What does נוּעַ (nûʿa) mean in the Bible?
Moving or wavering can describe shifting bodies, swaying objects or a person wandering without a settled place. Its broad use does not make every movement evidence of moral uncertainty.
Hebrew · H5128
נוּעַ
Moving or wavering can describe shifting bodies, swaying objects or a person wandering without a settled place. Its broad use does not make every movement evidence of moral uncertainty.
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נוּעַH5128
Pronunciationnûʿa
What does נוּעַ (nûʿa) mean in the Bible?
Reader summary
Full entry for נוּעַ (H5128) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H5128?
The BSB source-word alignment has 40 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include and shake (3), sway (3), . . . (2), a fugitive (2), shaken (2).
Where does נוּעַ (nûʿa) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 4:12. Its strongest book concentrations include Isaiah (8), Psalms (7), Amos (4), Judges (3).
What This Word Actually Means
Moving or wavering can describe shifting bodies, swaying objects or a person wandering without a settled place. Its broad use does not make every movement evidence of moral uncertainty. Genesis 4:12 places Cain's wandering within the judgment following his murder of Abel. First Samuel 1:13 describes Hannah's lips moving while she prays silently, an action Eli initially misunderstands.
Psalm 107:27 portrays sailors staggering during a storm before they cry to the Lord. The relevant movement belongs to exile, prayer or physical distress according to the scene. A teacher must identify what moves and why before judging it. These witnesses especially discourage treating outward instability as a reliable description of someone's faith or character.
Scripture can name bodily motion and frightening circumstances accurately while reserving moral judgment for the conduct and meaning actually supplied by the passage.
Passage contextPastoral application
How the Bible Uses It
Cain wanders under a particular judgment, Hannah's moving lips accompany prayer and sailors stagger in a storm. Different subjects and causes make the movement verb broader than a description of spiritual indecision.
- Gen.4.12
When you till the ground, it will no longer yield its produce to you. You will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.”
Cain's unsettled wandering is announced after Abel's murder and the ground's refusal of strength; this specific judgment does not classify all displaced people as guilty.
- 1Sam.1.13
Hannah was praying in her heart, and though her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard. So Eli thought she was drunk
Hannah's lips move while her voice is unheard, leading Eli to a mistaken assumption that her own explanation corrects in the following verses.
- Ps.107.27
They reeled and staggered like drunkards, and all their skill was useless.
The sailors' staggering is compared with drunkenness during dangerous waves, followed by their cry and deliverance; the comparison is not a report of intoxication.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itand shake3×Job 16:4, Psalms 22:7, Lamentations 2:15
sway3×Judges 9:9, Judges 9:11, Judges 9:13
. . .2×Psalms 109:10, Isaiah 24:20
a fugitive2×Genesis 4:12, Genesis 4:14
shaken2×Isaiah 7:2, Nahum 3:12
shakes2×2 Kings 19:21, Isaiah 37:22
[grain] is sifted1×Amos 9:9
and He made them wander1×Numbers 32:13
and I will shake1×Amos 9:9
and set me trembling1×Daniel 10:10
and shakes1×Zephaniah 2:15
and staggered1×Psalms 107:27
and sways1×Job 28:4
are unstable1×Proverbs 5:6
disturb1×2 Kings 23:18
People staggered1×Amos 4:8
People will stagger1×Amos 8:12
Scatter them1×Psalms 59:11
scavenge1×Psalms 59:15
shook1×Isaiah 6:4
should I make you1×2 Samuel 15:20
stagger1×Isaiah 29:9
staggers1×Isaiah 24:20
they shake1×Psalms 109:25
they trembled1×Exodus 20:18
They wandered1×Lamentations 4:14
to wander1×Jeremiah 14:10
trembled1×Isaiah 7:2
wander1×Psalms 109:10
wandered1×Lamentations 4:15
were moving1×1 Samuel 1:13
will tremble1×Isaiah 19:1
Show sample aligned rows
Genesis 4:12נָ֥עtoa fugitiveVerb - Qal - Participle - masculine singularGenesis 4:14נָ֤עtoa fugitiveVerb - Qal - Participle - masculine singularExodus 20:18וַיָּנֻ֔עוּtothey trembledConjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine pluralNumbers 32:13וַיְנִעֵם֙toand He made them wanderConjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular | third person masculine pluralJudges 9:9לָנ֖וּעַtoswayPreposition-l | Verb - Qal - Infinitive constructJudges 9:11לָנ֖וּעַtoswayPreposition-l | Verb - Qal - Infinitive constructJudges 9:13לָנ֖וּעַtoswayPreposition-l | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct1 Samuel 1:13נָּע֔וֹתtowere movingVerb - Qal - Participle - feminine plural2 Samuel 15:20אֲנוֹעֲךָtoshould I make youVerb - Hifil - Imperfect - first person common singular | second person masculine singular2 Kings 19:21הֵנִ֔יעָהtoshakesVerb - Hifil - Perfect - third person feminine singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowGenesis 4:12
Aligned rows40
Books represented17
Genesis2Exodus1Numbers1Judges31 Samuel12 Samuel12 Kings2Job2Psalms7Proverbs1Isaiah8Jeremiah1Lamentations3Daniel1Amos4Nahum1Zephaniah1
Source forms
לָנ֖וּעַ3xlā·nū·a‘Judges 9:9, Judges 9:11, Judges 9:13
הֵנִ֔יעָה2xhê·nî·‘āh2 Kings 19:21, Isaiah 37:22
אֲנוֹעֲךָ1xʾă·nō·ʿă·ḵå̄2 Samuel 15:20
הֲנִיעֵ֣מוֹ1xhă·nî·‘ê·mōwPsalms 59:11
וְאָנִ֥יעָה1xwə·’ā·nî·‘āhJob 16:4
וַהֲנִע֥וֹתִי1xwa·hă·ni·‘ō·w·ṯîAmos 9:9
וְ֭יָנוּעוּ1xwə·yā·nū·‘ūPsalms 107:27
וַיָּ֤נַע1xway·yā·na‘Isaiah 7:2
Parsing patterns
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person common plural5xJob 28:4, Proverbs 5:6, Isaiah 29:9, Lamentations 4:14
Preposition-l | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct4xJudges 9:9, Judges 9:11, Judges 9:13, Jeremiah 14:10
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - third person common plural3xIsaiah 19:1, Amos 4:8, Amos 8:12
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural2xExodus 20:18, Isaiah 6:4
Verb - Hifil - Perfect - third person feminine singular2x2 Kings 19:21, Isaiah 37:22
Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine singular2xGenesis 4:12, Genesis 4:14
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Conjunctive imperfect Cohortative - first person common singular1xJob 16:4
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Conjunctive perfect - first person common singular1xAmos 9:9
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Hear a person's account and attend to circumstances before judging motives from an outward action or visible instability.
- Keep moral responsibility tied to known conduct rather than appearance, displacement or an unsupported judgment about someone's body.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim moving lips indicate intoxication; First Samuel 1 explains Hannah's action as prayer and corrects Eli's assumption.
- Do not claim every wanderer shares Cain's guilt; Genesis 4 names the particular murder that precedes his judgment.
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Physical instability extending to moral/spiritual unsettledness; movement without secure foundation or direction.
Strong'sH5128
Lexical occurrences42 versesWord forms3 forms18 referencesVerse guides0 guides
Study linkGenesis 4:9-16Source Gloss
to waver , in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively (as subjoined)
Grammatical Forms
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.
Form groups3Aligned forms18
Qalbasic active stem — the word in its most common, direct sense11×
PerfectIsa 29:9 · Job 28:4 · Lam 4:14 · Lam 4:15 · Prov 5:65×
Participle active1Sam 1:13 · Gen 4:12 · Gen 4:143×
ImperfectIsa 24:20 · Ps 109:102×
Infinitive absoluteIsa 24:201×
Hiphilcausative active — the subject causes someone else to perform the action5×
Perfect2Kgs 19:21 · Isa 37:222×
ImperfectPs 22:8 · Zeph 2:152×
Jussive2Kgs 23:181×
Niphalpassive or reflexive — the subject receives or experiences the action2×
ImperfectAmos 9:9 · Nah 3:122×
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
Cain as a wanderer, forced to wander the earth as punishment for murder
Egypt's spirit wavering or staggering in confusion and fear before God's judgment
The earth shaking and reeling from divine judgment and cosmic disturbance
People wandering away from God, backsliding in their unfaithfulness
A murderer fleeing and wandering as a fugitive throughout his life
Showing 5 selected witnesses from 42 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
נוּעַ is a primitive root - no further derivation.
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
Eli sees Hannah's moving lips and initially gives that visible action the wrong explanation. The narrative then allows Hannah to name her own prayer and distress. This encounter is a useful warning against treating outward behavior as transparent access to another person's inner life. Psalm 107 likewise describes sailors staggering like drunken people without saying that drink caused their condition; the storm supplies the cause.
Cain's wandering carries a moral judgment because Genesis expressly connects it with his murder, not because unsettled movement inherently proves wrongdoing. Teachers should preserve these distinctions when speaking to people whose circumstances or bodies appear unstable. Careful listening can accompany truthful moral accountability. A word study should never turn a broad movement verb into a spiritual diagnosis or erase the passage's stated physical and narrative details.
Anchor passage
1Sam.1.13
Doctrinal connections
- Genesis 4:10-14 connects Cain's wandering with the named murder and its announced consequences rather than generic displacement.
- First Samuel 1:12-16 lets Hannah explain her silent prayer after Eli misinterprets her moving lips.
- Psalm 107:25-29 locates the sailors' staggering in storm waves and follows their cry with God's calming action.
- Judges 9:7-11 uses swaying over trees within Jotham's fable, another setting that cannot be reduced to wavering faith.
- Isaiah 7:1-4 compares frightened hearts with wind-shaken trees within a particular threat to Judah.
- Luke 24:36-40 records Jesus addressing startled disciples and showing His bodily presence, a thematic comparison that keeps their encounter distinct.
The verb covers several kinds of movement, from lips and trees to unsettled people. Genesis 4:12 renders the selected token as fugitive beside a separately tagged word for wanderer; the paired words must not be merged into one identifier. A simile such as staggering like the drunk retains its stated comparison.
From Old to New Testament
Hannah's prayer and the storm-tossed sailors show why visible movement requires context. Luke 24:36-40 describes startled disciples whom Jesus addresses and reassures by showing His bodily presence. That thematic comparison commends attention to the actual encounter; it does not equate Greek and Hebrew identities or make every trembling person an example of the disciples' doubts.
Passage contextCanonical parallelPastoral application