Hebrew word · H5125
נוּן
yinon
to propagate
The verb appears only here. The related noun nin means 'offspring, posterity'. It is always paired with neked, 'descendant' (Genesis 21:23; Isaiah 14:22; Job 18:19). The verb therefore means something like 'put out shoots, propagate, multiply'.
Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
1) (Niphal) continue, to increase, propagate
2) (Hiphil) continue, to increase, propagate
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
- Range of meaning
The verb appears only here. The related noun nin means 'offspring, posterity'. It is always paired with neked, 'descendant' (Genesis 21:23; Isaiah 14:22; Job 18:19). The verb therefore means something like 'put out shoots, propagate, multiply'.
- Against the English
KJV 'be continued' and BSB/NIV 'continue' give the duration but lose the picture of growth and offspring. NASB 'increase' and the rendering 'sprout/flourish' come closer.
- How it drifted
This is not drift so much as flattening: a rare, vivid verb is replaced by a general one.
- Used elsewhere in the period
The Hebrew has two readings (see textual notes): written ינין, read יִנּוֹן. The Greek Septuagint renders it διαμενεῖ, 'will remain', which already loses the image. The Talmud (b. Sanhedrin 98b) took Yinnon as a name of the Messiah: 'Before the sun, his name is Yinnon.'
Where it appears
Psalms · 1
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Psalm 72:17 יִנּ֪וֹן may it increase
May his name endure forever; may his name continue as long as the sun shines. In him may all nations be blessed; may they call him blessed.
Here: This verb occurs only here in the Bible. It is related to the noun nin, 'offspring, descendants'. The picture is a plant putting out new shoots, or a family line producing children. The king's name is to keep growing and reproducing itself, which continues the farm imagery of verse 16.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.