H5137 — נָזָה (nâzâh)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H5137
Original: נָזָה
Transliteration: nâzâh
Pronunciation: naw-zaw'
Part of Speech: Verb
Root: Primitive root
Occurrences: 22 unique verses (28 tokens) in 5 books
First Occurrence: Exo 29:21 — "And thou shalt take of the blood that is upon the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it upon Aaron…"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

A primitive root; to spirt, i.e. besprinkle (especially in expiation): — sprinkle.

Verb Stem Distribution¶

Stem	Count	Typical Meaning
Qal	4	To spatter forth (intransitive — liquid spurting out)
Hiphil	20	To cause to sprinkle; the standard priestly sprinkling action

Tallied from hebrew_parser.py --lemma "נזה". The Qal (Lev 6:20 ×2; 2Ki 9:33; Isa 63:3) describes blood or liquid spattering naturally or violently. The Hiphil is the causative form used in every priestly, ritual context.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

All KJV renderings are variants of "sprinkle." Because the word appears in different syntactic contexts, the concordance fragments the count across phrase forms:

Translation	Verses	%
and sprinkle	8	36%
And he shall sprinkle	3	14%
shall sprinkle / shall he sprinkle	4	18%
he sprinkled / was sprinkled / sprinkled	3	14%
Sprinkle (imperative)	1	5%
that he that sprinkleth	1	5%
Other variants	2	9%

Functionally 100% of KJV occurrences render this word as "sprinkle."

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Leviticus	13	1.5
Numbers	5	0.4
Isaiah	2	0.2
Exodus	1	0.1
2 Kings	1	0.1

Overwhelmingly a Levitical word. Thirteen of its twenty-two occurrences are in Leviticus, where it is the precise technical term for finger-sprinkling blood in sin-offering and Day of Atonement rites.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Priestly Blood Sprinkling — Atonement / Expiation¶

The dominant use: a priest dips his finger in sacrificial blood and sprinkles it toward the sacred furniture.

Lev 16:14 — "And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward; and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times."
Lev 16:15 — "Then shall he kill the goat…and bring his blood within the veil…and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat."
Lev 16:19 — "And he shall sprinkle of the blood upon it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel."
Lev 5:9 — "And he shall sprinkle of the blood of the sin offering upon the side of the altar."

2. Purification Rites — Leprosy and Ritual Uncleanness¶

Sprinkling effects the transition from unclean to clean status.

Lev 14:7 — "And he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean."
Lev 14:51 — "And he shall take the cedar wood…and dip them in the blood of the slain bird…and sprinkle the house seven times."
Num 19:19 — "And the clean person shall sprinkle upon the unclean on the third day, and on the seventh day."
Num 8:7 — "And thus shalt thou do unto them, to cleanse them: Sprinkle water of purifying upon them."

3. Consecration and Ordination¶

Sprinkling is also the means of setting apart priests and sacred objects for service.

Exo 29:21 — "And thou shalt take of the blood that is upon the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it upon Aaron, and upon his garments."
Lev 8:11 — "And he sprinkled thereof upon the altar seven times, and anointed the altar and all his vessels."
Lev 8:30 — "And Moses took of the anointing oil, and of the blood which was upon the altar, and sprinkled it upon Aaron, and upon his garments."

4. Natural / Violent Spattering (Qal)¶

Outside the sanctuary the Qal describes blood or liquid that spatters involuntarily — neither priestly nor ceremonial.

2 Ki 9:33 — "And some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses: and he trode her under foot."
Isa 63:3 — "For I will tread them in mine anger…and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments."

5. Prophetic / Messianic — The Servant Sprinkling Many Nations¶

The only use outside the legal-historical literature; employs the Hiphil of H5137.

Isa 52:15 — "So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him."

Note: The LXX renders this verse θαυμάσονται ("they will marvel"), departing from the MT. Modern translations and the NT's use of Isa 52–53 (e.g., Rom 15:21) follow the MT. If "sprinkle" is read, it evokes priestly sprinkling for expiation on a cosmic scale, applied to the Servant's atoning work.

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
דָּם (dam)	H1818	12x (55%)	"sprinkle the blood" — blood is the primary substance sprinkled
שֶׁבַע (shebaʻ) + פַּעַם (paʻam)	H7651 + H6471	10x (45%)	"sprinkle seven times" — the prescribed ritual repetition
אֶצְבַּע (etsba)	H676	7x (32%)	"with his finger" — distinguishes this fine sprinkling from zaraq
בֶּגֶד (beged)	H899	7x (32%)	"upon the garments" — garments splattered or consecrated
טָבַל (tabal)	H2881	5x (23%)	"dip and sprinkle" — dipping precedes sprinkling
כֹּהֵן (kohen)	H3548	5x (23%)	"the priest shall sprinkle" — exclusive priestly action in ritual
מַיִם (mayim)	H4325	5x (23%)	"water of purifying" — water sprinkled for impurity rites
קָדַשׁ (qadash)	H6942	5x (23%)	"cleanse and sanctify/hallow" — sprinkling accomplishes holiness
טָהֵר (taher)	H2891	4x (18%)	"and cleanse it" — sprinkling results in ceremonial cleanness
מִזְבֵּחַ (mizbeach)	H4196	4x (18%)	"upon the altar" — target of consecration/atonement sprinkling
שֶׁמֶן (shemen)	H8081	4x (18%)	"anointing oil" — oil sprinkled alongside blood in ordination

Word Family / Cognates¶

H5137 is a primitive root with no sibling verbs in the same root family in BH. The noun נֵזֶר (nezer, H5145 — "crown, dedication") is consonantally similar but from a different root.

Synonyms¶

No synonyms were returned by search_relationships.py for H5137.

Antonyms¶

No antonyms were returned by search_relationships.py for H5137.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
זָרַק (zaraq)	H2236	both "sprinkle" in KJV	zaraq = toss/dash/throw (forceful), blood dashed against the base or sides of the altar; nazah = delicate, fine sprinkling with a finger or hyssop. Zaraq is stronger in action; nazah is more controlled and targeted.

The KJV conflates both with "sprinkle." The distinction is visible in Lev 1:5 (zaraq — throw blood against the altar) vs. Lev 4:6 (nazah — dip finger and sprinkle seven times before the LORD). The NT uses ῥαντίζω (G4473) to echo nazah's fine sprinkling in Heb 9:19, 21; 10:22.

Semantic Domains¶

UBS / Relationship Domains¶

[002003002021] Scatter — search_relationships.py places nazah in the scattering/sprinkling field, with neighbors such as בדר (A921), בזר (H967), זרה (H2219), זרק (H2236), מוג (H4127), and מלח (A4415).

LXX Mapping¶

The gather_word_data.py LXX mapping outputs PMI-weighted co-occurrence with Greek vocabulary in LXX verses, not direct word-for-word translation equivalents. Top contextual associations reflect the ritual setting:

Greek Co-word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Significance
ἑπτάκις (seven times)	G2034	10x	The "seven times" sprinkling pattern
αἷμα (blood)	G129	13x	Blood is the primary substance sprinkled
δάκτυλος (finger)	G1147	6x	Sprinkling performed with the finger
βάπτω (dip)	G911	5x	Dipping precedes the sprinkle action

The direct Greek translation of H5137 in the LXX is ῥαντίζω (G4473) in most occurrences. Isa 52:15 is the notable exception, where the LXX translators render the Hiphil as θαυμάσονται ("shall marvel"), diverging from the MT's "sprinkle."