Hebrew word · H5322

נֵץ

netz

hawk

A hawk or falcon, the smaller birds of prey that fly fast.

Appears 4 times in 4 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) a unclean bird of prey

1a) hawk, falcon

1b) perhaps an extinct bird, exact meaning unknown

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 Deuteronomy 14:15

Range of meaning

A hawk or falcon, the smaller birds of prey that fly fast. In Job 39:26 God asks, "Is it by your understanding that the nēṣ soars, spreading its wings toward the south?" This points to the migrating hawks and falcons that pass through the Levant (the lands of the eastern Mediterranean) in huge numbers.

Against the English

All the major English versions have "hawk". The BSB's "any kind of hawk" and the KJV's "hawk after his kind" both bring out the group sense.

Used elsewhere in the period

The LXX has hierax, "hawk/falcon", and the Vulgate has accipiter, "hawk". Hawks and falcons were familiar symbols in the ancient Near East, the Egyptian falcon god Horus being the best-known example. Nothing suggests that background is in view here.

Where it appears

Genesis · 1

  1. Genesis 40:10 נִצָּ֔הּ blossom its

    and on the vine were three branches. As it budded, its blossoms opened and its clusters ripened into grapes.

Leviticus · 1

  1. Leviticus 11:16 הַנֵּ֖ץ the falcon

    the ostrich, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk,

Deuteronomy · 1

  1. Deuteronomy 14:15 הַנֵּ֖ץ the falcon

    the ostrich, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk,

    Here: A small to medium bird of prey: hawk, falcon, kestrel. Job 39:26 describes it flying south, and many of the region's hawks and falcons migrate. This is one of the safer identifications in the list.

Job · 1

  1. Job 39:26 נֵ֑ץ a falcon

    Does the hawk take flight by your understanding and spread his wings toward the south?

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