נַעֲמָן

From the study of Isaiah 17:10

Range of meaning

From the root n'm, 'be pleasant, lovely, delightful'. As a noun it means 'pleasantness' or 'a lovely thing'. 'Lovely one' (n'mn) is an epithet for heroes in Ugaritic texts from Syria, before Israel (applied to Kirta and Aqhat). It is also a personal name, as with the Aramean general Naaman of 2 Kings 5. Later Arabic calls the anemone shaqa'iq an-nu'man, a flower linked in legend to the blood of Adonis.

Against the English

KJV, WEB and ESV have 'pleasant plants'. BSB has 'delightful plots'. YLT has 'plants of pleasantness'. NIV has 'the finest plants'. None of these hints at the probable cultic sense. NASB's companion phrase 'a strange god' comes nearer.

How it drifted

Not drift so much as loss. English versions translate the root meaning and drop the specific allusion that the rare form na'amanim most likely carried for the first hearers.

Used elsewhere in the period

Ugaritic n'mn, used of heroes and of the god Ba'al's circle. The Greek 'gardens of Adonis', quick-sprouting seeds in pots that withered within days, are mentioned by Plato (Phaedrus 276b) and later writers. Ezekiel 8:14 shows women in Jerusalem 'weeping for Tammuz', the Mesopotamian counterpart, which proves that dying-god rites were known in Israel. Many standard commentaries (e.g. Wildberger, Blenkinsopp; HALOT s.v.) favour 'Adonis plantings'.