Hebrew word · H5074

נָדַד

nedod

to wander

To flee, retreat, depart; to wander or roam restlessly; to flutter (of a bird's wings, Isa 10:14); to be a fugitive or refugee (Isa 16:3; 21:14). The participle here describes ongoing displacement, not a single trip.

Appears 28 times in 26 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to retreat, flee, depart, move, wander abroad, stray, flutter

1a)(Qal)

1a1) to retreat, flee

1a2) to flee, depart

1a3) to wander, stray

1a4) to flutter (of birds)

1b) (Poal) to flee away, be chased

1c) (Hiphil) to chase away

1d) (Hophal) to be chased away

1e) (Hithpolel) to flee away

Aramaic equivalent: ne.dad (נְדַד "to flee" H5075)

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 Hosea 9:17

Range of meaning

To flee, retreat, depart; to wander or roam restlessly; to flutter (of a bird's wings, Isa 10:14); to be a fugitive or refugee (Isa 16:3; 21:14). The participle here describes ongoing displacement, not a single trip.

Against the English

'Wanderers' (all major versions) is right but can sound aimless or even romantic in modern English. The Hebrew picture is a displaced person: a fugitive driven from home and unable to settle, like 'a bird that strays from its nest' (Prov 27:8, same verb).

How it drifted

Modern 'wanderer' has lost much of its older sense of being homeless and driven.

Used elsewhere in the period

Hosea 7:13: 'Woe to them, for they have strayed (nadedu) from me.' Hosea also pictures Ephraim as a bird several times (7:11–12; 9:11; 11:11). Isaiah 16:3 and 21:14 use the participle for refugees fleeing war. A similar-sounding phrase describes Cain as a 'fugitive and wanderer' (na' wanad, Gen 4:12), but that comes from a different, related root (nud), so the link is a matter of sound and idea rather than the same word.

From the study of Jeremiah 9:10

Range of meaning

To flee, flutter away, wander; used of birds leaving a nest (Prov 27:8; Isa 16:2) and of refugees (Isa 21:15; Hos 7:13).

Against the English

'Fled' is accurate. Paired with 'gone', it stresses that they are not coming back.

Used elsewhere in the period

Jer 4:25: 'all the birds of the heavens had fled' (kol-ʿof hashamayim nadadu), in Jeremiah's vision of the earth returned to 'formless and void'. Hos 4:3 and Zeph 1:3 similarly have the birds and beasts disappear under judgment.

From the study of Job 15:23

Range of meaning

To flee, wander, stray, flutter or be restless. It is used of fugitives running from battle (Isa 21:15), of birds driven from the nest (Prov 27:8; Isa 16:2), of sleep that 'flees' (Gen 31:40; Esth 6:1), and of people uprooted from their land (Hos 9:17).

Against the English

"Wanders" in English can sound aimless but harmless, like strolling. The Hebrew word carries displacement and insecurity. This is the wandering of someone who has lost his home and his place.

Used elsewhere in the period

Close in sound and sense to נוּד/נָד in God's curse on Cain, 'a restless wanderer' (נָע וָנָד, Gen 4:12, 14), the classic picture of the guilty man cast out. Psalm 59:15 uses the related נוּעַ of enemies who 'wander about for food' like dogs, and Psalm 109:10 curses the wicked man's children to 'wander and beg.' The picture of the starving, roaming wicked was traditional.

Where it appears

Genesis · 1

  1. Genesis 31:40 וַתִּדַּ֥ד and it fled

    As it was, the heat consumed me by day and the frost by night, and sleep fled from my eyes.

2 Samuel · 1

  1. 2 Samuel 23:6 מֻנָ֖ד [which is] chased away

    But the worthless are all like thorns raked aside, for they can never be gathered by hand.

    Here: A passive participle, 'driven off, thrust away'. The root usually describes fleeing or being chased away. Here it pictures thorn-growth pushed, raked or pitched aside, presumably into a heap for burning (verse 7).

Esther · 1

  1. Esther 6:1 נָדְדָ֖ה it fled

    That night sleep escaped the king; so he ordered the Book of Records, the Chronicles, to be brought in and read to him.

    Here: The verb is feminine because its subject is 'sleep' (feminine in Hebrew), not the king. Sleep is pictured as something that 'fled' or 'wandered away' from him, as in Genesis 31:40, where Jacob says his sleep fled from his eyes.

Job · 3

  1. Job 15:23 נֹ֘דֵ֤ד [is] wandering

    He wanders about as food for vultures; he knows the day of darkness is at hand.

    Here: An ongoing state, not a single act. He roams like a homeless fugitive with no settled place. The word is used for refugees, for birds that have left the nest, and for people scattered from their homes.

  2. Job 18:18 יְנִדֻּֽהוּ׃ they chase away him

    He is driven from light into darkness and is chased from the inhabited world.

    Here: "They make him flee" or "they chase him off." The root is used for birds scattering and for fugitives. In this causative form he is hounded out like a runaway, which echoes the 'terrors' that 'chase at his heels' in 18:11.

  3. Job 20:8 וְ֝יֻדַּ֗ד and he may be chased away

    He will fly away like a dream, never to be found; he will be chased away like a vision in the night.

Psalms · 5

  1. Psalm 31:11 נָדְד֥וּ they flee

    Among all my enemies I am a disgrace, and among my neighbors even more. I am dreaded by my friends—they flee when they see me on the street.

    Here: To flee, scatter, or flutter away. The verb is used of birds taking flight (Isaiah 10:14; Jeremiah 4:25), so the picture is of people scattering out of his path.

  2. Psalm 55:7 נְדֹ֑ד [surely] to flee

    How far away I would flee! In the wilderness I would remain. Selah

    Here: "In fleeing" or "to flee." The word is used of birds flitting away from danger or from the nest, so it carries on the dove picture of v. 6. It means escape or fugitive flight, not a relaxed ramble.

  3. Psalm 64:8 יִ֝תְנֹדֲד֗וּ they will shudder

    They will be made to stumble, their own tongues turned against them. All who see will shake their heads.

    Here: The bystanders' reaction. If the verb comes from nadad it means they 'flee away' in horror (KJV, YLT). If it comes from the related root nud, it means they 'shake their heads,' the gesture people made over someone's ruin. Either way, people recoil from the wreck.

  4. Psalm 68:12 יִדֹּד֣וּן יִדֹּד֑וּן they flee !

    “Kings and their armies flee in haste; she who waits at home divides the plunder.

    Here: "They flee" or "they scatter". The verb can describe birds fluttering off or people fleeing in disorder, so it pictures a rout, not an orderly withdrawal. The extra -n at the end is an emphatic ending common in poetry.

Proverbs · 2

  1. Proverbs 27:8 נוֹדֶ֣דֶת נוֹדֵ֥ד [which] wanders, [who] wanders

    Like a bird that strays from its nest is a man who wanders from his home.

    Here: A feminine participle (a verb form that describes ongoing action, "one that is fleeing"). Nadad covers moving away from where one belongs: fleeing, flitting, being driven off. When used of birds it pictures a bird fluttering away from or off its nest. The word does not say whether the bird left by choice or was scared off.

Isaiah · 8

  1. Isaiah 10:14 נֹדֵ֣ד fluttering

    My hand reached as into a nest to seize the wealth of the nations. Like one gathering abandoned eggs, I gathered all the earth. No wing fluttered, no beak opened or chirped.’”

  2. Isaiah 10:31 נָדְדָ֖ה it has fled

    Madmenah flees; the people of Gebim take refuge.

  3. Isaiah 16:2 נוֹדֵ֖ד fluttering

    Like fluttering birds pushed out of the nest, so are the daughters of Moab at the fords of the Arnon:

  4. Isaiah 16:3 נֹדֵ֖ד a fugitive

    “Give us counsel; render a decision. Shelter us at noonday with shade as dark as night. Hide the refugees; do not betray the one who flees.

  5. Isaiah 21:14 נֹדֵֽד׃ fugitive[s]

    Bring water for the thirsty, O dwellers of Tema; meet the refugees with food.

  6. Isaiah 21:15 נָדָ֑דוּ they have fled

    For they flee from the sword—the sword that is drawn—from the bow that is bent, and from the stress of battle.

  7. Isaiah 22:3 נָֽדְדוּ־ they have fled

    All your rulers have fled together, captured without a bow. All your fugitives were captured together, having fled to a distant place.

  8. Isaiah 33:3 נָדְד֖וּ they flee

    The peoples flee the thunder of Your voice; the nations scatter when You rise.

Jeremiah · 3

  1. Jeremiah 4:25 נָדָֽדוּ׃ they had fled

    I looked, and no man was left; all the birds of the air had fled.

  2. Jeremiah 9:10 נָדְד֖וּ they have fled

    I will take up a weeping and wailing for the mountains, a dirge over the wilderness pasture, for they have been scorched so no one passes through, and the lowing of cattle is not heard. Both the birds of the air and the beasts have fled; they have gone away.

    Here: 'They have fled', the word used for birds flitting off and for refugees on the move. It is the same verb as in Jeremiah's vision of creation undone (4:25).

  3. Jeremiah 49:5 לַנֹּדֵֽד׃ [belongs] to the fugitive

    Behold, I am about to bring terror upon you, declares the Lord GOD of Hosts, from all those around you. You will each be driven headlong, with no one to regather the fugitives.

Hosea · 2

  1. Hosea 7:13 נָדְד֣וּ they have fled

    Woe to them, for they have strayed from Me! Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against Me! Though I would redeem them, they speak lies against Me.

    Here: This verb is used of birds fluttering away from the nest. It carries on the picture of Ephraim as a 'silly dove' (7:11) that flies off from God into the net he spreads (7:12). It means active flight, not slow drifting.

  2. Hosea 9:17 נֹדְדִ֖ים wanderers

    My God will reject them because they have not obeyed Him; and they shall be wanderers among the nations.

    Here: People on the move because they have been driven away and have no home: fugitives and refugees, like a bird fluttering away from its nest. It echoes 7:13, where Israel 'strayed/fled (nadedu) from me'. They fled from God, so they will become fugitives among the nations.

Nahum · 2

  1. Nahum 3:7 יִדּ֣וֹד he will flee

    Then all who see you will recoil from you and say, ‘Nineveh is devastated; who will grieve for her?’ Where can I find comforters for you?”

  2. Nahum 3:17 וְנוֹדַ֔ד and it flees

    Your guards are like the swarming locust, and your scribes like clouds of locusts that settle on the walls on a cold day. When the sun rises, they fly away, and no one knows where.

    Here: 'And it is fled / has flown off.' The verb is used of birds fluttering away and of fugitives. It sounds very close to the next verb, nôdaʿ.

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