Hebrew word · H5102

נָהַר

venaharu

to flow

Nahar I is a verb made from the noun nahar, "river": "to flow, stream, pour together" (Jer 31:12; 51:44, nations will "no longer stream" to Babylon's god). There is also a separate root, nahar II, "to shine, be radiant" (Ps 34:5; Isa 60:5).

Appears 6 times in 6 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. · Updated October 22, 2026

What it means

1) to flow, stream

1a) (Qal) to flow, stream

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 2:2

Range of meaning: Nahar I is a verb made from the noun nahar, "river": "to flow, stream, pour together" (Jer 31:12; 51:44, nations will "no longer stream" to Babylon's god). There is also a separate root, nahar II, "to shine, be radiant" (Ps 34:5; Isa 60:5).
Against the English: "Flow" (KJV, WEB), "stream" (BSB, NIV, ESV, NASB). Both keep the river picture. Versions that say only "come" lose it, and so does the Septuagint's hēxousin, "they will come."
Used elsewhere in the period: Jeremiah 51:44 uses the same verb for nations streaming to Bel in Babylon, which shows it could describe pilgrim crowds going to a great temple. Isaiah repeatedly pictures hostile nations as floodwaters: Assyria as "the waters of the River, mighty and many" sweeping over Judah (8:7–8), and nations that "roar like the roaring of many waters" (17:12–13).

From the study of Isaiah 60:5

Range of meaning: Hebrew has two verbs spelled נהר. (1) nahar I, "to stream, flow", related to nahar, "river" (Isa 2:2, "all the nations shall stream to it"; Jer 31:12; 51:44). (2) nahar II, "to shine, beam, be radiant", related to Aramaic nehar/nehora, "light" (Ps 34:5[6]; Job 3:4 nehara, "light").
Against the English: Most modern versions (BSB, WEB, NIV, ESV, NASB) have "be radiant". The KJV's "flow together" takes the other verb, "stream". YLT's "become bright" agrees with the modern versions.
How it drifted: The KJV wording comes from the Latin Vulgate's "afflues" ("you will flow / abound"). It is a choice between two real Hebrew verbs, not a drift in English meaning.
Used elsewhere in the period: Psalm 34:5[6] gives the closest parallel: "They looked (hibbitu) to him and were radiant (ve-naharu)." Seeing leads to a glowing face, the same sequence as here. Isaiah 2:2 uses nahar I for nations streaming to Zion, so the "flow" sense also occurs in Isaiah's Zion poems. HALOT and BDB both list this verse under the "shine" sense.

From the study of Psalm 34:5

Range of meaning: There are two Hebrew roots with these letters. Nahar I means 'to flow, stream', as when nations stream to Zion (Isa 2:2; Jer 51:44); it is related to nahar, 'river'. Nahar II, used here, means 'to shine, beam, be radiant'. It is related to Aramaic nehora, 'light' (Dan 2:22), and to Hebrew nehara, 'daylight' (Job 3:4). In the Bible it always describes a human face or person glowing with joy.
Against the English: 'Radiant' (WEB, NIV, ESV, NASB) is accurate. BSB and NLT add 'with joy' to make plain what kind of radiance is meant, which fits the parallel passages. KJV's 'were lightened' meant 'were made bright' in 1611, but a modern reader hears 'made less heavy' or 'cheered up', which is close but loses the picture of light.
How it drifted: In the KJV, 'lighten' meant 'to make light (bright), illuminate'. That sense has faded in favour of 'make lighter in weight'.
Used elsewhere in the period: Isa 60:5: 'Then you will see and be radiant (venaharta); your heart will throb and swell', said of Zion seeing her children return. Jer 31:12: 'they will be radiant (venaharu) over the goodness of the LORD, over the grain, the new wine and the oil'. In both the shining comes from seeing a good gift arrive. The Septuagint translates our verse with phōtisthēte, 'be enlightened/illuminated'.

Where it appears

Psalms · 1

Psalm 34:5 וְנָהָ֑רוּ and they are radiant

Those who look to Him are radiant with joy; their faces shall never be ashamed.

Here: 'And they shone' or 'and they became bright'. The verb pictures a face lighting up with relief and joy, as in Isaiah 60:5 ('you will see and be radiant'). The 'and' marks the shining as the result of the looking.

Isaiah · 2

Isaiah 2:2 וְנָהֲר֥וּ and they will stream

In the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it.

Here: A verb made from nahar, "river." The nations will pour like a river, yet rivers flow down and this one flows up the mountain. The paradox is deliberate.
Isaiah 60:5 וְנָהַ֔רְתְּ and you will be radiant

Then you will look and be radiant, and your heart will tremble and swell with joy, because the riches of the sea will be brought to you, and the wealth of the nations will come to you.

Here: "And you will beam / glow." The face lights up with joy, as in Psalm 34:5 ("they looked to him and were radiant"). It also echoes the light theme of 60:1–3 ("Arise, shine, for your light has come"). A homonym means "to stream, flow" (see debates).

Jeremiah · 2

Jeremiah 31:12 וְנָהֲר֞וּ and they will be radiant

They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion; they will be radiant over the bounty of the LORD—the grain, new wine, and oil, and the young of the flocks and herds. Their life will be like a well-watered garden, and never again will they languish.

Here: Either "they will stream" like a river of people pouring toward God's bounty, or "they will be radiant", faces glowing with joy. Hebrew has both senses, and the line may play on both (see studies).
Jeremiah 51:44 יִנְהֲר֥וּ they will stream

I will punish Bel in Babylon. I will make him spew out what he swallowed. The nations will no longer stream to him; even the wall of Babylon will fall.

Here: A verb built from nahar, 'river': nations flowing like a river to a shrine. The image is fitting for Babylon, the city of the Euphrates.

Micah · 1

Micah 4:1 וְנָהֲר֥וּ and they will stream

In the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and the peoples will stream to it.

Here: The verb comes from the same root as 'river' (nāhār). Peoples pour toward the mountain like a river, and since the mountain is now the highest point, the river flows uphill. The image is deliberately impossible.

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