Hebrew word · H5121

נָוִית

benoit

Naioth

Found only in 1 Samuel 19:18–20:1. It is most often linked to nāweh, “pasture, dwelling, encampment,” so the likely sense is “dwellings” or “camps.” The word may describe a compound where Samuel's band of prophets lived, rather than give the name of a town.

Appears 6 times in 5 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

§ Naioth = "habitations"

a dwelling place of prophets in the time of Samuel

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 1 Samuel 19:22

Range of meaning

Found only in 1 Samuel 19:18–20:1. It is most often linked to nāweh, “pasture, dwelling, encampment,” so the likely sense is “dwellings” or “camps.” The word may describe a compound where Samuel's band of prophets lived, rather than give the name of a town.

Against the English

All the major English versions keep it as a proper name, “Naioth.” That is a reasonable choice, but readers may picture a separate village when it may be a named quarter or compound of Ramah.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Aramaic Targum of the Prophets renders Naioth as bêt ʾulpānāʾ, “the house of instruction.” This shows that ancient Jewish readers took it as a school or community of prophets around Samuel. The “band of prophets” in 1 Samuel 10:5–10 and the later “sons of the prophets” around Elisha (2 Kgs 6:1–2), who also lived in shared quarters, are comparable.

From the study of 1 Samuel 19:23

Range of meaning

The name appears only in 1 Sam 19:18–20:1. Its meaning is uncertain. Most connect it with nāweh, 'pasture, dwelling, abode', which would give 'dwellings, habitations, camp'. It would then be a cluster of huts or a compound in Ramah, not a separate town.

Against the English

English versions simply transliterate it ('Naioth'), so readers can take it for a town name. 'Naioth in Ramah' really reads more like 'the dwellings at Ramah'.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Aramaic Targum renders it 'house of instruction' (bêt ʾulpānāʾ). That interpretation lies behind the long tradition of a 'school of the prophets' under Samuel, which is an early interpretation rather than the plain meaning. The Septuagint transliterates it in various spellings (e.g. Nauath).

Where it appears

1 Samuel · 6

  1. 1 Samuel 19:18 בְּנָֽיוֹת׃ at Naioth

    So David ran away and escaped. And he went to Samuel at Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went to Naioth and stayed there.

  2. 1 Samuel 19:19 בְּנָי֖וֹת [is] at Naioth

    When Saul was told that David was at Naioth in Ramah,

  3. 1 Samuel 19:22 בְּנָי֥וֹת at Naioth

    Finally, Saul himself left for Ramah and came to the large cistern at Secu, where he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” “At Naioth in Ramah,” he was told.

    Here: The place where Samuel and David are staying. It probably means “the dwellings” or “the camp,” a settlement of prophets inside or next to Ramah, rather than a separate town.

  4. 1 Samuel 19:23 נָי֖וֹת בְּנָי֥וֹת Naioth, at Naioth

    So Saul went to Naioth in Ramah. But the Spirit of God came upon even Saul, and he walked along prophesying until he came to Naioth in Ramah.

    Here: The spot inside Ramah where Samuel and his band of prophets lived and where David had taken refuge (v. 18). The name probably means something like 'dwellings' or 'encampment', not a separate town.

  5. 1 Samuel 20:1 מִנָּי֖וֹת from Naioth

    Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah. He came to Jonathan and asked, “What have I done? What is my iniquity? How have I sinned against your father, that he wants to take my life?”

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