Hebrew word · H5737

עָדַר

ne'dar

to lack

In the niphal (here describing a state), 'to be missing, be lacking, fail to appear'. It is used of people or things that turn up absent when a count is taken.

Appears 11 times in 11 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to be lacking, fail

1a)(Niphal)

1b1) to be lacking

1b1) to leave lacking

1b) (Piel) to leave lacking

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 Isaiah 40:26

Range of meaning

In the niphal (here describing a state), 'to be missing, be lacking, fail to appear'. It is used of people or things that turn up absent when a count is taken.

Against the English

KJV 'faileth' meant 'is lacking' in 1611. To a modern reader it sounds like 'fails' (does badly, breaks down). WEB 'is lacking', and BSB/ESV/NASB/NLT 'is missing', are accurate.

How it drifted

The English 'fail' once meant 'be absent, run out' (as in 'his strength failed'). That sense has faded behind 'not succeed'.

Used elsewhere in the period

1 Sam 30:19 ('nothing of theirs was missing'); 2 Sam 17:22 ('not one was missing who had not crossed the Jordan'); Isa 34:16 ('not one of these shall be missing'). These are counts of troops or possessions.

From the study of Isaiah 5:6

Range of meaning

"To hoe, dig over" the ground, in this sense only here and in Isaiah 7:25 ("the hills that used to be hoed with the hoe"). Words spelled the same mean "to be missing, lacking" (e.g. 1 Samuel 30:19) and, in 1 Chronicles 12, "to draw up in battle order".

Against the English

BSB/NIV "cultivated", ESV/NASB/WEB "hoed", KJV "digged". YLT's "nor arranged" comes from the unrelated battle-order sense and is a wrong turn here.

How it drifted

YLT's "arranged" mixes up two roots that are spelled alike. It is not a change in English meaning.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isaiah 7:23–25 uses the same farming picture: places that once held a thousand vines and were worked with the hoe become ground for "briers and thorns" (shamir vashayit), where cattle roam.

From the study of Zephaniah 3:5

Range of meaning

From a root meaning 'to be missing, lacking, left out.' The form used here (a passive participle) means 'missing' or 'absent.'

Against the English

Most versions have 'he does not fail' (KJV, WEB). BSB and ESV add 'at dawn,' linking 'light' with this clause. YLT 'it hath not been lacking' keeps the openness of the Hebrew.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isa 40:26 uses the identical phrase lōʾ neʿdār, 'not one is missing,' for the stars God calls out by name each night. See also Isa 34:16 and 1 Sam 30:19 ('nothing was missing'). The word suggests a roll call in which every member answers.

Where it appears

1 Samuel · 1

  1. 1 Samuel 30:19 נֶעְדַּר־ it was missing

    Nothing was missing, young or old, son or daughter, or any of the plunder the Amalekites had taken. David brought everything back.

2 Samuel · 1

  1. 2 Samuel 17:22 נֶעְדָּ֔ר [was] missing

    So David and all the people with him got up and crossed the Jordan. By daybreak, there was no one left who had not crossed the Jordan.

1 Kings · 1

  1. 1 Kings 4:27 יְעַדְּר֖וּ they left lacking

    Each month the governors in turn provided food for King Solomon and all who came to his table. They saw to it that nothing was lacking.

1 Chronicles · 2

  1. 1 Chronicles 12:33 וְלַעֲדֹ֖ר and to help

    From Zebulun: 50,000 fit for service, trained for battle with all kinds of weapons of war, who with one purpose were devoted to David.

  2. 1 Chronicles 12:38 עֹדְרֵ֣י helpers of

    All these men of war, arrayed for battle, came to Hebron fully determined to make David king over all Israel. And all the rest of the Israelites were of one mind to make David king.

Isaiah · 5

  1. Isaiah 5:6 יֵעָדֵ֔ר it will be hoed

    I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and thorns and briers will grow up. I will command the clouds that rain shall not fall on it.”

    Here: Passive: "it will not be hoed." No one will break up the soil and chop out weeds between the vines. The verb appears in this sense only here and in Isaiah 7:25.

  2. Isaiah 7:25 יֵעָ֣דֵר֔וּן they were hoed !

    For fear of the briers and thorns, you will no longer traverse the hills once tilled by the hoe; they will become places for oxen to graze and sheep to trample.

  3. Isaiah 34:16 נֶעְדָּ֔רָה it will be missing

    Search and read the scroll of the LORD: Not one of these will go missing, not one will lack her mate, because He has ordered it by His mouth, and He will gather them by His Spirit.

    Here: "Was missing" or "was left out." It is roll-call language: when the count is taken, nobody is absent (compare 2 Sam 17:22; Isa 40:26). The past-tense form presents the outcome as already settled.

  4. Isaiah 40:26 נֶעְדָּֽר׃ ס it is missing

    Lift up your eyes on high: Who created all these? He leads forth the starry host by number; He calls each one by name. Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.

    Here: 'Is missing', a description of a standing condition. The same verb reports that 'nothing was missing' after David recovered everything (1 Sam 30:19) and that 'not one was missing' when his men crossed the Jordan (2 Sam 17:22). It is roll-call language: everyone is present.

  5. Isaiah 59:15 נֶעְדֶּ֔רֶת lacking

    Truth is missing, and whoever turns from evil becomes prey. The LORD looked and was displeased that there was no justice.

Zephaniah · 1

  1. Zephaniah 3:5 נֶעְדָּ֔ר he fails

    The LORD within her is righteous; He does no wrong. He applies His justice morning by morning; He does not fail at dawn, yet the unjust know no shame.

    Here: 'Is not missing': it never fails to show up. The grammar does not say whether 'he' (Yahweh), 'it' (his justice) or the dawn light is the one that is never missing. Each reading lands in the same place.

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