נָגַן nâgan — properly, to thrum, i.e. beat a tune with the fingers
Translated in the KJV as player on instruments, sing to the stringed instruments, melody, ministrel, play(-er, -ing).
a primitive root; properly, to thrum, i.e. beat a tune with the fingers; expectation. to play on a stringed instrument; hence (generally), to make music.
nâgan in each stem
Pi'el
Infinitive construct 6Participle (active) 5Sequential perfect (weqatal) 1Perfect (qatal) 1Imperfect (yiqtol) 1
Let our lord now command thy servants, which are before thee, to seek out a man, who is a cunning player on an harp: and it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that he shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be well.
And Saul said unto his servants, Provide me now a man that can play well, and bring him to me.
Then answered one of the servants, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Beth–lehemite, that is cunning in playing, and a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person, and the Lord is with him.
Qal (Pa'al)
Participle (active) 1
Bless ye God in the congregations, even the Lord, from the fountain of Israel.
What the stems mean
A Hebrew verb is its root letters set into a pattern. The pattern — the binyan — is the grammar's way of saying three things at once: whether the action is simple, intensive or causative, and whether its subject is active, passive or reflexive. That is why one Hebrew word can need six English ones. All seven binyanim, explained ›