H5016 — נְבוּאָה (nᵉbûwʼâh)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H5016
Original: נְבוּאָה
Transliteration: nᵉbûwʼâh
Pronunciation: neb-oo-aw
Part of Speech: Feminine noun
Root: נָבָא (nâbâʼ, H5012) — to prophesy, speak by inspiration
Occurrences: 3 unique verses (4 tokens) in OT
First Occurrence: 2 Chr 9:29 — "the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

From H5012 (nâbâʼ); a prediction (spoken or written): — prophecy.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Count	%
the prophecy	1	25%
and the prophecy	1	25%
this prophecy	1	25%
that [= the prophecy]	1	25%

All four tokens are rendered "prophecy" in context; the variation is only in surrounding articles/conjunctions.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
2 Chronicles	2	0.24
Nehemiah	1	0.25

Confined entirely to post-exilic historical books (Chronicles-Nehemiah). Absent from the Pentateuch, the writing prophets, Psalms, and wisdom literature. Despite being the dedicated Hebrew noun for "prophecy," it is remarkably rare — the concept of prophetic activity is carried far more often by the personal noun nabiy (H5030, 316x) and the verb naba (H5012, 115x).

Semantic Categories¶

1. Written Prophetic Record¶

2 Chr 9:29 — "are they not written in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer?" — nebuw'ah names a written document attributed to a specific prophet, listed alongside "the book of Nathan" and "the visions of Iddo."

2. Spoken Prophetic Message Prompting Action¶

2 Chr 15:8 — "And when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and put away the abominable idols" — nebuw'ah denotes an oral prophetic declaration that led to national reform.

3. False / Hired Prophetic Pronouncement¶

Neh 6:12 — "lo, I perceived that God had not sent him; but that he pronounced this prophecy against me: for Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him" — nebuw'ah used for a fabricated prophetic utterance, hired by political enemies against Nehemiah.

Common Collocations¶

With only 3 verses, no statistically significant collocations emerge. The most notable contextual associations are:

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
חֹזֶה (chozeh)	H2374	1x	"prophecy... visions of the seer" — parallel source documents (2 Chr 9:29)
נָבִיא (nabiy)	H5030	1x	"the prophecy of Oded the prophet" — the message attributed to the person (2 Chr 15:8)

Word Family / Cognates¶

H5012 נָבָא (nâbâʼ) — root verb: to prophesy, speak by inspiration (115 occ)
H5030 נָבִיא (nâbîyʼ) — prophet, inspired man (316 occ) — the personal noun; overwhelmingly the most common member of this word family
H5031 נְבִיאָה (nᵉbîyʼâh) — prophetess (6 occ)
H5017 נְבוּאָה (nᵉbûwʼâh, Aramaic) — prophesying (1 occ, Ezra 6:14) — Aramaic cognate with identical form

Synonyms¶

No direct synonyms returned by search_relationships.py for H5016.

Antonyms¶

No antonyms returned by search_relationships.py for H5016.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
מַשָּׂא (massâʼ)	H4853	"prophecy" (2x in KJV)	massa primarily means "burden, load"; extended to "oracle/utterance" as a prophetic burden (Isa, Hab, Zech headings). nebuw'ah is specifically a prediction.
נָבִיא (nâbîyʼ)	H5030	"prophecy" (1x, Dan 9:24)	nabiy means "prophet" (the person); KJV renders it "prophecy" in Dan 9:24 ("seal up vision and prophecy"), but the Hebrew literally reads "vision and prophet."
חָזוֹן (châzôwn)	H2377	both denote prophetic revelation	chazon = vision (what is seen); nebuw'ah = prediction (what is spoken/written). Paired in 2 Chr 9:29 as distinct source types.

UBS Semantic Domains¶

Code	Domain Label	Notes
002004001009008	Speak	`search_relationships.py` places nᵉbûwʼâh in the speech/proclamation field, fitting its use for a prophetic utterance or prophetic record rather than a generic vision term.

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Co-occurrences	PMI	Notes
λόγος (logos) G3056	3	4.74	LXX renders all instances as logos ("word"), not as propheteia (G4394). The LXX translators apparently viewed nebuw'ah as a "word" or "account" rather than using the Greek cognate for prophecy.

This is a notable translation choice: the LXX does not use propheteia (G4394) for nebuw'ah (H5016). The NT Greek word propheteia bridges instead to the broader concept carried by nabiy (H5030) and naba (H5012).