Hebrew word · H5253

נָסַג

taseg

to remove

'Move back, remove.' The active form is used of moving a boundary marker (Deut 19:14; Prov 22:28; Hos 5:10). The passive form means 'be turned back, retreat' (Isa 42:17; 50:5; 59:14: 'justice is turned back').

Appears 9 times in 9 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to move away, backslide, move, go, turn back

1a) (Qal) to backslide, prove recreant to

1b) (Hiphil)

1b1) to displace, move back

1b2) to remove, carry away

1d) (Hophal) to be driven back, be moved back

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 Micah 2:6

Range of meaning

'Move back, remove.' The active form is used of moving a boundary marker (Deut 19:14; Prov 22:28; Hos 5:10). The passive form means 'be turned back, retreat' (Isa 42:17; 50:5; 59:14: 'justice is turned back').

Against the English

NASB ('will not be turned back') and YLT ('doth not remove') follow the written Hebrew. BSB, WEB, ESV and NIV ('will not overtake us') follow a widely accepted reinterpretation from a verb meaning 'reach, overtake.'

Used elsewhere in the period

The Septuagint has 'he will not drive away reproaches.' That supports a sense of 'remove' rather than 'overtake.' The Latin Vulgate, as usually printed, has 'confusion will not take hold [of them],' which is closer to 'overtake.'

From the study of Proverbs 22:28

Range of meaning

In its basic form it means to move back or withdraw. In the causative form used here it means to move something back, displace or shift it. It is used almost entirely for moving boundaries, which makes it close to a technical term for encroaching on land.

Against the English

KJV and YLT 'remove' can suggest pulling the marker up entirely. The Hebrew picture is more often shifting it: nudging the stone a few feet so that a strip of the neighbour's field becomes yours. 'Move' (BSB, WEB, ESV, NIV, NASB) captures this better.

Used elsewhere in the period

Deuteronomy 19:14 uses lō' tassîg ("you shall not move") in the law. Deuteronomy 27:17 has "Cursed is he who moves (massîg) his neighbour's boundary." Hosea 5:10 uses massîgê gəḇûl, "movers of the boundary," as a byword for powerful men who grab land. Rabbinic Hebrew later turned hassāgat gəḇûl ("moving the boundary") into the legal term for unfair encroachment on another person's trade or livelihood.

From the study of Proverbs 23:10

Range of meaning

In the simple form: turn back, retreat. In the causative form used here: move something back, remove, displace (BDB, HALOT).

Against the English

'Move' (BSB, WEB, ESV, NIV) and 'remove' (KJV, YLT) are both fair. 'Shift back' keeps the image best: the marker isn't carried off, it is edged back into the other man's field.

Used elsewhere in the period

The standard verb for this crime: Deuteronomy 19:14 and 27:17, Proverbs 22:28, Hosea 5:10, Job 24:2. Later rabbinic law turned the phrase hasagat gevul ('moving back a boundary') into a legal term for unfair encroachment on another person's livelihood or trade. That is a later extension, not the sense here.

Where it appears

Deuteronomy · 2

  1. Deuteronomy 19:14 תַסִּיג֙ you will displace

    You must not move your neighbor’s boundary marker, which was set up by your ancestors to mark the inheritance you shall receive in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess.

  2. Deuteronomy 27:17 מַסִּ֖יג [one who] displaces

    ‘Cursed is he who moves his neighbor’s boundary stone.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’

Proverbs · 2

  1. Proverbs 22:28 תַּ֭סֵּג you displace

    Do not move an ancient boundary stone which your fathers have placed.

    Here: The causative form: 'make (it) move back.' The picture is pushing a marker stone back a little into your neighbour's field so that your own plot grows. This is the same verb used for this crime in Deuteronomy 19:14 and Hosea 5:10.

  2. Proverbs 23:10 תַּ֭סֵּג you displace

    Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless,

    Here: 'Shift back.' The picture is a marker nudged back into a neighbour's land so that your own field quietly grows. This is the same verb the Law uses for the same crime (Deuteronomy 19:14; 27:17).

Isaiah · 2

  1. Isaiah 59:13 וְנָס֖וֹג and we have turned back

    rebelling and denying the LORD, turning away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering lies from the heart.

    Here: "And turning back." This verb is used of backsliding and of retreat in battle (Ps 44:18 [44:19 Heb.]; Isa 42:17; 50:5). Paired with the next word, it pictures someone who stops following and walks away.

  2. Isaiah 59:14 וְהֻסַּ֤ג and it has been driven back

    So justice is turned away, and righteousness stands at a distance. For truth has stumbled in the public square, and honesty cannot enter.

    Here: A passive form: justice did not wander off but was shoved back by someone. It picks up the same root as v.13, where the people were 'turning back from behind our God'. Because they turned back from God, justice is turned back from them.

Hosea · 1

  1. Hosea 5:10 כְּמַסִּיגֵ֖י like [those who] displace

    The princes of Judah are like those who move boundary stones; I will pour out My fury upon them like water.

Micah · 2

  1. Micah 2:6 יִסַּ֖ג it will be turned back

    “Do not preach,” they preach. “Do not preach these things; disgrace will not overtake us.”

    Here: As written in the Hebrew: 'will not be turned back,' so the disgraces will not go away. Many scholars take it from a similar verb meaning 'overtake,' which gives 'disgrace will not catch up with us.' The singular verb with a plural noun is one reason the text is suspected.

  2. Micah 6:14 וְתַסֵּג֙ and you will carry away

    You will eat but not be satisfied, and your hunger will remain with you. What you acquire, you will not preserve; and what you save, I will give to the sword.

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