessation of the striving-against-threat that characterized life under the law's condemnation. The rest YHWH gives in Christ is the arrival at the mei menuchot — the waters where the sheep no longer has to fight for survival.
Ps.23.2
נוּחַ (nuach) generates several important derivatives: מְנוּחָה (menuchah, H4496, resting place, rest, quiet — 21 occurrences); נֹחַ (Noach/Noah, H5146 — the patriarch's name); מָנוֹחַ (manoach, H4494, resting place — also the name of Samson's father). The Hiphil heniach (to cause to rest, to give rest, to set down, to leave) is very frequent and covers: YHWH giving Israel rest from enemies (Deut 12:10), leaving something behind (Gen 39:12 — Potiphar's wife heniach Joseph's garment), setting an object down (Ezek 37:1 — heniach me in the valley), and the Ark being deposited (1 Sam 6:18).
The related verb שָׁבַת (shavat, H7673, to cease/rest — source of Shabbat/Sabbath) is the Sabbath-rest word. Nuach and shavat together cover the theology of rest: nuach is the settled arrival at the place of rest; shavat is the ceasing from labor that marks the Sabbath. In NT Greek, the primary heir is anapauo (G373, to give rest, to refresh — used in Matt 11:28: 'I will give you rest,' anapausoo umas) and katapausis (G2663, rest/stopping place — used in Hebrews 4:1-11 for the Sabbath-rest).
Matthew 11:28-29 is the NT's most direct nuach-invitation: 'Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest (anapausoo umas — nuach in Greek form). Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest (anapauso) for your souls.' Jesus is using the language of the Old Testament rest-promises: the rest he offers (v.
28) And the rest they will find (v. 29, quoting Jer 6:16 — 'find rest for your souls') is the fulfillment of the menuchah toward which Israel's journey through the wilderness was pointing. Hebrews 4:1-11 is the fullest NT development of the nuach-theology: the Canaan-rest was a type (v. 8 — if Joshua had given them rest, there would be no need for another rest to be spoken of); the real rest (katapausis, the rest-stopping-place) remains for the people of God.
Revelation 14:13 gives nuach its eschatological-martyr form: 'Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on... that they may rest (anapausontai) from their labors.' The nuach of the dead in Christ is the Sabbath-rest arrived at through death: the labor is over, the rest has begun.
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