Hebrew word · H3267

יָעַז

no'az

be fierce

This form occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible, so its meaning has to be worked out from related words. Most lexicons (BDB, HALOT) connect it with the root ʿzz / ʿaz, 'strong, hard, fierce, brazen'. The form here is a passive-reflexive participle, roughly 'one who has made himself hard'.

Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to be strong, be fierce (meaning uncertain)

1a) (Niphal) barbarous (participle)

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 Isaiah 33:19

Range of meaning

This form occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible, so its meaning has to be worked out from related words. Most lexicons (BDB, HALOT) connect it with the root ʿzz / ʿaz, 'strong, hard, fierce, brazen'. That root gives ʿaz pānîm, 'hard-faced', meaning shameless or defiant (Deuteronomy 28:50; Proverbs 7:13; Daniel 8:23). The form here is a passive-reflexive participle, roughly 'one who has made himself hard'. The result is 'insolent, brazen, fierce'.

Against the English

The KJV, WEB and NASB have 'fierce', which brings out the violence. The BSB and ESV have 'insolent' and the NIV 'arrogant', which bring out the defiance. YLT's 'strong' is the most literal but the weakest. Each of these picks up one side of a root that holds both together: harsh strength used with contempt.

Used elsewhere in the period

Deuteronomy 28:49–50 describes the covenant-curse nation as 'a nation whose language you will not understand, a nation hard of face (ʿaz pānîm)'. That links the same two ideas as this verse: a brazen people and a language no one can follow. The Vulgate's 'populum impudentem' ('a shameless people') shows that ancient translators understood it as insolence.

Where it appears

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 33:19 נוֹעָ֖ז barbarous

    You will no longer see the insolent, a people whose speech is unintelligible, who stammer in a language you cannot understand.

    Here: The word appears only here in the Bible. It is usually linked to the root for 'strong/hard' (ʿzz), so it means brazen, defiant, harsh. It describes the arrogant power of the occupier. Some scholars read it as 'foreign-speaking' instead (see debates).

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