Hebrew word · H5238
נְכֹת
nekhoto
treasure
A rare word, found only in this verse and 2 Kings 20:13. Context requires 'treasure, treasury'. Modern lexicons (HALOT) often link it to Akkadian nakkamtu, 'treasure, storehouse', and bīt nakkamti, 'treasure-house'.
Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
treasure
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
A rare word, found only in this verse and 2 Kings 20:13. Context requires 'treasure, treasury'. Modern lexicons (HALOT) often link it to Akkadian nakkamtu, 'treasure, storehouse', and bīt nakkamti, 'treasure-house'. That fits an expression borrowed from imperial administration, but the link is not certain.
- Against the English
BSB: 'treasure house'. KJV and WEB: 'house of his precious things'. YLT: 'house of his spices', which follows an old tradition (Vulgate and Jewish interpreters) linking the word to nekhoʾt, the aromatic gum of Genesis 37:25. That tradition is now generally thought unlikely, because 'spices' is listed separately in the same verse.
- How it drifted
The ancient translators did not know the rare word and guessed from a similar-sounding Hebrew word. The Septuagint simply transliterated it (nechōtha).
- Used elsewhere in the period
2 Kings 20:13 (parallel). Akkadian nakkamtu is common in Mesopotamian palace and temple records for treasure stores.
From the study of 2 Kings 20:13
- Range of meaning
Treasure, treasury. It appears only in the phrase bêt nĕkōtô, 'his treasure-house', here and in Isaiah 39:2.
- Against the English
KJV/WEB 'house of his precious things', YLT 'house of his treasury', BSB 'treasure house'. All are accurate. None of them signals that this is a rare, probably foreign, technical term.
- Used elsewhere in the period
HALOT and most commentators connect it with Akkadian bīt nakkamti, 'treasure-house, storehouse', a term used in Mesopotamian palace administration.
Similar words
Where it appears
2 Kings · 1
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2 Kings 20:13 נְכֹת֡וֹ treasure his
And Hezekiah received the envoys and showed them all that was in his treasure house—the silver, the gold, the spices, and the precious oil, as well as his armory—all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his palace or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.
Here: 'His treasure(-house)'. A rare word, found only here and in Isaiah 39:2, probably borrowed from the Akkadian (Assyrian-Babylonian) term for a royal treasury. It may be the technical court word, which fits a diplomatic scene.
Isaiah · 1
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Isaiah 39:2 נְכֹת֡וֹ treasure his
And Hezekiah welcomed the envoys gladly and showed them what was in his treasure house—the silver, the gold, the spices, and the precious oil, as well as his entire armory—all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his palace or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.
Here: 'His treasure.' This rare word occurs only here and in the parallel 2 Kings 20:13. 'House of his treasure' probably means the royal treasury.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.