Hebrew word · H5223

נָכֵה

nekheh

crippled

'Nakheh' is an adjective from the verb 'nakah', 'to strike, smite, wound'. It means struck, smitten, maimed, crippled. Outside this verse it occurs only in 'crippled of feet', used of Mephibosheth, Saul's grandson, lame since childhood (2 Sam 4:4; 9:3).

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

stricken, smitten

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 66:2

Range of meaning

'Nakheh' is an adjective from the verb 'nakah', 'to strike, smite, wound'. It means struck, smitten, maimed, crippled. Outside this verse it occurs only in 'crippled of feet', used of Mephibosheth, Saul's grandson, lame since childhood (2 Sam 4:4; 9:3). Joined to 'spirit' it means wounded or crippled in one's inner life: crushed, deflated, broken.

Against the English

BSB, ESV, NIV, NASB, KJV and WEB all say 'contrite'. YLT's 'bruised in spirit' is closest to the Hebrew. Modern English 'contrite' means 'feeling remorse for wrongdoing'. The Hebrew describes a person who has been struck and injured. Repentance may be part of that, but it is not what the word itself says.

How it drifted

English 'contrite' comes from the Latin Vulgate's 'contritum spiritu'. Latin 'contritus' literally means 'crushed, ground down', which fits the Hebrew well. In medieval penitential theology, however, 'contritio' became the technical term for sorrow over sin (as opposed to 'attrition'). The English word kept the theological meaning and lost the physical picture.

Used elsewhere in the period

2 Sam 4:4; 9:3 ('crippled of feet'). Close parallels in idea: Isa 57:15, where God dwells 'with the crushed and lowly of spirit' (dakka' ushfal-ruach); Ps 34:18 (19 Heb.), 'the crushed of spirit'; Ps 51:17 (19 Heb.), 'a broken spirit… a broken and crushed heart'; Isa 65:14, 'brokenness of spirit'. The Greek translation here oddly has 'hēsychios', 'quiet, calm'. That Greek wording is quoted in 1 Clement 13:4.

From the study of 2 Samuel 9:3

Range of meaning

Nakheh means "stricken, smitten," from the root "to strike" (nkh). It is used of physical damage (2 Samuel 4:4; 9:3) and figuratively of a broken, humbled spirit (Isaiah 66:2). Raglayim is the pair form of "foot": both feet.

Against the English

"Lame" (KJV, BSB, WEB, YLT) and "crippled" (ESV, NASB) are accurate. Only some versions bring out "both feet." The Hebrew image of being stricken is lost in all of them.

Used elsewhere in the period

2 Samuel 4:4 tells how the injury happened. Leviticus 21:18 bars a lame priest from serving at the altar. 2 Samuel 5:8 records a saying about "the lame and the blind."

Where it appears

2 Samuel · 2

  1. 2 Samuel 4:4 נְכֵ֣ה stricken of

    And Jonathan son of Saul had a son who was lame in his feet. He was five years old when the report about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled, but as she was hurrying to escape, he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth.

  2. 2 Samuel 9:3 נְכֵ֥ה stricken of

    So the king asked, “Is there anyone left of the house of Saul to whom I can show the kindness of God?” Ziba answered, “There is still Jonathan’s son, who is lame in both feet.”

    Here: From the verb "to strike." Literally "stricken of," meaning disabled. The word is rare. It also appears in 2 Samuel 4:4 and in Isaiah 66:2 ("stricken in spirit").

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 66:2 וּנְכֵה־ and a [person] stricken of

    Has not My hand made all these things? And so they came into being,” declares the LORD. “This is the one I will esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, who trembles at My word.

    Here: From the verb 'to strike'. Its only other uses describe Mephibosheth as 'crippled in the feet' (2 Samuel 4:4; 9:3). Here the person is crippled or wounded in spirit.

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