What does נָקָם (nāqām) mean in the Bible?
נָקָם (nāqām): Vengeance as divine prerogative; God reserves the right to repay wrongs, not humans
Hebrew · H5359
נָקָם
Revenge
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נָקָם H5359
Pronunciation nāqām
What does נָקָם (nāqām) mean in the Bible?
נָקָם (nāqām): Vengeance as divine prerogative; God reserves the right to repay wrongs, not humans
Full entry for נָקָם (H5359) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H5359?
The BSB source-word alignment has 17 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include Vengeance (7), of vengeance (4), . . . (2), the vengeance (1), they are avenged (1).
Where does נָקָם (nāqām) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Leviticus 26:25. Its strongest book concentrations include Isaiah (6), Deuteronomy (3), Ezekiel (3), Judges (1).
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 Vengeance 7× Deuteronomy 32:35, Deuteronomy 32:41, Deuteronomy 32:43, Isaiah 47:3
of vengeance 4× Proverbs 6:34, Isaiah 34:8, Isaiah 59:17, Isaiah 63:4
. . . 2× Ezekiel 24:8, Ezekiel 25:12
the vengeance 1× Leviticus 26:25
they are avenged 1× Psalms 58:10
vengeful blow 1× Judges 16:28
with vengeance 1× Isaiah 35:4
Show sample aligned rows
Leviticus 26:25 נְקַם־ to the vengeance Noun - masculine singular construct Deuteronomy 32:35 נָקָם֙ to Vengeance Noun - masculine singular Deuteronomy 32:41 נָקָם֙ to vengeance Noun - masculine singular Deuteronomy 32:43 וְנָקָם֙ to vengeance Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular Judges 16:28 נְקַם־ to vengeful blow Noun - masculine singular construct Psalms 58:10 נָקָ֑ם to they are avenged Noun - masculine singular Proverbs 6:34 נָקָֽם׃ to of vengeance Noun - masculine singular Isaiah 34:8 נָקָ֖ם to of vengeance Noun - masculine singular Isaiah 35:4 נָקָ֣ם to with vengeance Noun - masculine singular Isaiah 47:3 נָקָ֣ם to vengeance Noun - masculine singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Leviticus 26:25
Aligned rows 17
Books represented 8
Leviticus 1 Deuteronomy 3 Judges 1 Psalms 1 Proverbs 1 Isaiah 6 Ezekiel 3 Micah 1
Source forms
נָקָ֖ם 5x nā·qām Isaiah 34:8, Isaiah 61:2, Isaiah 63:4, Ezekiel 25:12
נָקָם֙ 4x nā·qām Deuteronomy 32:35, Deuteronomy 32:41, Isaiah 59:17, Ezekiel 25:15
נָקָ֣ם 2x nā·qām Isaiah 35:4, Isaiah 47:3
נְקַם־ 2x nə·qam- Leviticus 26:25, Judges 16:28
וְנָקָם֙ 1x wə·nā·qām Deuteronomy 32:43
נָקָ֑ם 1x nā·qām Psalms 58:10
נָקָ֔ם 1x nā·qām Ezekiel 24:8
נָקָֽם׃ 1x nā·qām Proverbs 6:34
Parsing patterns
Noun - masculine singular 14x Deuteronomy 32:35, Deuteronomy 32:41, Psalms 58:10, Proverbs 6:34
Noun - masculine singular construct 2x Leviticus 26:25, Judges 16:28
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular 1x Deuteronomy 32:43
Evidence Summary
Justice
Hebrew word. Vengeance as divine prerogative; God reserves the right to repay wrongs, not humans
Source Gloss
revenge
Extended definition Source: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Vengeance as divine prerogative; God reserves the right to repay wrongs, not humans
revenge BDB: vengeance Usage: avenged, quarrel, vengeance.
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.
Old Testament Witnesses
Retributive justice.
Retribution or avenging justice.
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 17 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
נָקָם is built from this root:
Why This Word Matters
Highlights God’s faithful response to injustice against Zion. Isaiah 34:1-8
Affirms that judgment belongs to the Lord. Isaiah 47:1-7
Canonical Themes
Justice
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