Properly, to strike in, i.e. fix ; specifically, to plant (literally or figuratively)
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H5193 is a Hebrew verb for planting, setting something firmly, or establishing a person or people in a place. Genesis 2:8 says the LORD God planted a garden in Eden and placed the formed man there, portraying God as the initiating cultivator and giver of habitation.
Reader summary
Full entry for נָטַע (H5193) · Open the biblical lexicon
H5193 is a Hebrew verb for planting, setting something firmly, or establishing a person or people in a place. Genesis 2:8 says the LORD God planted a garden in Eden and placed the formed man there, portraying God as the initiating cultivator and giver of habitation.
The BSB source-word alignment has 58 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include plant (6), and plant (5), You will plant (5), and planted (2), and will plant them (2).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 2:8. Its strongest book concentrations include Jeremiah (16), Isaiah (8), Psalms (6), Deuteronomy (5).
H5193 is a Hebrew verb for planting, setting something firmly, or establishing a person or people in a place. Genesis 2:8 says the Lord God planted a garden in Eden and placed the formed man there, portraying God as the initiating cultivator and giver of habitation. Second Samuel 7:10 promises that God will appoint a place for Israel and plant them so they may dwell securely without continued oppression.
Proverbs 31:16 describes the capable woman evaluating a field, buying it, and planting a vineyard from her earnings, joining cultivation to judgment, labor, and economic agency. Other passages describe vineyards, trees, gardens, idolatrous poles, prophetic work of building and planting, and restoration after desolation. H5193 opens teaching on creation, rootedness, patient cultivation, secure dwelling, and rebuilding.
It corrects interpretations that turn divine planting into permission for conquest, dispossession, nationalism, or promises that every believer will receive permanent property and freedom from disruption now.
H5193 commonly describes planting trees, vineyards, and gardens, while poetry and prophecy extend it to establishing people, nations, wisdom, or royal tents. Planting can bless, restore, or serve idolatry, so the planter, object, place, and covenant setting determine its significance.
And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, where He placed the man He had formed.
The Lord plants the garden in Eden and places the human creature there within the creation account.
And I will provide a place for My people Israel and will plant them so that they may dwell in a place of their own and be disturbed no more. No longer will the sons of wickedness oppress them as they did at the beginning
God promises to plant Israel in an appointed place where oppression will no longer keep disturbing them.
She appraises a field and buys it; from her earnings she plants a vineyard.
The woman considers a field, purchases it, and plants a vineyard from the fruit of her own work.
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. To plant or fix firmly; establishes lasting growth, whether literal crops or figurative establishments (institutions, character).
To plant or fix firmly; establishes lasting growth, whether literal crops or figurative establishments (institutions, character).
properly, to strike in, i.e. fix; specifically, to plant (literally or figuratively) BDB: plant Usage: fastened, plant(-er).
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 5 selected witnesses from 59 lexical occurrence verses.
נָטַע 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.
H5193 presents planting as purposeful investment in a place and future. God plants Eden before placing the human there, so human cultivation begins within a world already given and ordered by the Creator. Proverbs 31 shows human agency within that gift: the woman evaluates, purchases, earns, and plants. Her vineyard is neither effortless blessing nor passive domesticity; it is wise economic action aimed at later fruit.
Second Samuel uses planting for Israel's hoped-for security, explicitly contrasting rooted dwelling with oppression and disturbance. That promise must be read within the covenant narrative, including the justice God requires of His people and the complex history of the land. It cannot be detached to validate any modern group's conquest or erase the dignity and claims of present neighbors.
Prophets also speak of uprooting and planting, rebuilding desolation, and vineyards whose exploitative owners will not enjoy their fruit. Planting is not automatically righteous. An Asherah may be planted, and unjust wealth may finance a vineyard under judgment. H5193 calls for patient cultivation, stable homes, ethical investment, and hope for displaced people while keeping land, labor, and power accountable to God.
Pastoral use should comfort those longing for rootedness without promising property ownership, geographic permanence, or exemption from future loss.
2Sam.7.10
H5193 primarily means plant and can extend from vegetation to people, tents, or figurative establishment. The same verb can describe constructive cultivation, divine placement, idolatrous installation, or a ruler's temporary encampment, depending on its object.
The New Testament develops planting imagery for God's work, human ministry, spiritual growth, and the final rooting or removal of what the Father has not planted. These later uses preserve God's primacy without converting every Old Testament land promise into a direct property claim.