Hebrew word · H5355

נָקִי

naki

innocent

Clean, free from guilt, exempt from an obligation or penalty. It is used of a groom free from military service (Deut 24:5), of someone released from an oath (Gen 24:41), and of a person not liable to punishment (Exod 21:28; 23:7).

Appears 43 times in 42 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) clean, free from, exempt, clear, innocent

1a) free from guilt, clean, innocent

1b) free from punishment

1c) free or exempt from obligations

Also means: na.qi (נָקִיא "innocent" H5355B)

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 Proverbs 6:17

Range of meaning

Clean, free from guilt, exempt from an obligation or penalty. It is used of a groom free from military service (Deut 24:5), of someone released from an oath (Gen 24:41), and of a person not liable to punishment (Exod 21:28; 23:7). "Innocent blood" (dām nāqî) means the blood of someone who has done nothing that deserves death.

Against the English

English "innocent" now often suggests childlike purity, naivety or moral sinlessness. The Hebrew word is first a legal status: "not guilty, not liable." It does not say the victim is sinless; it says the killing has no just cause.

How it drifted

Modern English "innocent" leans toward moral purity or naivety ("an innocent child"), while the biblical phrase is the language of the courtroom and the law of bloodguilt.

Used elsewhere in the period

Deut 19:10, 13 (cities of refuge, "so that innocent blood is not shed"); Deut 21:8-9 (the ritual of the broken-necked heifer to purge innocent blood from the land); 27:25 (cursed is one who takes a bribe to strike down innocent blood); Jer 7:6; 22:3, 17; 2 Kgs 21:16 and 24:4 (Manasseh filled Jerusalem with innocent blood); Ps 106:38.

From the study of Proverbs 1:11

Range of meaning

Clean, free, exempt; in law, guiltless, not liable, innocent of a particular charge or obligation. It comes from a root meaning "to be emptied, cleared, acquitted." It can describe someone released from an oath (Genesis 24:41), exempt from military duty (Deuteronomy 24:5), or free of bloodguilt (2 Samuel 3:28). Very often it appears in the fixed phrase dam naqi, "innocent blood" (Deuteronomy 19:10; 21:8–9; 2 Kings 21:16; Jeremiah 7:6; Proverbs 6:17).

Against the English

"The innocent" is the usual and correct rendering. NIV moves the word onto "blood" ("innocent blood") and uses "harmless" for the person. That catches the legal echo but changes where the word sits. The English word "innocent" can suggest childlike naivety or general sinlessness, and neither is the point here.

How it drifted

In modern English, "innocent" often means naive or unworldly ("an innocent abroad"), or morally pure in general. Hebrew naqi is a legal and relational word: this person has given no cause and carries no guilt that would justify harming them. Proverbs has a different word, peti ("simple, naive"), for the gullible youth (1:4, 22).

Used elsewhere in the period

Deuteronomy 19:10–13 and 21:1–9 treat shedding "innocent blood" as something that pollutes the land and demands removal of the guilt. Psalm 10:8 has the wicked murdering "the innocent" from ambush. Proverbs 6:17 lists "hands that shed innocent blood" among the things the LORD hates.

From the study of Psalm 24:4

Range of meaning

Innocent, guiltless, free of liability. It is used in legal settings: someone who is acquitted or exempt from an obligation, as when a man is 'free' from a vow or from military service (Gen 24:41; Deut 24:5). The commonest phrase is dam naqi, 'innocent blood', blood shed when the victim had done nothing to deserve it. The related noun niqqayon means innocence.

Against the English

English 'clean hands' can sound like hygiene or ritual cleanness, or like a vague 'good person'. The Hebrew does not use Israel's ritual-purity words (tahor 'clean', tame' 'unclean'). It uses the vocabulary of the law court. Latin innocens and English 'innocent' are closer.

How it drifted

The English idiom 'clean hands' (no involvement in wrongdoing) is actually close to the Hebrew. The drift comes when readers hear 'clean' in the ritual sense of the Temple, or as a general moral glow, instead of the specific meaning 'not guilty of harm done with the hands'.

Used elsewhere in the period

Gen 20:5: Abimelech protests 'in the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my palms (niqyon kappay) I have done this', the same heart-and-palms pairing as here. Deut 21:6–7: elders wash their hands over a heifer and declare 'our hands did not shed this blood'. Ps 26:6: 'I wash my hands in innocence.' Ps 15:5 and Isa 33:15, which are parallel entry-requirement texts, name refusing bribes and refusing violence.

Where it appears

Genesis · 2

  1. Genesis 24:41 נָקִ֖י free

    And when you go to my kindred, if they refuse to give her to you, then you will be released from my oath.’

  2. Genesis 44:10 נְקִיִּֽם׃ innocent

    “As you say,” replied the steward. “But only the one who is found with the cup will be my slave, and the rest of you shall be free of blame.”

Exodus · 2

  1. Exodus 21:28 נָקִֽי׃ [will be] free from guilt

    If an ox gores a man or woman to death, the ox must surely be stoned, and its meat must not be eaten. But the owner of the ox shall not be held responsible.

  2. Exodus 23:7 וְנָקִ֤י and an innocent [person]

    Stay far away from a false accusation. Do not kill the innocent or the just, for I will not acquit the guilty.

    Here: 'And one who is clear': a person free of guilt or liability in the matter, cleared of the charge. The word behind the phrase 'innocent blood'.

Numbers · 1

  1. Numbers 32:22 נְקִיִּ֛ים free

    then when the land is subdued before the LORD, you may return and be free of obligation to the LORD and to Israel. And this land will belong to you as a possession before the LORD.

Deuteronomy · 6

  1. Deuteronomy 19:10 נָקִ֔י innocent

    Thus innocent blood will not be shed in the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, so that you will not be guilty of bloodshed.

  2. Deuteronomy 19:13 הַנָּקִ֛י the innocent [person]

    You must show him no pity. You are to purge from Israel the guilt of shedding innocent blood, that it may go well with you.

    Here: 'The innocent one': the murdered victim, who had done nothing to deserve death. If his blood goes unanswered, the guilt for it stays on Israel.

  3. Deuteronomy 21:8 נָקִ֔י innocent

    Accept this atonement, O LORD, for Your people Israel whom You have redeemed, and do not hold the shedding of innocent blood against them.” And the bloodshed will be atoned for.

  4. Deuteronomy 21:9 הַנָּקִ֖י <the> innocent

    So you shall purge from among you the guilt of shedding innocent blood, since you have done what is right in the eyes of the LORD.

  5. Deuteronomy 24:5 נָקִ֞י free

    If a man is newly married, he must not be sent to war or be pressed into any duty. For one year he is free to stay at home and bring joy to the wife he has married.

  6. Deuteronomy 27:25 נָקִ֑י innocent

    ‘Cursed is he who accepts a bribe to kill an innocent person.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’

    Here: 'Clear, free of guilt'. In law it means someone not liable to punishment. The victim has done nothing that deserves death.

Joshua · 3

  1. Joshua 2:17 נְקִיִּ֣ם [will be] free

    The men said to her, “We will not be bound by this oath you made us swear

  2. Joshua 2:19 נְקִיִּ֑ם [will be] free

    If anyone goes out the door of your house into the street, his blood will be on his own head, and we will be innocent. But if a hand is laid on anyone with you in the house, his blood will be on our heads.

    Here: 'Clear', meaning released from liability and from the obligation of the oath. It is not a claim to moral goodness in general. Compare verse 20, 'we will be clear of your oath.'

  3. Joshua 2:20 נְקִיִּ֔ם free

    And if you report our mission, we will be released from the oath you made us swear.”

1 Samuel · 1

  1. 1 Samuel 19:5 נָקִ֔י innocent

    He took his life in his hands when he struck down the Philistine, and the LORD worked a great salvation for all Israel. You saw it and rejoiced, so why would you sin against innocent blood by killing David for no reason?”

    Here: “Innocent,” in the legal sense: David carries no guilt that would make his death lawful.

2 Samuel · 2

  1. 2 Samuel 3:28 נָקִ֨י [am] innocent

    Afterward, David heard about this and said, “I and my kingdom are forever guiltless before the LORD concerning the blood of Abner son of Ner.

  2. 2 Samuel 14:9 נָקִֽי׃ ס [be] innocent

    But the woman of Tekoa said to the king, “My lord the king, may any blame be on me and on my father’s house, and may the king and his throne be guiltless.”

    Here: 'Clear', meaning free of any liability. The word is singular even though it follows two subjects, so king and throne are treated as one unit. The point is legal exemption from bloodguilt, not that David is personally sinless.

1 Kings · 1

  1. 1 Kings 15:22 נָקִ֔י [was] an exempt [person]

    Then King Asa summoned all the men of Judah, with no exceptions, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and the timbers Baasha had used for building. And with these materials King Asa built up Geba of Benjamin, as well as Mizpah.

2 Kings · 3

  1. 2 Kings 21:16 נָקִ֜י innocent

    Moreover, Manasseh shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from end to end, in addition to the sin that he had caused Judah to commit, doing evil in the sight of the LORD.

    Here: A legal word: people who were not liable to death, who had committed no capital crime. Their killing was not justice but murder, and it brought bloodguilt on whoever was responsible.

  2. 2 Kings 24:4 הַנָּקִי֙ נָקִ֑י the innocent, innocent

    and also for the innocent blood he had shed. For he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the LORD was unwilling to forgive.

    Here: "The innocent": people who were legally not liable to death. They had committed no capital crime, so killing them was murder, not justice.

Job · 6

  1. Job 4:7 נָקִ֣י innocent

    Consider now, I plead: Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Or where have the upright been destroyed?

    Here: Someone 'clear' of guilt, with nothing against them that would justify punishment. It is legal and moral language: the person is not liable.

  2. Job 9:23 נְקִיִּ֣ם innocent [ones]

    When the scourge brings sudden death, He mocks the despair of the innocent.

  3. Job 17:8 וְ֝נָקִ֗י and [the] innocent

    The upright are appalled at this, and the innocent are stirred against the godless.

  4. Job 22:19 וְ֝נָקִ֗י and [the] innocent

    The righteous see it and are glad; the innocent mock them:

  5. Job 22:30 נָקִ֑י an innocent [person]

    He will deliver even one who is not innocent, rescuing him through the cleanness of your hands.”

    Here: In law, someone 'clear' of guilt or liability. With the negative before it, the person is not clear: they are guilty and liable to punishment.

  6. Job 27:17 נָקִ֥י [the] innocent

    what he lays up, the righteous will wear, and his silver will be divided by the innocent.

Psalms · 5

  1. Psalm 10:8 נָקִ֑י [the] innocent

    He lies in wait near the villages; in ambush he slays the innocent; his eyes watch in stealth for the helpless.

    Here: An innocent person: someone clear of any charge, with nothing owed that could justify this death. It is a statement of legal standing, not of sinlessness, and it echoes the law's ban on exactly this act (Exodus 23:7).

  2. Psalm 15:5 נָקִ֗י [the] innocent

    who lends his money without interest and refuses a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken.

    Here: "An innocent person." Someone legally clear, not guilty in the case at hand. The word is used in courts and especially for the 'innocent blood' of a person wrongly condemned.

  3. Psalm 24:4 נְקִ֥י a [person] innocent of

    He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear deceitfully.

    Here: This is a legal word, not a hygiene word: it means acquitted, not liable, with no guilt attached. Here it is bound to the next word, so the phrase means "innocent in respect of the hands", someone whose hands carry no guilt.

  4. Psalm 94:21 נָקִ֣י innocent

    They band together against the righteous and condemn the innocent to death.

    Here: Free of any guilt that would justify punishment. 'Innocent blood' means the life of someone who has done nothing to deserve death. Killing such a person makes the killer and the land guilty of bloodshed.

  5. Psalm 106:38 נָקִ֡י innocent

    They shed innocent blood—the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was polluted with blood.

    Here: Legally clear: the victims had done nothing that made them liable to death. 'Innocent blood' is a fixed legal phrase in Hebrew law and the prophets for a killing with no justification, the kind that brings bloodguilt on whoever sheds it and on the community that allows it.

Proverbs · 2

  1. Proverbs 1:11 לְנָקִ֣י for an innocent [one]

    If they say, “Come along, let us lie in wait for blood, let us ambush the innocent without cause,

    Here: "For one who is guiltless." This is the legal word for someone who carries no guilt in the matter: the victim has done nothing to deserve an attack. Put next to "blood" in the line before, it calls up the familiar legal phrase "innocent blood" (dam naqi), the killing that pollutes the land.

  2. Proverbs 6:17 נָקִֽי׃ innocent

    haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,

    Here: In legal terms, "not liable": the victim has done nothing that deserves death. "Innocent blood" is a fixed legal phrase for murder or for an unjust execution.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 59:7 נָקִ֑י innocent

    Their feet run to evil; they are swift to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are sinful thoughts; ruin and destruction lie in their wake.

    Here: A legal word: the victims are 'clear', with no guilt that could justify their deaths. 'Innocent blood' is a fixed charge in the Torah and the prophets, one of the gravest a society could face.

Jeremiah · 6

  1. Jeremiah 2:34 נְקִיִּ֑ים innocent

    Moreover, your skirts are stained with the blood of the innocent poor, though you did not find them breaking in. But in spite of all these things

    Here: 'Innocent ones'. This is a legal term: the victims had done nothing that deserved death. The phrase 'innocent blood' is a stock charge in Jeremiah and Kings. It sets up the irony of v.35, where Judah says 'I am innocent' (niqqeti) using the same root.

  2. Jeremiah 7:6 נָקִ֔י innocent

    if you no longer oppress the foreigner and the fatherless and the widow, and if you no longer shed innocent blood in this place or follow other gods to your own harm,

    Here: Describes a person who has done nothing to deserve death. Killing such a person, by violence or by a rigged court, leaves guilt that clings to the killer and the land.

  3. Jeremiah 19:4 נְקִיִּֽם׃ innocent [ones]

    because they have abandoned Me and made this a foreign place. They have burned incense in this place to other gods that neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah have ever known. They have filled this place with the blood of the innocent.

    Here: 'Innocent ones' — plural: people who had done nothing to deserve death. In context (v.5) this means above all the children burned at Topheth, possibly also others killed unjustly.

  4. Jeremiah 22:3 נָקִ֔י innocent

    This is what the LORD says: Administer justice and righteousness. Rescue the victim of robbery from the hand of his oppressor. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow. Do not shed innocent blood in this place.

    Here: 'Clean' in the legal sense: not guilty of anything deserving death. Innocent blood is the blood of someone killed without just cause.

  5. Jeremiah 22:17 הַנָּקִי֙ the innocent [person]

    “But your eyes and heart are set on nothing except your own dishonest gain, on shedding innocent blood, on practicing extortion and oppression.”

    Here: 'The innocent (one)': a person legally clear and not deserving death. 'Innocent blood' is a fixed phrase in Deuteronomy and Kings for judicial or royal murder.

  6. Jeremiah 26:15 נָקִ֗י innocent

    But know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood upon yourselves, upon this city, and upon its residents; for truly the LORD has sent me to speak all these words in your hearing.”

    Here: Legally 'clean': the person killed had committed no crime deserving death. 'Innocent blood' is a fixed legal phrase for an unjustified killing.

Joel · 1

  1. Joel 3:19 נָקִ֖יא innocent

    Egypt will become desolate, and Edom a desert wasteland, because of the violence done to the people of Judah, in whose land they shed innocent blood.

    Here: A legal term: people who had done nothing that deserved death. 'Innocent blood' is a fixed phrase for murder, or for killing that the law does not allow. It is spelled here with an unusual final aleph, as in Jonah 1:14.

Jonah · 1

  1. Jonah 1:14 נָקִ֑יא innocent

    So they cried out to the LORD: “Please, O LORD, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life! Do not charge us with innocent blood! For You, O LORD, have done as You pleased.”

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