Hebrew word · H5150

נִחוּם

nichumai

comfort

Comfort, consolation; compassion. It comes from the root n-ch-m, 'to be sorry, relent, console'. The plural form expresses fullness.

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. · Updated October 23, 2026

What it means

1) comfort, compassion

1a) comfort

1b) compassion

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

Range of meaning: Comfort, consolation; compassion. It comes from the root n-ch-m, 'to be sorry, relent, console'. The plural form expresses fullness.
Against the English: English 'comfort' can mean ease, coziness, or kind words. Hebrew consolation in Isaiah is usually comfort by action: rebuilding ruins, ending exile, turning mourning into joy.
How it drifted: The English word has softened. Its older sense was 'strengthen, fortify' (Latin con-fortare). Modern usage leans toward emotional soothing or physical ease.
Used elsewhere in the period: Hosea 11:8 ('my compassions are kindled'); Zechariah 1:13 ('comforting words', alongside a promise to rebuild Jerusalem). The root runs through Isaiah 40–66: 40:1; 49:13; 51:3 (God comforts Zion by making her wilderness like Eden); 51:12; 61:2; 66:13.

Range of meaning: Comfort, consolation, compassion. The root naḥam covers two linked ideas: (1) to comfort or console, and (2) to relent, be sorry, change one's mind about something one had planned. When God is the subject, it often means relenting from a threatened disaster.
Against the English: KJV and YLT have 'repentings'. BSB, WEB, ESV and NIV have 'compassion', NASB 'compassions'. 'Compassion' gets the warmth but loses the overtone of relenting. 'Repentings' gets the relenting but misleads modern readers badly.
How it drifted: In 1611 'repenting' could still mean simply regretting a course or changing one's mind. Today it almost always means turning from one's own sin, which is not the sense when God is the subject.
Used elsewhere in the period: The noun appears in Isa 57:18 ('I will restore comfort to him') and Zech 1:13 ('comforting words'). The root used of God relenting: Exod 32:12, 14; Jer 18:8; Joel 2:13; Jonah 3:10; 4:2. A related noun, noḥam, appears in Hos 13:14: 'compassion/relenting is hidden from my eyes.' Num 23:19 and 1 Sam 15:29 say God is 'not a man, that he should relent (naḥam)'. Hos 11:9 strikingly turns this around: 'I am God and not man,' and that is why he will not carry out his wrath.

Isaiah · 1

Isaiah 57:18 נִֽחֻמִ֛ים comfort<s>

I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will guide him and restore comfort to him and his mourners,

Here: 'Comforts.' The plural adds fullness: consolation in abundance. It echoes the opening cry of Isaiah 40, 'Comfort, comfort my people', and means consolation that actually reverses the grief, not just soothing words.

Hosea · 1

Hosea 11:8 נִחוּמָֽי׃ compassions my

How could I give you up, O Ephraim? How could I surrender you, O Israel? How could I make you like Admah? How could I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart is turned within Me; My compassion is stirred!

Here: 'My compassions'. It comes from the root naḥam, used of God relenting from a planned disaster. The plural strengthens it: every impulse to relent and to comfort is aroused together.

Zechariah · 1

Zechariah 1:13 נִחֻמִֽים׃ comfort<s>

So the LORD spoke kind and comforting words to the angel who was speaking with me.

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