Hebrew word · H943
בּוּךְ
nevukhim
to perplex
A rare root (three times in the Hebrew Bible) meaning to be confused, disoriented, agitated, to wander without direction. The related noun məbûkāh means 'turmoil, confusion' in scenes of disaster.
Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
1) to perplex, confuse, be confused
1a) (Niphal) to be confused, be in confusion
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
- Range of meaning
A rare root (three times in the Hebrew Bible) meaning to be confused, disoriented, agitated, to wander without direction. The related noun məbûkāh means 'turmoil, confusion' in scenes of disaster.
- Against the English
KJV and WEB 'perplexed' and NIV 'bewildered' can sound like mild mental puzzlement. BSB 'in confusion' and ESV 'thrown into confusion' come closer to the sense of a population in alarm and disarray.
- How it drifted
'Perplexed' in 1611 could still carry a sense of being entangled or troubled. Modern English has narrowed it to 'puzzled', which loses the emotional upheaval.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Exodus 14:3: Pharaoh thinks Israel is 'wandering aimlessly' (nəbukîm) in the land, hemmed in by the wilderness. Joel 1:18: herds of cattle 'are bewildered' (nābōkû) because they have no pasture in a drought. Isaiah 22:5 describes a day of 'tumult, trampling and confusion' (məbûkāh); Micah 7:4 speaks of the time of their 'confusion'. In every case the word belongs to crisis: being trapped, starving, or overrun.
Similar words
Where it appears
Exodus · 1
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Exodus 14:3 נְבֻכִ֥ים [are] wandering in confusion
For Pharaoh will say of the Israelites, ‘They are wandering the land in confusion; the wilderness has boxed them in.’
Esther · 1
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Esther 3:15 נָבֽוֹכָה׃ פ it was in confusion
The couriers left, spurred on by the king’s command, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa. Then the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was in confusion.
Here: The last word of the scene: the city 'was thrown into confusion' — disoriented, agitated, not knowing which way to turn. More panic and dismay than puzzlement.
Joel · 1
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Joel 1:18 נָבֹ֙כוּ֙ they have wandered in confusion
How the cattle groan! The herds wander in confusion because they have no pasture. Even the flocks of sheep are suffering.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.