Hebrew word · H5055

נָגַח

tenagach

to gore

To gore or butt with the horns, used of an ox (Exod 21:28–32) and figuratively of a ruler pushing back peoples (Deut 33:17; 1 Kgs 22:11; Ps 44:5; Ezek 34:21). The hithpael form used here, attested only in this verse, means 'to engage in butting with someone', i.e. to lock horns.

Appears 11 times in 10 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to push, thrust, gore

1a) (Qal) to gore

1b) (Piel) to push or thrust at

1c) (Hithpael) to engage in thrusting, wage war

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 Daniel 11:40

Range of meaning

To gore or butt with the horns, used of an ox (Exod 21:28–32) and figuratively of a ruler pushing back peoples (Deut 33:17; 1 Kgs 22:11; Ps 44:5; Ezek 34:21). The hithpael form used here, attested only in this verse, means 'to engage in butting with someone', i.e. to lock horns.

Against the English

BSB/NIV 'engage him in battle' and ESV 'attack him' give the sense but lose the animal picture. KJV 'push at him' and YLT 'push himself forward with him' keep some of the butting motion.

Used elsewhere in the period

Daniel 8:4 has the Persian ram 'goring' (mənaggēaḥ) west, north and south, and in 8:7 the Greek goat strikes it. The Greek translation of Daniel attributed to Theodotion appears to render this verse with a verb meaning 'to lock horns', which keeps the image.

From the study of Deuteronomy 33:17

Range of meaning

To gore or butt with horns. The intensive form used here (piel) means to thrust or gore repeatedly, to drive back by goring. It is used of literal oxen and, in figures, of military conquest.

Against the English

KJV, YLT and WEB 'push' sounds like shoving. BSB, ESV and NIV 'gore' keep the violence of horn-thrusts.

How it drifted

In 1611 'push' could still carry the sense of thrusting with horns, a sense now lost. A modern reader hears a nudge.

Used elsewhere in the period

Exod 21:28–32, the law of the goring ox (the same root). 1 Kgs 22:11: Zedekiah makes iron horns and says, 'With these you shall gore Aram.' Ps 44:5: 'through you we gore our foes.' Dan 8:4: the ram goring west, north and south.

From the study of Psalm 44:5

Range of meaning

To push or thrust with the horns, to gore. It is used literally of oxen (Exodus 21:28–32) and rams or goats (Daniel 8:4). Figuratively it means a powerful party overwhelming others in battle. The intensive form (piel), which is used here, means to gore repeatedly or violently, to butt away.

Against the English

KJV/WEB 'push down', BSB 'repel', and ESV/NIV-type 'push (back)' all keep the idea of force driving the enemy away. None of them keeps the horn, so English readers lose a vivid animal picture that Hebrew hearers could not have missed.

How it drifted

Translators have long turned the animal image into a general verb so it reads as plain English. The image is not wrong, just strange in English. The Greek and Latin versions kept it.

Used elsewhere in the period

Deuteronomy 33:17: Joseph's 'horns are the horns of a wild ox; with them he shall gore (yenaggach) the peoples.' 1 Kings 22:11: the prophet Zedekiah makes iron horns and says, 'With these you shall gore (tenaggach) the Arameans.' Daniel 8:4 has the ram goring west, north and south. The Greek Septuagint here has keratioumen, 'we will butt with the horn.' The Latin Vulgate has ventilabimus cornu, 'we will toss with the horn.' In wider ancient Near Eastern art, kings were shown as bulls trampling enemies (Egypt's Narmer Palette) and wore horned crowns as signs of divine power (the Naram-Sin stele).

Where it appears

Exodus · 4

  1. Exodus 21:28 יִגַּ֨ח it will gore

    If an ox gores a man or woman to death, the ox must surely be stoned, and its meat must not be eaten. But the owner of the ox shall not be held responsible.

  2. Exodus 21:31 יִגָּ֖ח יִגָּ֑ח it will gore

    If the ox gores a son or a daughter, it shall be done to him according to the same rule.

  3. Exodus 21:32 יִגַּ֥ח it will gore

    If the ox gores a manservant or maidservant, the owner must pay thirty shekels of silver to the master of that servant, and the ox must be stoned.

Deuteronomy · 1

  1. Deuteronomy 33:17 יְנַגַּ֥ח he will gore

    His majesty is like a firstborn bull, and his horns are like those of a wild ox. With them he will gore the nations, even to the ends of the earth. Such are the myriads of Ephraim, and such are the thousands of Manasseh.”

    Here: An intensive verb form: to gore or butt repeatedly with the horns, as a dangerous ox does. In a blessing this future tense is both a prediction and a granting of power.

1 Kings · 1

  1. 1 Kings 22:11 תְּנַגַּ֥ח you will gore

    Now Zedekiah son of Chenaanah had made for himself iron horns and declared, “This is what the LORD says: ‘With these you shall gore the Arameans until they are finished off.’”

2 Chronicles · 1

  1. 2 Chronicles 18:10 תְּנַגַּ֥ח you will gore

    Now Zedekiah son of Chenaanah had made for himself iron horns and declared, “This is what the LORD says: ‘With these you shall gore the Arameans until they are finished off.’”

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 44:5 נְנַגֵּ֑חַ we gore

    Through You we repel our foes; through Your name we trample our enemies.

    Here: 'We gore' or 'we toss with the horn.' This is the word for an ox goring (Exodus 21:28). The intensive verb form pictures repeated or forceful butting. Israel pictures itself as a wild bull driving its enemies back with its horns. The tense can mean what happens habitually or what will happen.

Ezekiel · 1

  1. Ezekiel 34:21 תְּנַגְּח֖וּ you thrust at

    Since you shove with flank and shoulder, butting all the weak ones with your horns until you have scattered them abroad,

Daniel · 2

  1. Daniel 8:4 מְנַגֵּחַ֩ thrusting

    I saw the ram charging toward the west and the north and the south. No animal could stand against him, and there was no deliverance from his power. He did as he pleased and became great.

  2. Daniel 11:40 יִתְנַגַּ֤ח he will wage war

    At the time of the end, the king of the South will engage him in battle, but the king of the North will storm out against him with chariots, horsemen, and many ships, invading many countries and sweeping through them like a flood.

    Here: The verb for an ox goring or a horned animal butting. This form means 'to butt with someone' or 'lock horns'. It recalls the goring ram and goat of Daniel 8, so the kings are pictured as horned beasts clashing.

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