Hebrew word · H2186

זָנַח

zanach

to reject

To reject, spurn, cast off, treat as repugnant. It is strong language for pushing away or discarding something or someone, often with a sense of disgust.

Appears 20 times in 20 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to cast off, reject, spurn

1a) (Qal) to reject

1b) (Hiphil) to forcefully reject someone

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Psalm 43:2

Range of meaning

To reject, spurn, cast off, treat as repugnant. It is strong language for pushing away or discarding something or someone, often with a sense of disgust.

Against the English

KJV and YLT say "cast off". BSB, WEB, ESV, NIV and NASB say "rejected". NLT's "tossed me aside" is vivid but a little casual for a word this harsh.

Used elsewhere in the period

It is used of God rejecting his people in community laments: Ps 44:9, 23 (in the same Korahite collection), 60:1, 10, 74:1, 77:7, 88:14, 89:38. Lam 2:7 has "the Lord has spurned his altar", and Lam 3:17, 31 "the Lord will not cast off forever". Hos 8:3, 5 uses it of Israel spurning the good, and God spurning Samaria's calf idol.

From the study of Lamentations 3:31

Range of meaning

To reject or spurn, to push away as unwanted, to treat as loathsome or worthless. With God as the subject it describes a withdrawal of favour from his people, his altar or a king: the relationship has been put aside and protection taken away. Some lexicons (BDB) list a separate root זנח meaning 'to stink' (Isa 19:6). Whether the two are linked, with rejection pictured as 'finding something rancid', is uncertain, and nothing in this verse depends on it.

Against the English

KJV/WEB/ESV 'cast off', NASB 'reject', BSB 'cast us off', NIV/NLT turn it into a passive ('no one is cast off/abandoned'). 'Reject' and 'spurn' keep the relational and emotional edge better than 'cast off'. To a modern ear 'cast off' suggests untying a boat or throwing away clothes.

How it drifted

The KJV's 'cast off' was a natural phrase for rejecting a person in 1611. Today its main senses are nautical and about clothing, so the verb sounds milder and more mechanical than the Hebrew.

Used elsewhere in the period

This is the standard lament vocabulary for divine rejection. Ps 44:10, 24 ('Do not reject us for ever!'); Ps 74:1 ('Why, O God, do you reject us for ever?'); Ps 77:8 [Eng. 77:7], 'Will the Lord reject for ever?', which uses the same verb with the same subject, Adonai, in almost the same words; Ps 89:39 [Eng. 89:38]. In Lamentations itself, 2:7 says 'The Lord has rejected (zānaḥ ʾădōnāy) his altar.' The Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation) renders it here with apōtheomai, 'thrust away'.

From the study of Psalm 74:1

Range of meaning

To reject, spurn, cast off or throw away something you once held or valued. It is a word for repudiation, not mere neglect. With God as the subject it means turning away from his people or from his own sanctuary (Lam 2:7: 'The Lord has rejected his altar'). With people as the subject it is used for spurning what is good (Hos 8:3).

Against the English

'Rejected' (BSB, WEB, and NIV, which also says 'forever') and 'cast off' (KJV, YLT) are both accurate. 'Cast off' keeps the physical picture of throwing something away, which suits a flock left to the wolves.

Used elsewhere in the period

The word clusters in communal and royal laments: Ps 43:2; 44:9, 23; 60:1, 10; 77:7 (also an Asaph psalm: 'Will the Lord reject forever?'); 88:14; 89:38; 108:11; Lam 2:7; 3:17, 31 ('the Lord will not reject forever'). Lamentations 3:31 answers our verse directly, with the same verb and the same idea of permanence.

Where it appears

1 Chronicles · 1

  1. 1 Chronicles 28:9 יַזְנִיחֲךָ֥ he will reject you

    As for you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve Him wholeheartedly and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands the intent of every thought. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.

    Here: To throw off or spurn, as something loathed or no longer wanted. It is a strong word for rejection.

2 Chronicles · 2

  1. 2 Chronicles 11:14 הִזְנִיחָ֤ם he had rejected them

    For the Levites left their pasturelands and their possessions and went to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them as priests of the LORD.

  2. 2 Chronicles 29:19 הִזְנִיחַ֩ he had rejected

    Moreover, we have prepared and consecrated all the articles that King Ahaz in his unfaithfulness cast aside during his reign. They are now in front of the altar of the LORD.”

Psalms · 10

  1. Psalm 43:2 זְנַ֫חְתָּ֥נִי have you rejected me

    For You are the God of my refuge. Why have You rejected me? Why must I walk in sorrow because of the enemy’s oppression?

    Here: "Have you rejected me": a perfect verb, so the rejection is felt as already done. It is a hard word, used of throwing away something you find repugnant, and in the Psalms of God casting off his people (Ps 44:9, 23; 74:1).

  2. Psalm 44:9 זָ֭נַחְתָּ you have rejected

    But You have rejected and humbled us; You no longer go forth with our armies.

    Here: "You have rejected / pushed away." The verb has no object of its own; the "us" of the next verb covers both. It is the standard word in Israel's laments for God turning his back on his people (Ps 43:2; 74:1; 77:7; 89:38). The completed form presents this as something that has already happened and still stands.

  3. Psalm 44:23 תִּזְנַ֥ח you reject [us]

    Wake up, O Lord! Why are You sleeping? Arise! Do not reject us forever.

    Here: "Cast [us] off." There is no "us" in the Hebrew, but it is clearly implied. The word picks up the charge in v. 9: "But you have rejected us (zānaḥtā)." It is the language of a lord casting off his own people, and Lamentations 2:7 uses it of God rejecting his own altar.

  4. Psalm 60:1 זְנַחְתָּ֣נוּ you have rejected us

    For the choirmaster. To the tune of “The Lily of the Covenant.” A Miktam of David for instruction. When he fought Aram-naharaim and Aram-zobah, and Joab returned and struck down 12,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. You have rejected us, O God; You have broken us; You have been angry; restore us!

    Here: "You have spurned us": a completed action whose effects are still felt. It is a hard word, used for throwing away something you find distasteful. Verse 10 defines it in this psalm: God "no longer goes out with our armies."

  5. Psalm 60:10 זְנַחְתָּ֑נוּ have you rejected us

    Have You not rejected us, O God? Will You no longer march out, O God, with our armies?

  6. Psalm 74:1 זָנַ֣חְתָּ have you rejected [us]

    A Maskil of Asaph. Why have You rejected us forever, O God? Why does Your anger smolder against the sheep of Your pasture?

    Here: The verb form treats the rejection as already done: 'you have thrown [us] away.' The object is not stated. Most translations supply 'us' from the context.

  7. Psalm 77:7 יִזְנַ֥ח׀ will he reject

    “Will the Lord spurn us forever and never show His favor again?

    Here: Will he throw away, push off as unwanted. The verb has no object in Hebrew: the speaker does not say 'us' or 'me', so the rejection hangs in the air with no limit on it.

  8. Psalm 88:14 תִּזְנַ֣ח do you reject

    Why, O LORD, do You reject me? Why do You hide Your face from me?

  9. Psalm 89:38 זָ֭נַחְתָּ you have spurned

    Now, however, You have spurned and rejected him; You are enraged by Your anointed one.

    Here: To push away or discard something that used to be valued, like a thing thrown aside. The verb form presents it as something already done. It is a standard word in laments, the psalms of complaint ('why have you cast us off?', Ps 44:9, 74:1).

  10. Psalm 108:11 זְנַחְתָּ֑נוּ have you rejected us

    Have You not rejected us, O God? Will You no longer march out, O God, with our armies?

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 19:6 וְהֶאֶזְנִ֣יחוּ and they will stink

    The canals will stink; the streams of Egypt will trickle and dry up; the reeds and rushes will wither.

Lamentations · 3

  1. Lamentations 2:7 זָנַ֨ח he has rejected

    The Lord has rejected His altar; He has abandoned His sanctuary; He has delivered the walls of her palaces into the hand of the enemy. They have raised a shout in the house of the LORD as on the day of an appointed feast.

    Here: The opening word, and the letter zayin that starts this verse of the alphabet poem. It is the language of the lament psalms ('Why have you cast us off?'), used of God pushing away what had been his own. Here the thing pushed away is his own altar.

  2. Lamentations 3:17 וַתִּזְנַ֧ח and it has excluded

    My soul has been deprived of peace; I have forgotten what prosperity is.

  3. Lamentations 3:31 יִזְנַ֛ח he will reject

    For the Lord will not cast us off forever.

    Here: To push someone or something away in disfavour, to treat it as unwanted. The verb has no object in Hebrew. The poet does not say whom the Lord rejects, so the statement reads as a general truth about God's ways. The verb form can mean 'will not' or 'does not'.

Hosea · 2

  1. Hosea 8:3 זָנַ֥ח it has rejected

    But Israel has rejected good; an enemy will pursue him.

  2. Hosea 8:5 זָנַח֙ he has rejected

    He has rejected your calf, O Samaria. My anger burns against them. How long will they be incapable of innocence?

Zechariah · 1

  1. Zechariah 10:6 זְנַחְתִּ֑ים I had rejected them

    I will strengthen the house of Judah and save the house of Joseph. I will restore them because I have compassion on them, and they will be as though I had not rejected them. For I am the LORD their God, and I will answer them.

    Here: 'I had cast them off.' This is a strong word for pushing someone away in disgust. The promise is that the rejection, which really happened in the exile, will leave no trace.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.