Hebrew word · H5348

נָקֹד

nakod

speckled

Speckled or dotted with small spots. Found only in Genesis 30–31. The same root gives nōqēd, a sheep-breeder or owner of large flocks (Amos 1:1; 2 Kings 3:4, of Mesha king of Moab). Ugaritic texts use nqdm for a class of herdsmen.

Appears 9 times in 7 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) speckled, marked with points

1a) of sheep and goats

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 Genesis 31:12

Range of meaning

Speckled or dotted with small spots. Found only in Genesis 30–31. The same root gives nōqēd, a sheep-breeder or owner of large flocks (Amos 1:1; 2 Kings 3:4, of Mesha king of Moab). Ugaritic texts use nqdm for a class of herdsmen.

Against the English

All the major versions say 'speckled' (BSB 'spotted'). This is accurate.

Used elsewhere in the period

Genesis 30:32–39; 31:8, 10, 12. The link with the noun nōqēd ('sheep-master') has led some scholars to suggest the word named a known kind of spotted small livestock. That remains uncertain.

Where it appears

Genesis · 9

  1. Genesis 30:32 נָקֹ֣ד וְנָקֹ֖ד speckled, and [the] speckled

    Let me go through all your flocks today and remove from them every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb, and every spotted or speckled goat. These will be my wages.

  2. Genesis 30:33 נָקֹ֨ד speckled

    So my honesty will testify for me when you come to check on my wages in the future. If I have any goats that are not speckled or spotted, or any lambs that are not dark-colored, they will be considered stolen.”

  3. Genesis 30:35 הַנְּקֻדּ֣וֹת <the> speckled

    That very day Laban removed all the streaked or spotted male goats and every speckled or spotted female goat—every one that had any white on it—and every dark-colored lamb, and he placed them under the care of his sons.

    Here: Covered in small spots or speckles. Feminine, agreeing with the she-goats. This is the word Jacob used for his wage in v.32.

  4. Genesis 30:39 נְקֻדִּ֖ים speckled [ones]

    they mated in front of the branches. And they bore young that were streaked or speckled or spotted.

  5. Genesis 31:8 נְקֻדִּים֙ נְקֻדִּ֑ים speckled [ones]

    If he said, ‘The speckled will be your wages,’ then the whole flock bore speckled offspring. If he said, ‘The streaked will be your wages,’ then the whole flock bore streaked offspring.

  6. Genesis 31:10 נְקֻדִּ֖ים speckled

    When the flocks were breeding, I saw in a dream that the streaked, spotted, and speckled males were mating with the females.

  7. Genesis 31:12 נְקֻדִּ֖ים speckled

    ‘Look up,’ he said, ‘and see that all the males that are mating with the flock are streaked, spotted, or speckled; for I have seen all that Laban has done to you.

    Here: Marked with small spots or dots. This is one of the colour types Jacob claimed as his wages in 30:32.

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