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נָגַשׁ nâgash — to be or come (causatively, bring) near (for any purpose)

pronounced naw-gash' · Strong's H5066 · 125 occurrences in the Hebrew Bible · 5 stems: Qal (Pa'al), Hiph'il, Niph'al, Hoph'al, Hitpa'el

Translated in the KJV as approach, bring (forth, hither, near), come (hither, near, nigh), give place, go hard, (be, draw, go) near.

a primitive root; to be or come (causatively, bring) near (for any purpose); euphemistically, to lie with a woman; as an enemy, to attack; religious to worship; causatively, to present; figuratively, to adduce an argument; by reversal, to stand back.

nâgash in each stem

Qal (Pa'al) 68×

Simple · active — the plain action; the subject does it

Wayyiqtol 33Imperative 12Imperfect (yiqtol) 10Infinitive construct 9Jussive 4

וַיִּגַּ֥שׁ Gen 18:23 Wayyiqtol, 3rd person masculine singular

And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? (KJV)

גֶּשׁ Gen 19:9 Imperative, 2nd person masculine singular

And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door. (KJV)

גְּשָׁה Gen 27:21 Imperative, 2nd person masculine singular

And Isaac said unto Jacob, Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou be my very son Esau or not. (KJV)

Hiph'il 37×

Causative · active — causing someone or something to do the action; the subject does it

Wayyiqtol 12Imperative 10Participle (active) 5Imperfect (yiqtol) 4Sequential perfect (weqatal) 3Perfect (qatal) 2Jussive 1

הַגִּ֤שָׁה Gen 27:25 Imperative, 2nd person masculine singular

And he said, Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son’s venison, that my soul may bless thee. And he brought it near to him, and he did eat: and he brought him wine, and he drank. (KJV)

וַיַּגֵּ֤שׁ Gen 48:10 Wayyiqtol, 3rd person masculine singular

Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he could not see. And he brought them near unto him; and he kissed them, and embraced them. (KJV)

וַיַּגֵּ֖שׁ Gen 48:13 Wayyiqtol, 3rd person masculine singular

And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near unto him. (KJV)

Niph'al 17×

Simple · passive — the plain action; the subject has it done to them

Perfect (qatal) 9Sequential perfect (weqatal) 7Participle (active) 1

נִגַּ֥שׁ Gen 33:7 Perfect (qatal), 3rd person masculine singular

And Leah also with her children came near, and bowed themselves: and after came Joseph near and Rachel, and they bowed themselves. (KJV)

הַנִּגָּשִׁ֥ים Exod 19:22 Participle (active), masculine plural

And let the priests also, which come near to the Lord, sanctify themselves, lest the Lord break forth upon them. (KJV)

נִגַּ֣שׁ Exod 20:21 Perfect (qatal), 3rd person masculine singular

And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was. (KJV)

Hoph'al

Causative · passive — causing someone or something to do the action; the subject has it done to them

Perfect (qatal) 1Participle (passive) 1

הֻגָּ֔שׁוּ 2Sam 3:34 Perfect (qatal), 3rd person common plural

Thy hands were not bound, nor thy feet put into fetters: as a man falleth before wicked men, so fellest thou. And all the people wept again over him. (KJV)

מֻגָּ֛שׁ Mal 1:11 Participle (passive), masculine singular

For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts. (KJV)

Hitpa'el

Intensive · reflexive — the action intensified, repeated or brought about; the subject does it to or for themselves

Imperative 1

הִֽתְנַגְּשׁ֥וּ Isa 45:20 Imperative, 2nd person masculine plural

Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save. (KJV)

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 ›

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In the app, tap any Hebrew verb while reading: its root, stem and form are named, the letters of the word itself are coloured to show which is which, and the stem's meaning is put in plain English. nâgash in the lexicon ›

Morphology from OpenScriptures MorphHB (CC BY 4.0); definitions from Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (public domain); text from the Westminster Leningrad Codex.

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