What does נֵכָר (nēkār) mean in the Bible?
נֵכָר (nēkār): Marks the outsider to covenant community; carries religious otherness beyond mere geography or ethnicity
Hebrew · H5236
נֵכָר
Foreign , or (concretely) a foreigner , or (abstractly) heathendom
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נֵכָר H5236
Pronunciation nēkār
What does נֵכָר (nēkār) mean in the Bible?
נֵכָר (nēkār): Marks the outsider to covenant community; carries religious otherness beyond mere geography or ethnicity
Full entry for נֵכָר (H5236) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H5236?
The BSB source-word alignment has 36 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include . . . (17), the foreign (7), foreign (5), a foreign (1), foreigner (1).
Where does נֵכָר (nēkār) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 17:12. Its strongest book concentrations include Psalms (6), Isaiah (5), Genesis (4), Ezekiel (3).
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It . . . 17× Genesis 17:27, Exodus 12:43, Leviticus 22:25, 2 Samuel 22:45
the foreign 7× Genesis 35:2, Deuteronomy 31:16, Joshua 24:23, Judges 10:16
foreign 5× Genesis 35:4, Deuteronomy 32:12, Joshua 24:20, Nehemiah 13:30
a foreign 1× Psalms 137:4
foreigner 1× Genesis 17:12
of a foreign 1× Malachi 2:11
of foreigners 1× Psalms 144:7
the help of a foreign 1× Daniel 11:39
to a foreign 1× Psalms 81:9
with their worthless foreign 1× Jeremiah 8:19
Show sample aligned rows
Genesis 17:12 נֵכָ֔ר to foreigner Noun - masculine singular Genesis 17:27 נֵכָ֑ר to . . . Noun - masculine singular Genesis 35:2 הַנֵּכָר֙ to the foreign Article | Noun - masculine singular Genesis 35:4 הַנֵּכָר֙ to foreign Article | Noun - masculine singular Exodus 12:43 נֵכָ֖ר to . . . Adjective - masculine singular Leviticus 22:25 נֵכָ֗ר to . . . Noun - masculine singular Deuteronomy 31:16 נֵֽכַר־ to the foreign Noun - masculine singular construct Deuteronomy 32:12 נֵכָֽר׃ to foreign Noun - masculine singular Joshua 24:20 נֵכָ֑ר to foreign Noun - masculine singular Joshua 24:23 הַנֵּכָ֖ר to the foreign Article | Noun - masculine singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Genesis 17:12
Aligned rows 36
Books represented 16
Genesis 4 Exodus 1 Leviticus 1 Deuteronomy 2 Joshua 2 Judges 1 1 Samuel 1 2 Samuel 2 2 Chronicles 2 Nehemiah 2 Psalms 6 Isaiah 5 Jeremiah 2 Ezekiel 3 Daniel 1 Malachi 1
Source forms
נֵכָֽר׃ 6x nê·ḵār Deuteronomy 32:12, Psalms 81:9, Psalms 137:4, Psalms 144:7
נֵכָ֔ר 4x nê·ḵār Genesis 17:12, Isaiah 61:5, Ezekiel 44:9, Daniel 11:39
נֵכָ֑ר 4x nê·ḵār Genesis 17:27, Joshua 24:20, Nehemiah 9:2, Nehemiah 13:30
הַנֵּכָר֙ 3x han·nê·ḵār Genesis 35:2, Genesis 35:4, Judges 10:16
נֵכָ֖ר 3x nê·ḵār Exodus 12:43, 2 Samuel 22:45, 2 Samuel 22:46
נֵכָ֗ר 3x nê·ḵār Leviticus 22:25, Ezekiel 44:7, Ezekiel 44:9
נֵכָר֙ 3x nê·ḵār Isaiah 60:10, Isaiah 62:8, Jeremiah 5:19
הַנֵּכָ֖ר 2x han·nê·ḵār Joshua 24:23, 2 Chronicles 14:3
Parsing patterns
Noun - masculine singular 25x Genesis 17:12, Genesis 17:27, Leviticus 22:25, Deuteronomy 32:12
Article | Noun - masculine singular 9x Genesis 35:2, Genesis 35:4, Joshua 24:23, Judges 10:16
Adjective - masculine singular 1x Exodus 12:43
Noun - masculine singular construct 1x Deuteronomy 31:16
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Marks the outsider to covenant community; carries religious otherness beyond mere geography or ethnicity
Source Gloss
foreign , or (concretely) a foreigner , or (abstractly) heathendom
Extended definition Source: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Marks the outsider to covenant community; carries religious otherness beyond mere geography or ethnicity
foreign, or (concretely) a foreigner, or (abstractly) heathendom BDB: that which is foreign Usage: alien, strange ( -er).
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
Moses identified as foreign, outsider to Egyptian society and culture
Foreign persons welcomed into covenant community despite their alien status
Foreign nations and gods represent heathendom opposed to Yahweh's covenant people
Showing 3 selected witnesses from 36 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
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.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain