נָכֹחַ

From the study of Isaiah 57:2

Range of meaning

Straight, lying directly in front, right, honest. It is related to nokach, 'in front of, opposite'. It is used of honest speech (Isa 30:10, 'do not prophesy to us what is right'), plain words (Prov 8:9), and uprightness that 'cannot enter' a corrupt city (Isa 59:14).

Against the English

'Uprightness' (KJV, WEB, ESV-type renderings) suggests standing up straight or a moral quality. The Hebrew picture is a path that runs straight forward, not one that stands up. YLT's 'going straightforward' keeps the image best.

How it drifted

'Upright' is an old moral word that has lost its picture. Its shape (vertical posture) is also different from the Hebrew picture (straight ahead).

Used elsewhere in the period

Prov 4:25–27 uses the related nokach: 'let your eyes look straight ahead… do not swerve to the right or the left.' The opposite appears in this same chapter: 'he went on turning away (shovav) in the way of his heart' (Isa 57:17).

From the study of Proverbs 8:9

Range of meaning

The word belongs to a family built on נֹכַח (nōkaḥ, H5227), 'in front of, opposite, straight ahead.' As an adjective it means straight, straightforward, honest, right, correct. Other uses:

• 2 Sam 15:3, Absalom tells a plaintiff 'your claims are good and nəkōḥîm': in the right, valid.
• Isa 30:10: 'Do not prophesy to us nəkōḥôt': the right or true things people did not want to hear.
• Isa 26:10: 'in a land of nəkōḥôt', a land of uprightness.
• Isa 57:2: those who walk nəkōḥô, walking straight ahead.
• Amos 3:10: 'they do not know how to do nəkōḥâ', what is right.
• Prov 24:26: 'one who gives dəḇārîm nəkōḥîm', an honest answer.

In every case the sense is moral: honest, valid, right. None of these uses means 'easy to grasp.'

Against the English

KJV, BSB, WEB and YLT have 'plain.' ESV has 'straight,' NASB 'straightforward,' and NIV 'right.' 'Plain' keeps the idea of something lying open in front of you. In modern English, though, it can suggest 'simple,' 'obvious to anyone,' or even 'unadorned,' and those senses push out the moral meaning of honest and correct.

How it drifted

In older English 'plain' meant 'flat, level, even' (Latin planus), and the KJV also uses it of a level, smooth path (e.g. Ps 27:11; Prov 15:19). That sense fitted the Hebrew image of a straight road well. Today 'plain' mainly means 'clear, simple, unremarkable,' so the image of a straight road and the sense of honesty have both faded.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Greek Septuagint translates it ἐνώπια (enōpia, 'in front of, before one's eyes'), which keeps the root idea of 'facing you.' The Latin Vulgate uses recti ('straight, right'). The same adjective describes honest speech in Prov 24:26, which shows that within Proverbs it is a word for truthful talk.