Hebrew word · H5367

נָקַשׁ

tinakesh

to snare

To lay a snare or to be caught in one, from fowling and trapping. In figurative use it means to be lured into ruin by something that looks harmless. It is closely related to yaqash, 'to snare', and moqesh, 'a trap' (Deut 7:16, 25: the gods and idols of the nations 'will be a snare to you').

Appears 5 times in 5 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to knock, strike, bring down

1a) (Qal) to strike down

1b) (Niphal) to be thrust after, be impelled

1c) (Piel) to strike at, take aim at

1d) (Hithpael) to be struck

2) (CLBL) to ensnare

2a) (Qal) to ensnare

2b) (Niphal) to be ensnared

2c) (Piel) to lay snares

2d) (Hithpael) to lay snares

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 12:30

Range of meaning

To lay a snare or to be caught in one, from fowling and trapping. In figurative use it means to be lured into ruin by something that looks harmless. It is closely related to yaqash, 'to snare', and moqesh, 'a trap' (Deut 7:16, 25: the gods and idols of the nations 'will be a snare to you').

Against the English

'Ensnared' or 'snared' is accurate. Some paraphrases turn it into 'fall into the trap of following their customs', which keeps the picture but loses the passive: the Hebrew stresses being caught rather than choosing.

Used elsewhere in the period

The word is rare. In Ps 9:16 (Hebrew 9:17) the wicked are 'snared by the work of their own hands'. In 1 Sam 28:9 the medium at Endor asks Saul, 'Why are you laying a snare for my life?', a related form used in a setting of forbidden consultation of spirits. Ps 109:11 uses it of a creditor's grasping. Deuteronomy 7:16, 25 uses the related noun moqesh of the Canaanite gods and the silver and gold on their images.

From the study of Psalm 38:12

Range of meaning

To lay a snare, catch in a trap, entrap. It is probably a byform of yaqash (the root behind moqesh, 'snare, lure') and comes from the world of bird-catching and hunting. Where it is used of people it can also mean to seize property by a trick (Ps 109:11, the creditor who 'ensnares' everything a man has).

Against the English

English versions agree on 'lay snares' or 'set traps'. The LXX moves away from the picture with 'they used violence', perhaps because the verb is rare.

Used elsewhere in the period

Rare in the Hebrew Bible: Deut 12:30 (niphal, 'be ensnared'), 1 Sam 28:9 ('why are you laying a snare for my life?', Saul's medium at Endor, with nefesh as here), Ps 9:16 (Heb. 9:17), Ps 109:11. Snare imagery is common in the Psalms (Ps 91:3; 124:7; 140:5; 141:9).

From the study of Psalm 9:16

Range of meaning

nāqash means to lay a snare or trap (1 Sam 28:9; Ps 38:12; 109:11). In Aramaic (Dan 5:6) it means to knock or strike, which explains the supplied gloss "striking down". The related root yāqōsh gives môqēsh, a fowler's snare.

Against the English

All the major English versions say "is snared / ensnared / trapped", a passive. As the Hebrew is vowelled, the form is active, "ensnaring".

Used elsewhere in the period

The Septuagint has συνελήμφθη ὁ ἁμαρτωλός ("the sinner was seized/caught") and the Vulgate has comprehensus est peccator, both passive. Many modern scholars (following the apparatus of BHS, the standard critical Hebrew Bible) re-vowel the word as nôqash, the Niphal (passive) of yāqōsh, "is snared".

Where it appears

Deuteronomy · 1

  1. Deuteronomy 12:30 תִּנָּקֵשׁ֙ you should be ensnared

    be careful not to be ensnared by their ways after they have been destroyed before you. Do not inquire about their gods, asking, “How do these nations serve their gods? I will do likewise.”

    Here: A hunter's word: to be caught in a noose or trap. The passive form pictures Israel as prey that walks into a snare without seeing it until it has closed.

1 Samuel · 1

  1. 1 Samuel 28:9 מִתְנַקֵּ֥שׁ setting traps

    But the woman replied, “Surely you know what Saul has done, how he has killed the mediums and spiritists in the land. Why have you set a trap to get me killed?”

Psalms · 3

  1. Psalm 9:16 נוֹקֵ֣שׁ [he is] striking down

    The LORD is known by the justice He brings; the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands. Higgaion Selah

    Here: As vowelled in the Hebrew, an active participle, "ensnaring". The ancient Greek and Latin read "is caught". Either way the picture is a fowler's trap snapping shut.

  2. Psalm 38:12 וַיְנַקְשׁ֤וּ׀ and they set traps

    Those who seek my life lay snares; those who wish me harm speak destruction, plotting deceit all day long.

    Here: The intensive (piel) form of a rare verb meaning to set a trap or catch in one. It opens the verse, so the first thing you hear is the trap. The 'and' joins this verse to the friends pulling back in v. 11: friends step away and enemies move in.

  3. Psalm 109:11 יְנַקֵּ֣שׁ may he strike

    May the creditor seize all he owns, and strangers plunder the fruits of his labor.

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