Etymologically
Log in

נתר

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 1 November 2026 at 06:55. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

נתר1 to leap, start up

Pronunciation

  • Tiberian: nāṯar[1]
  • Samaritan reading tradition: piel infinitive nattår[2]

Forms

נָתַר (nāṯar) verb[1] Qal imperfect יִתַּר, piel infinitive נַתֵּר, hiphil imperfect וַיַּתֵּר.[3][1] MACULA counts 4 occurrences.[4]

Etymology

For “to leap”, HALOT, Gesenius–Buhl and Klein follow Barth in comparing Arabic نَتَلَ (natala, “to spring forward”).[3][5][6] Klein thinks it probably related to נָשַׁר (nāšar, “to fall off”), and Friedrich Delitzsch derived the forms of Job 37:1 and Habakkuk 3:6 from a root תרר (trr) “to tremble”, comparing Akkadian tarāru.[6][5] BDB keeps it apart from the verb “to set free” on the same page, finding no clear link between them.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Two of the four occurrences are in archaic poems: in Habakkuk's prayer God rāʾâ wayyattēr gôyim “looked and made the nations start up” (Habakkuk 3:6), and in David's psalm (2 Samuel 22:33) HALOT reads a leap with a correction of the text.[8][4][3]

Semantic evolution

The qal is said of the heart that “leaps from its place” in fear (Job 37:1), and the piel of the hopping of locusts, which may be eaten because their legs are made lənattēr “for leaping” (Leviticus 11:21).[3][1] Holladay gives Job 37:1 the other way, as the heart that sinks.[9] The Septuagint has Ancient Greek πηδάω (pēdáō) “to leap” in Leviticus, and other verbs elsewhere.[4][10]

Timeline

  • Archaic Hebrew poetry – wayyattēr gôyim in the Prayer of Habakkuk (Habakkuk 3:6).[8][4]
  • Classical Biblical Hebrew – the leaping locusts of the Priestly food laws (Leviticus 11:21).[4][3]
  • 3rd–2nd century BC – the Septuagint renders it as Ancient Greek πηδάω (pēdáō) in Leviticus 11:21.[11][4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. qal: to leap, start up, of the heart in fear.[3][1]
  2. piel: to hop, of locusts.[3]
  3. hiphil: to make start up, to startle.[3][1]

נתר2 to loosen, set free

Pronunciation

  • Tiberian: hiphil hittîr[7]

Forms

נָתַר (nāṯar) verb, hiphil only[7] Hiphil imperfect יַתֵּר, with suffix וַיַּתִּירֵהוּ, infinitive absolute הַתֵּר, participle מַתִּיר.[7][12] MACULA counts 3 occurrences, and 1 more under a separate number for Job 6:9.[4]

Etymology

BDB compares, with a question mark, Arabic نَتَرَ (natara, “to tear a garment, snap a bowstring”), and HALOT adds Akkadian nutturu (“to tear to pieces”), the D stem of natāru.[7][12][13] Tawil explains the Hebrew sense from the Akkadian “to break up”, which in Hebrew became “to loosen”, and points to the parallel with פִּתַּח (pittaḥ, “to unlock”) in Isaiah 58:6 and Psalm 105:20.[14] Klein rather relates it to Jewish Aramaic נְתַר (nəṯar, “to fall off, decay”), and calls its link with the verb “to leap” hard to see.[15] For Job 6:9 HALOT sets up a third root with Classical Syriac ܢܬܪ (nṯar, “to fall, waste away”).[16][17]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb is late in the canon and found only in poetry and prophecy: šālaḥ meleḵ wayyattîrēhû “the king sent and set him free” (Psalm 105:20), of Pharaoh releasing Joseph.[4][12]

Semantic evolution

In Isaiah 58:6 the fast that God wants is hattēr ʾăḡuddôṯ môṭâ, “to undo the bands of the yoke”, and in Psalm 146:7 God mattîr ʾăsûrîm, “sets the prisoners free”.[7][12] In Job 6:9 Job asks God to “loose his hand” and cut him off.[7][16] The Septuagint renders it by Ancient Greek λύω (lúō) and διαλύω (dialúō).[4][10] In Rabbinic Hebrew the verb was used of a person released from an obligation and of what becomes permitted, the source of הֶתֵּר “permission”.[18][15]

Timeline

  • Biblical poetry and prophecy – Isaiah 58:6, Psalms 105:20 and 146:7, Job 6:9.[4][7]
  • 3rd–2nd century BC – the Septuagint renders it as Ancient Greek λύω (lúō).[11][4]
  • 2nd century BC – 2nd century AD – the Dead Sea Scrolls use it, in the Damascus Document and the Messianic Apocalypse (4Q521).[19][20]

Meanings

Verb

  1. hiphil: to loosen, untie the bands of a yoke.[7]
  2. hiphil: to set free a prisoner.[7][12]
  3. hiphil with yāḏ: to let loose one's hand (Job 6:9).[16]

נתר3 natron

Pronunciation

  • Tiberian: neṯer, pausal nāṯer[4][21]

Forms

נֶתֶר (neṯer) noun, masculine[21][22] Only in the singular, with the article בַּנֶּתֶר (Jeremiah 2:22) and in pause נָתֶר (Proverbs 25:20).[21][4]

Etymology

The noun “natron” is borrowed from Egyptian nṯrj (“natron”).[22][23][24] Noonan dates the loan from the form: the Semitic t, rather than the reflexes of Egyptian ṯ, shows that it was taken after ṯ and t merged in the second millennium BC, and the i-vowel of most cognates shows that it was taken before Egyptian i became a in closed accented syllables, before 700 BC.[23] The same word spread to Akkadian nitiru, Aramaic נתרא (niṯrā), Classical Syriac ܢܬܪܐ (neṯrā) and Hittite nitri-, while Arabic نطرون (naṭrūn) was borrowed later.[23][24] HALOT and Klein have the Akkadian or the Hebrew word pass on to Ancient Greek νίτρον (nítron), while Beekes and Noonan derive the Greek, and through it Latin nitrum, from the Egyptian word.[24][25][26][23]

Earliest recorded meaning

Both occurrences are figurative.[4] In Jeremiah God tells Israel ʾim-təḵabbəsî banneṯer “though you wash with natron” and much soap, the stain of guilt remains (Jeremiah 2:22), and in Proverbs singing to a sad heart is like ḥōmeṣ ʿal-nāṯer, vinegar poured on natron (Proverbs 25:20).[4][21]

Semantic evolution

Noonan identifies the substance with natron, a natural soda of sodium carbonate and bicarbonate, gathered in Egypt from the Wadi Natrun, the Beheira and El Kab, and used for purification, medicine, bleaching linen, mummification and glassmaking.[23] In Hebrew it is a cleansing agent beside בֹּרִית (bōrîṯ, “lye, soap”), and BDB explains Proverbs 25:20 as an image of things that do not go together.[21][27] The Septuagint has Ancient Greek νίτρον (nítron) in Jeremiah and leaves the word out in Proverbs, and the Vulgate has Latin nitrum.[23] Through Latin nitrum and Old French the Greek word became English nitre, while English natron came from French, from Arabic naṭrūn.[28][29] Modern Hebrew נֶתֶר (néter) keeps the word.[22]

Timeline

  • Before 700 BC – Hebrew and its neighbours borrow the Egyptian word, by Noonan's reckoning from the vowels.[23]
  • Biblical prophecy and wisdom – banneṯer in Jeremiah 2:22 and ʿal-nāṯer in Proverbs 25:20.[4]
  • 3rd–2nd century BC – the Septuagint renders it as Ancient Greek νίτρον (nítron) in Jeremiah 2:22.[11][23]

Meanings

Noun

  1. natron, native soda, used with oil for washing.[24][21][30]

Descendants

  • Modern Hebrew נֶתֶר (néter)[22]
  • Greek νίτρον (nítron), if borrowed through Hebrew as Klein holds, and through it Latin nitrum and English nitre[25][28]

Usage notes

The Biblical Aramaic נְתַר of Daniel 4:11, “strip off” the leaves of a tree, belongs with the Syriac and Jewish Aramaic verb “to fall off”.[5][4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Brown, Francis; Driver, S. R.; Briggs, Charles A. (1906), A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, with an Appendix Containing the Biblical Aramaic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. נָתַר
  2. ^ Højgaard, Christian Canu; Naaijer, Martijn; Schorch, Stefan (2023), Text-Fabric Dataset of the Samaritan Pentateuch, Zenodo, doi:10.5281/zenodo.7734632
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Koehler, Ludwig; Baumgartner, Walter; Stamm, Johann Jakob (1994–2000), The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, transl. and ed. M. E. J. Richardson, 5 vols, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. נתר II
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Clear Bible (2023–), MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets (Westminster Leningrad Codex, with Greek alignment), github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-hebrew, CC BY 4.0
  5. ^ a b c Gesenius, Wilhelm; Buhl, Frants (1915), Hebräisches und aramäisches Handwörterbuch über das Alte Testament, 17th ed., Leipzig: F. C. W. Vogel, p. s.v. נתר
  6. ^ a b Klein, Ernest (1987), A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language for Readers of English, Jerusalem: Carta; Haifa: University of Haifa, p. s.v. נתר I
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Brown, Francis; Driver, S. R.; Briggs, Charles A. (1906), A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, with an Appendix Containing the Biblical Aramaic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. נָתַר²
  8. ^ a b Sáenz-Badillos, Angel (1993), A History of the Hebrew Language, transl. John Elwolde, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 69
  9. ^ Holladay, William L. (1971), A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. נתר
  10. ^ a b Tov, Emanuel; Kraft, Robert A. (1987), CATSS Parallel Aligned Hebrew and Greek Texts of Jewish Scripture, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania (Oxford Text Archive 1111)
  11. ^ a b c Sáenz-Badillos, Angel (1993), A History of the Hebrew Language, transl. John Elwolde, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 93
  12. ^ a b c d e Koehler, Ludwig; Baumgartner, Walter; Stamm, Johann Jakob (1994–2000), The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, transl. and ed. M. E. J. Richardson, 5 vols, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. נתר III
  13. ^ del Olmo Lete, Gregorio; Sanmartín, Joaquín (2015), A Dictionary of the Ugaritic Language in the Alphabetic Tradition, 3rd ed., transl. W. G. E. Watson, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. n-t-r
  14. ^ Tawil, Hayim ben Yosef (2009), An Akkadian Lexical Companion for Biblical Hebrew: Etymological-Semantic and Idiomatic Equivalents, Jersey City: Ktav, p. 253
  15. ^ a b Klein, Ernest (1987), A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language for Readers of English, Jerusalem: Carta; Haifa: University of Haifa, p. s.v. נתר II
  16. ^ a b c Koehler, Ludwig; Baumgartner, Walter; Stamm, Johann Jakob (1994–2000), The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, transl. and ed. M. E. J. Richardson, 5 vols, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. נתר I
  17. ^ Sokoloff, Michael (2009), A Syriac Lexicon, Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns; Piscataway: Gorgias Press, p. 956
  18. ^ Jastrow, Marcus (1886–1903), A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature, London: Luzac; New York: Putnam, p. s.v. נָתַר I
  19. ^ Sáenz-Badillos, Angel (1993), A History of the Hebrew Language, transl. John Elwolde, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 143
  20. ^ Abegg, Martin G.; Jacobs, Jarod; Roorda, Dirk (2022), The Dead Sea Scrolls, Text-Fabric dataset, version 2.0.2, github.com/ETCBC/dss
  21. ^ a b c d e f Brown, Francis; Driver, S. R.; Briggs, Charles A. (1906), A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, with an Appendix Containing the Biblical Aramaic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. נֶתֶר
  22. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  23. ^ a b c d e f g h Noonan, Benjamin J. (2019), Non-Semitic Loanwords in the Hebrew Bible: A Lexicon of Language Contact, University Park: Eisenbrauns (Linguistic Studies in Ancient West Semitic 14), p. 156
  24. ^ a b c d Koehler, Ludwig; Baumgartner, Walter; Stamm, Johann Jakob (1994–2000), The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, transl. and ed. M. E. J. Richardson, 5 vols, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. נֶתֶר
  25. ^ a b Klein, Ernest (1987), A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language for Readers of English, Jerusalem: Carta; Haifa: University of Haifa, p. s.v. נֶתֶר
  26. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. νίτρον
  27. ^ de Blois, Reinier, ed. (2000–), Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew, United Bible Societies, sdbh.org, p. s.v. נֶתֶר
  28. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com, p. s.v. nitre
  29. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com, p. s.v. natron
  30. ^ Gesenius, Wilhelm; Buhl, Frants (1915), Hebräisches und aramäisches Handwörterbuch über das Alte Testament, 17th ed., Leipzig: F. C. W. Vogel, p. s.v. נֶתֶר