H5057 — נָגִיד (nâgîyd)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H5057
Original: נָגִיד
Transliteration: nâgîyd
Pronunciation: naw-gheed
Part of Speech: Masculine noun
Root: H5046 נָגַד (nâgad) — to stand conspicuously before, to declare/announce
Occurrences: 44 unique verses (45 tokens) in OT
Books: 14
First Occurrence: 1Sa 9:16 — "thou shalt anoint him to be captain over my people Israel"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

A commander (as occupying the front), civil, military or religious; generally (abstractly, plural), honorable themes:—captain, chief, excellent thing, (chief) governor, leader, noble, prince, (chief) ruler.

From H5046 נָגַד — "to front, i.e. stand boldly out opposite; to manifest, announce." A נָגִיד is literally the one standing out front — the visibly prominent, publicly designated leader.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
ruler / rulers	20	45%
prince / princes	9	20%
captain / captains	6	14%
leader / leaders	4	9%
governor / chief governor / chief ruler	4	9%
nobles	1	2%
excellent things	1	2%

KJV inconsistently renders the same word as "ruler" and "prince" — both carry the sense of designated/appointed authority.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
1 Chronicles	12	1.3
2 Chronicles	9	1.1
Daniel	3	0.8
1 Samuel	4	0.5
2 Samuel	3	0.4
1 Kings	3	0.4
Job	2	0.2
Proverbs	2	0.2
Nehemiah	1	0.2
2 Kings	1	0.1
Isaiah	1	0.1
Jeremiah	1	0.1
Ezekiel	1	0.1
Psalms	1	0.0

Heavily concentrated in Chronicles and the Deuteronomistic history — books concerned with the legitimacy of Israelite leadership. Daniel's three uses carry the highest prophetic weight.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Divinely Designated Leader over Israel¶

The most frequent pattern: God (not men) identifies and designates someone as nâgîyd over His people. The verb of appointment is typically "I have made/anointed thee" — emphasizing divine initiative and selection.

1Sa 9:16 — "thou shalt anoint him to be captain (nâgîyd) over my people Israel, that he may save my people out of the hand of the Philistines"
1Sa 10:1 — "the LORD hath anointed thee to be captain (nâgîyd) over his inheritance"
2Sa 5:2 — "the LORD said to thee, Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be a captain (nâgîyd) over Israel"
1Ki 16:2 — "I exalted thee out of the dust, and made thee prince (nâgîyd) over my people Israel"

2. Military and Civil Officers¶

nâgîyd applied to appointed leaders at various ranks — tribal chieftains, military commanders, administrative officials. These may be divinely or royally appointed.

1Ch 12:27 — "Jehoiada was the leader (nâgîyd) of the Aaronites, and with him were three thousand and seven hundred"
1Ch 13:1 — "David consulted with the captains of thousands and hundreds, and with every leader (nâgîyd)"
2Ch 32:21 — "the LORD sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the leaders (nâgîydîm) and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria"
2Ki 20:5 — "Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain (nâgîyd) of my people, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father"

3. Temple/Priestly Overseer¶

A specialized category: nâgîyd applied to the head of the priestly establishment or temple administration — the "nagid of the house of God." This is a cultic office, not merely civil.

1Ch 9:11 — Azariah the son of Hilkiah... nâgîyd of the house of God
Jer 20:1 — "Pashur the son of Immer the priest, who was also chief governor (nâgîyd) in the house of the LORD"
2Ch 31:12 — "over which Cononiah the Levite was ruler (nâgîyd)" — over tithes and dedicated things
Neh 11:11 — "Seraiah the son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam... nâgîyd of the house of God"

4. Prophetic and Messianic Prince¶

The eschatological uses — where nâgîyd designates a coming divine figure. Daniel 9 provides the most theologically charged occurrences: "Messiah the Prince" (nâgîyd Mâshîyach) and "the prince that shall come."

Dan 9:25 — "from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince (nâgîyd) shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks"
Dan 9:26 — "the people of the prince (nâgîyd) that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary"
Dan 11:22 — "yea, also the prince (nâgîyd) of the covenant"
Isa 55:4 — "Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader (nâgîyd) and commander to the people"

5. Noble/Excellent (Abstract)¶

Two uses where nâgîyd conveys nobility of bearing or excellence of speech — the quality associated with one who "stands out front."

Prov 8:6 — "Hear; for I will speak of excellent things (nâgîydîm); and the opening of my lips shall be right things"
Job 31:37 — "I would declare unto him the number of my steps; as a prince (nâgîyd) would I go near unto him"
Ps 76:12 — "He shall cut off the spirit of princes (nâgîydîm): he is terrible to the kings of the earth"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
יְהֹוָה (YHWH)	H3068	16x (36%)	"the LORD made/anointed thee nâgîyd" — divine appointment formula
יִשְׂרָאֵל (Israel)	H3478	13x (30%)	"nâgîyd over Israel" — the governed people
עַם (people)	H5971	13x (30%)	"nâgîyd over my people" — God's direct ownership claim
בַּיִת (house)	H1004	12x (27%)	"nâgîyd of the house of God" — temple administrative office
בֵּן (son)	H1121	12x (27%)	succession: "made his son nâgîyd"
דָּוִד (David)	H1732	6x (14%)	David as prototype nâgîyd and source of the messianic line
מֶלֶךְ (king)	H4428	8x (18%)	nâgîyd and melek used together, often with nâgîyd preceding coronation
צָוָה (command)	H6680	5x (11%)	the LORD commanding the nâgîyd or commanding him be installed

Word Family¶

H5046 נָגַד (nâgad) — root verb: to stand boldly in front, to be conspicuous; to declare, announce. The nâgîyd is literally "the one who stands out in front" — visible, conspicuous, publicly designated.

Synonyms¶

H4428 מֶלֶךְ (melek) — king; a close leadership-term parallel where nâgîyd overlaps royal office, though melek emphasizes the reigning monarch rather than the designated leader.
H4339 מֵישָׁר (mêyshâr) — uprightness, rightness, equity; a contextual neighbor for Prov 8:6, where plural nᵉgîdîm carries the abstract sense of noble or excellent things.

Antonyms¶

No antonyms returned by search_relationships.py for H5057.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared KJV Translation	Key Difference
שַׂר (sar)	H8269	ruler, captain, prince	sar = head official at any rank in a human hierarchy; nâgîyd = one divinely designated/conspicuously placed. sar is ~420 verses; nâgîyd is 44.
נָשִׂיא (nâsîyʼ)	H5387	captain, prince	nâsîyʼ = exalted/lifted one; emphasizes status/elevation; used for tribal chieftains and elected leaders. nâgîyd emphasizes divine designation and forward-standing.
מֶלֶךְ (melek)	H4428	king	melek = reigning monarch; nâgîyd = designated/appointed leader, often before or alongside coronation (1Ch 29:22 — made Solomon king and nâgîyd simultaneously).

UBS Semantic Domains¶

Code	Domain Label	Notes
001002007005	Leaders	`search_relationships.py` clusters nâgîyd with leadership vocabulary, matching its dominant use for rulers, captains, and temple overseers.
002001003014	Right	The tool also tags nâgîyd with the "Right" domain, fitting the abstract Proverbs 8:6 usage where plural nᵉgîdîm denotes noble or excellent things.

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Strong's	Frequency	Notes
ἡγέομαι / ἡγούμενος (hēgéomai)	G2233	26x — PMI 7.10	Primary. LXX uses the participle ἡγούμενος ("the one leading/ruling") to render nâgîyd. Same term appears in Heb 13:7,17,24 for church leaders, and in Matt 2:6 (quoting Mic 5:2) for the Messiah.
ἄρχων (árchōn)	G758	10x — PMI 3.40	Secondary. Ruler/prince; also used for Dan 9:25-26 in some versions.