Hebrew word · H5428

נָתַשׁ

notesh

to uproot

To pull up by the roots or tear out of the soil. Used of plants and, by extension, of peoples removed from their land. The opposite of 'plant' (nata'), and often paired with it.

Appears 21 times in 19 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to pull up, expel, root out, pluck up

1a) (Qal) to pull or pluck up

1b) (Niphal) to be plucked up

1c) (Hophal) to be plucked up

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 Ezekiel 19:12

Range of meaning

To pull up by the roots or tear out of the soil. Used of plants and, by extension, of peoples removed from their land. The opposite of 'plant' (nata'), and often paired with it.

Against the English

'Uprooted' (BSB) and 'plucked up' (KJV, WEB) are both accurate. Neither English word carries the covenant echo the Hebrew had for its first hearers.

Used elsewhere in the period

Deut 29:28 (29:27 in Hebrew): 'The LORD uprooted them (natash) from their land in anger and in fury (chemah) and great wrath, and cast them (shalakh) into another land.' This is the covenant curse for breaking faith. Jeremiah's call uses the same word: 'to pluck up and to break down… to build and to plant' (Jer 1:10; also 12:14–17; 24:6). 1 Kgs 14:15 uses it for Israel's exile.

From the study of Jeremiah 12:14

Range of meaning

To pull up or pluck out, of plants (the root picture), and by extension to tear a people out of their land, to expel or destroy. In Jeremiah it is a signature word. It appears in the prophet's call (1:10: 'to uproot and to tear down… to build and to plant') and comes back again and again (18:7; 24:6; 31:28; 42:10; 45:4).

Against the English

'Uproot' (BSB, NIV) and 'pluck up' (ESV, WEB) are accurate. KJV 'pluck out' is fine too, but it loses some of the farming picture of roots coming up out of the soil.

Used elsewhere in the period

Deut 29:28 (Heb 29:27): 'Yahweh uprooted them from upon their soil (vayyittshem meʿal ʾadmatam)', almost exactly the wording here, used there as the covenant curse of exile. 1 Kgs 14:15 uses it for Israel uprooted from the good land. In Jer 12:14–17 the verb appears five times in four verses.

From the study of Jeremiah 12:15

Range of meaning

To pull up or root out a plant; by extension, to tear a people out of its land (deportation, end of national life). Opposite of נָטַע "plant" and paired with בָּנָה "build."

Against the English

KJV "plucked them out" can sound like being picked out of a group; "uprooted" (BSB) or "plucked up" (WEB, ESV) better keeps the plant image.

Used elsewhere in the period

Jeremiah's call commissions him "to uproot and tear down… to build and to plant" (1:10), and the pair recurs at 18:7–9, 24:6, 31:28, 42:10 and 45:4. Deuteronomy's covenant curse uses it: "the LORD uprooted them from their land in anger" (Deut 29:28 Heb. / 29:27). Also 1 Kgs 14:15.

Where it appears

Deuteronomy · 1

  1. Deuteronomy 29:28 וַיִּתְּשֵׁ֤ם and he plucked up them

    The LORD uprooted them from their land in His anger, rage, and great wrath, and He cast them into another land, where they are today.’

    Here: 'And he uprooted them.' The word pictures a gardener pulling a plant out of the ground, roots and all. Israel is pictured as something God had planted in the land and now tears out.

1 Kings · 1

  1. 1 Kings 14:15 וְנָתַ֣שׁ and he will pluck up

    For the LORD will strike Israel as a reed is shaken in the water. He will uproot Israel from this good land that He gave their fathers, and He will scatter them beyond the Euphrates, because they have made their Asherah poles, provoking the LORD to anger.

    Here: Pulling a plant up by the roots. This is the language of covenant curse (Deut 29:28) and the reverse of God 'planting' his people in the land.

2 Chronicles · 1

  1. 2 Chronicles 7:20 וּנְתַשְׁתִּ֗ים and I will pluck up them

    then I will uproot Israel from the soil I have given them, and I will banish from My presence this temple I have sanctified for My Name. I will make it an object of scorn and ridicule among all the peoples.

    Here: 'Then I will uproot them.' The word comes from farming: tearing a plant out by its roots. It turns around the old picture of God 'planting' Israel in the land. This word opens the 'then' half of the 'if' that began in verse 19.

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 9:6 נָתַ֑שְׁתָּ you have plucked up

    The enemy has come to eternal ruin, and You have uprooted their cities; the very memory of them has vanished.

    Here: "You" is God, continuing the string of "you" verbs in verse 5. The word comes from farming: a plant pulled out with its roots. Cities are pictured as torn out of the ground so that nothing can grow back.

Jeremiah · 13

  1. Jeremiah 1:10 לִנְת֥וֹשׁ to pluck up

    See, I have appointed you today over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and plant.”

    Here: A farming picture: pulling a plant up by its roots. Elsewhere it is used for driving a people off its land into exile (Deut 29:28; 1 Kgs 14:15). Here it is the first purpose of the commission.

  2. Jeremiah 12:14 נֹֽתְשָׁם֙ אֶתּ֥וֹשׁ [am] about to pluck up them, I will pluck up

    This is what the LORD says: “As for all My evil neighbors who attack the inheritance that I bequeathed to My people Israel, I am about to uproot them from their land, and I will uproot the house of Judah from among them.

    Here: 'Uprooting them': a participle, so 'I am about to pull them up'. It is a gardener's or farmer's word, pulling a plant out roots and all, and one of the key verbs of Jeremiah's call (1:10).

  3. Jeremiah 12:15 נָתְשִׁ֣י have plucked up I

    But after I have uprooted them, I will once again have compassion on them and return each one to his inheritance and to his land.

    Here: Literally "my uprooting": a verb form used like a noun, with "my" attached, so God names himself as the one who does it. The image is a plant torn out of the ground by its roots, Jeremiah's signature word for deportation and the end of a nation (Jer 1:10).

  4. Jeremiah 12:17 וְנָ֨תַשְׁתִּ֜י נָת֥וֹשׁ and I will pluck up, plucking up

    But if they will not obey, then I will uproot that nation; I will uproot it and destroy it, declares the LORD.”

  5. Jeremiah 18:7 לִנְת֥וֹשׁ to pluck up

    At any time I might announce that a nation or kingdom will be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed.

    Here: 'To uproot', a farming picture: pulling a plant out by the roots. When used of people it often means removing them from their land, that is, exile.

  6. Jeremiah 18:14 יִנָּתְשׁ֗וּ are they plucked up

    Does the snow of Lebanon ever leave its rocky slopes? Or do its cool waters flowing from a distance ever run dry?

    Here: As the text stands: 'are they uprooted / torn away?' This is an odd verb for water, and many read it as 'do they dry up' (nāšat). The verb 'uproot' is still one of Jeremiah's keywords (1:10; 18:7), so the standard text echoes the chapter's threat.

  7. Jeremiah 24:6 אֶתּֽוֹשׁ׃ I will pluck [them] up

    I will keep My eyes on them for good and will return them to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them.

    Here: To pull a plant up by the roots, the standard picture of exile from the land (Deut 29:28; 1 Kgs 14:15). Promising not to uproot them amounts to promising that exile will not happen to them again.

  8. Jeremiah 31:28 לִנְת֧וֹשׁ to pluck up

    Just as I watched over them to uproot and tear down, to demolish, destroy, and bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant,” declares the LORD.

    Here: To pull a plant up by the roots. Used of driving a people out of their land, i.e. exile. It is the first of Jeremiah's signature verbs from his call in 1:10.

  9. Jeremiah 31:40 יִנָּתֵ֧שׁ it will be plucked up

    The whole valley of the dead bodies and ashes, and all the fields as far as the Kidron Valley, to the corner of the Horse Gate to the east, will be holy to the LORD. It will never again be uprooted or demolished.”

    Here: 'It will be uprooted.' This is the first verb of Jeremiah's call in 1:10 ('to pluck up'). The picture is of a plant torn out of the ground, and here it is ruled out for good. The verb is masculine, so 'it' most naturally means the whole area just described, not 'the city', which is a feminine word in Hebrew.

  10. Jeremiah 42:10 אֶתּ֑וֹשׁ I will pluck [you] up

    ‘If you will indeed stay in this land, then I will build you up and not tear you down; I will plant you and not uproot you, for I will relent of the disaster I have brought upon you.

    Here: 'I will (not) uproot.' Pulling a plant out by its roots was Jeremiah's standard picture of exile. God promises no more deportation for those who stay.

  11. Jeremiah 45:4 נֹתֵ֑שׁ [am] about to pluck up

    Thus Jeremiah was to say to Baruch: “This is what the LORD says: Throughout the land I will demolish what I have built and uproot what I have planted.

    Here: 'Uprooting': pulling a plant out roots and all. In Jeremiah and Deuteronomy this is the standard picture of exile from the land.

Ezekiel · 1

  1. Ezekiel 19:12 וַתֻּתַּ֤שׁ and it was plucked up

    But it was uprooted in fury, cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up its fruit. Its strong branches were stripped off and they withered; the fire consumed them.

    Here: 'And she was uprooted.' The passive form leaves the one doing the uprooting unnamed. The subject is the mother-vine of v.10 (Judah and its royal house). This is the standard Hebrew verb for God tearing a people out of its land (Deut 29:28; Jer 1:10).

Daniel · 1

  1. Daniel 11:4 תִנָּתֵשׁ֙ it will be plucked up

    But as soon as he is established, his kingdom will be broken up and parceled out toward the four winds of heaven. It will not go to his descendants, nor will it have the authority with which he ruled, because his kingdom will be uprooted and given to others.

Amos · 1

  1. Amos 9:15 יִנָּתְשׁ֜וּ they will be plucked up

    I will firmly plant them in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land that I have given them,” says the LORD your God.

    Here: To tear a plant out of the ground, roots and all. It is the standard opposite of "plant" in the prophets (Jer 1:10; 24:6) and the word Deuteronomy uses for the covenant curse of exile (Deut 29:28 Heb. 29:27). The passive form leaves the uprooter unnamed: no one, not an invading empire and not God's judgment, will pull them up again.

Micah · 1

  1. Micah 5:14 וְנָתַשְׁתִּ֥י and I will pluck up

    I will root out the Asherah poles from your midst and demolish your cities.

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