Hebrew word · H5258

נָסַךְ

nasakh

to pour

nāsak I means to pour out, especially a drink offering (Genesis 35:14; Hosea 9:4). From it, massēkâ I means a cast metal image (Exodus 32:4) and sometimes a libation.

Appears 25 times in 24 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to pour out, pour, offer, cast

1a) (Qal)

1a1) to pour out

1a2) to cast metal images

1a3) to anoint (a king)

1b) (Niphal) to be anointed

1c) (Piel) to pour out (as a libation)

1d) (Hiphil) to pour out libations

1e) (Hophal) to be poured out

Aramaic equivalent: ne.sakh (נְסַךְ "to pour" H5260)

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 30:1

Range of meaning

nāsak I means to pour out, especially a drink offering (Genesis 35:14; Hosea 9:4). From it, massēkâ I means a cast metal image (Exodus 32:4) and sometimes a libation. nāsak II means to weave (compare Isaiah 25:7, 'the covering woven over all nations', and Isaiah 28:20, where massēkâ is a blanket too narrow to wrap oneself in).

Against the English

KJV 'cover with a covering' and YLT 'spread out a covering' take the weaving sense. BSB, WEB, ESV, NIV and NASB give the result, 'make/form an alliance', which follows the libation sense but hides the image. Vulgate 'begin a web' takes the weaving sense; the Septuagint's 'agreements' (synthēkas) follows the treaty sense.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the ancient Near East, treaties were sealed with oaths before the gods, often with sacrifices and libations. Assyrian treaty texts and the Sefire treaties describe rituals that put curses on anyone who breaks the oath. Hosea 12:1 links making a treaty with Assyria and carrying oil to Egypt. Isaiah 28:15 mocks the 'covenant with death' that Judah's leaders thought would protect them.

From the study of Psalm 2:6

Range of meaning

Lexicons (BDB, HALOT) separate at least two uses of the letters n-s-k. (1) Pour out, especially drink offerings (libations: wine or oil poured out to a god; Gen 35:14; Hos 9:4), and cast metal (Isa 40:19; molten image = massekhah). (2) Set up, install, found clearly only here and in Prov 8:23, where Wisdom says nissakhti, "I was installed / set up" from of old. Related nouns: nasikh, "prince, leader" (Josh 13:21; Mic 5:5 [Eng 5:5/Heb 5:4]; Ps 83:11 [Eng]), and possibly nesikh, "molten image".

Against the English

Most English versions say "set" (KJV, WEB, ESV) or "installed" (BSB, NIV, NASB). YLT has "anointed", which links the verb to the pouring sense. That is a guess about how the word came about, not its plain meaning. The normal Hebrew word for anointing is mashach (as in meshicho, "his anointed", in v. 2).

How it drifted

"Set" and "installed" are accurate. The only real distortion is "anointed" (YLT, and some devotional uses), which merges this word with mashach and so with "Messiah".

Used elsewhere in the period

Ugaritic texts have nsk for pouring and for metal-casting. The Hebrew noun nasikh ("prince") suggests a ruler was thought of as one "installed", or perhaps one consecrated with a poured offering, though that link is uncertain. Prov 8:23 is the nearest parallel and is just as debated. The LXX translates our verse with katestathēn, "I was appointed / established", reading "installation".

From the study of Isaiah 29:10

Range of meaning

To pour out a liquid, most often a drink offering of wine poured on the altar (Gen 35:14; Exod 30:9; Hos 9:4). It is also used for casting molten metal into idols (Isa 40:19; 44:10) and, once, for setting a king in place (Ps 2:6, debated). A separate homonym nsk, "to weave, spread over", appears in Isaiah 25:7 for the veil "spread over" the nations, and in Isaiah 30:1 there may be a play between the two senses.

Against the English

"Poured out" is right, but readers who know Joel 2:28 ("I will pour out my Spirit") may hear a blessing. Joel uses a different verb (shāphakh). Isaiah's verb belongs to wine and libations. Coming right after "drunk, but not with wine" (v.9), it pictures God serving Jerusalem a drink of stupor.

Used elsewhere in the period

Its only use with rûaḥ ("spirit") is here. The closest parallel is Isaiah 19:14, where YHWH has "mixed" (māsakh, a related verb used of mixing wine) into Egypt "a spirit of distortion" so that it staggers like a drunkard. The Septuagint makes the drinking explicit: pepotiken hymas, "he has made you drink". It links up with the prophetic image of the cup of God's wrath that makes nations reel (Isa 51:17, 22; Jer 25:15–16).

Where it appears

Genesis · 1

  1. Genesis 35:14 וַיַּסֵּ֤ךְ and he poured out

    So Jacob set up a pillar in the place where God had spoken with him—a stone marker—and he poured out a drink offering on it and anointed it with oil.

Exodus · 3

  1. Exodus 25:29 יֻסַּ֖ךְ it will be poured out

    You are also to make the plates and dishes, as well as the pitchers and bowls for pouring drink offerings. Make them out of pure gold.

  2. Exodus 30:9 תִסְּכ֖וּ you must pour out

    On this altar you must not offer unauthorized incense or a burnt offering or grain offering; nor are you to pour a drink offering on it.

  3. Exodus 37:16 יֻסַּ֖ךְ it was poured out

    He also made the utensils for the table out of pure gold: its plates and dishes, as well as its bowls and pitchers for pouring drink offerings.

Numbers · 1

  1. Numbers 28:7 הַסֵּ֛ךְ pour out

    The drink offering accompanying each lamb shall be a quarter hin. Pour out the offering of fermented drink to the LORD in the sanctuary area.

2 Samuel · 1

  1. 2 Samuel 23:16 וַיַּסֵּ֥ךְ and he poured out

    So the three mighty men broke through the Philistine camp, drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem, and brought it back to David. But he refused to drink it; instead, he poured it out to the LORD,

2 Kings · 1

  1. 2 Kings 16:13 וַיַּסֵּ֖ךְ and he poured out

    He offered his burnt offering and his grain offering, poured out his drink offering, and splattered the blood of his peace offerings on the altar.

1 Chronicles · 1

  1. 1 Chronicles 11:18 וַיְנַסֵּ֥ךְ and he poured out

    So the Three broke through the Philistine camp, drew water from the well at the gate of Bethlehem, and brought it back to David. But he refused to drink it; instead, he poured it out to the LORD,

    Here: The technical word for pouring a drink offering to God. The water is not thrown away: it is offered.

Psalms · 2

  1. Psalm 2:6 נָסַ֣כְתִּי I have installed

    “I have installed My King on Zion, upon My holy mountain.”

    Here: A completed action: the king is already in place, so the matter is settled before the rebels act. This rare verb is related to words for pouring and casting metal, and to the noun nasikh, "prince" or "installed ruler". Here it means formally putting someone into office.

  2. Psalm 16:4 אַסִּ֣יךְ I will pour out

    Sorrows will multiply to those who chase other gods. I will not pour out their libations of blood, or speak their names with my lips.

    Here: 'I will pour out' as a ritual act: the technical verb for offering a drink offering to a deity. Negated, it is the speaker's refusal to take part in their worship.

Proverbs · 1

  1. Proverbs 8:23 נִסַּ֥כְתִּי I was installed

    From everlasting I was established, from the beginning, before the earth began.

    Here: 'I was installed' or 'I was set up', the passive form of the verb used in Psalm 2:6 for God installing his king. Many scholars instead read it as 'I was woven / formed', the language of a body knit together in the womb, which fits the birth verbs in vv. 24–25. Either way, Wisdom does not set herself up. Something is done to her, and God is the unnamed one doing it.

Isaiah · 4

  1. Isaiah 29:10 נָסַ֨ךְ he has poured out

    For the LORD has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep. He has shut your eyes, O prophets; He has covered your heads, O seers.

    Here: The usual verb for pouring a libation, a drink offering of wine. After verse 9's "drunk, but not with wine", the picture is of YHWH pouring out the drink that has made Jerusalem senseless. The perfect tense presents it as already done.

  2. Isaiah 30:1 וְלִנְסֹ֥ךְ and by pouring out

    “Woe to the rebellious children,” declares the LORD, “to those who carry out a plan that is not Mine, who form an alliance, but against My will, heaping up sin upon sin.

    Here: Most likely the pouring of a drink offering that sealed a treaty under oath. A second verb with the same spelling means 'to weave', and translators are split over which one is meant here.

  3. Isaiah 40:19 נָסַ֣ךְ he has cast

    To an idol that a craftsman casts and a metalworker overlays with gold and fits with silver chains?

    Here: 'Poured' the molten metal into a mould. The past-tense form makes the casting a finished first step. The same verb is used for pouring drink offerings, so the word itself sits close to worship.

  4. Isaiah 44:10 נָסָ֑ךְ has he cast?

    Who fashions a god or casts an idol which profits him nothing?

Jeremiah · 8

  1. Jeremiah 7:18 וְהַסֵּ֤ךְ and they are pouring out

    The sons gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough to make cakes for the Queen of Heaven; they pour out drink offerings to other gods to provoke Me to anger.

    Here: A verbal noun ('and the pouring out') that carries the list on. It adds a second act of worship, the libation, alongside the baking.

  2. Jeremiah 19:13 וְהַסֵּ֥ךְ and they poured out

    The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will be defiled like that place, Topheth—all the houses on whose rooftops they burned incense to all the host of heaven and poured out drink offerings to other gods.”

    Here: A verb form without a subject or tense of its own, used here as 'and they poured out'. Jeremiah often uses this form to add a second action to a first.

  3. Jeremiah 32:29 וְהִסִּ֤כוּ and they poured out

    And the Chaldeans who are fighting against this city will come in, set it on fire, and burn it, along with the houses of those who provoked Me to anger by burning incense to Baal on their rooftops and by pouring out drink offerings to other gods.

    Here: "And they poured out." The technical verb for pouring a liquid offering, usually wine, to a deity.

  4. Jeremiah 44:17 וְהַסֵּֽיךְ־ and to pour out

    Instead, we will do everything we vowed to do: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and offer drink offerings to her, just as we, our fathers, our kings, and our officials did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food and good things, and we saw no disaster.

    Here: 'And to pour out' a liquid offering. The word pairs naturally with the burnt offering before it, so together they describe a full worship ritual.

  5. Jeremiah 44:18 וְהַסֵּֽךְ־ and to pour out

    But from the time we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have been perishing by sword and famine.”

  6. Jeremiah 44:19 וּלְהַסֵּ֥ךְ וְהַסֵּ֥ךְ and to pour out

    “Moreover,” said the women, “when we burned incense to the Queen of Heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, was it without our husbands’ knowledge that we made sacrificial cakes in her image and poured out drink offerings to her?”

  7. Jeremiah 44:25 וּלְהַסֵּ֥ךְ and to pour out

    This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: As for you and your wives, you have spoken with your mouths and fulfilled with your hands your words: ‘We will surely perform our vows that we have made to burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and to pour out drink offerings to her.’ Go ahead, then, do what you have promised! Keep your vows!

Ezekiel · 1

  1. Ezekiel 20:28 וַיַּסִּ֥יכוּ and they poured out

    When I brought them into the land that I swore to give them and they saw any high hill or leafy tree, there they offered their sacrifices, presented offerings that provoked Me, sent up their fragrant incense, and poured out their drink offerings.

    Here: To pour out a liquid offering, usually wine, as part of a sacrifice.

Hosea · 1

  1. Hosea 9:4 יִסְּכ֨וּ they will pour out

    They will not pour out wine offerings to the LORD, and their sacrifices will not please Him, but will be to them like the bread of mourners; all who eat will be defiled. For their bread will be for themselves; it will not enter the house of the LORD.

    Here: A technical worship verb: pouring wine out at the altar as a drink offering. The future tense ('they will not pour') looks ahead to the exile announced in verse 3.

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