H5221 — נָכָה (nâkâh)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H5221
Original: נָכָה
Transliteration: nâkâh
Pronunciation: naw-kaw
Part of Speech: Verb (primitive root)
Root: נָכָה — primitive root; no attested cognate noun derives directly in the standard Strong's family, but the related noun נָכֶה (H5222/H5223, "smitten, maimed") is cognate
Occurrences: 568 tokens in 460 unique OT verses, 31 books
First Occurrence: Gen 4:15 — "Therefore whosoever slayeth (nakah) Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

A primitive root; to strike (lightly or severely, literally or figuratively): — beat, cast forth, clap, give (wounds), go forward, indeed, kill, make (slaughter), murderer, punish, slaughter, slay(-er, -ing), smite(-r, -ing), strike, be stricken, (give) stripes, surely, wound.

Verb Stem Distribution¶

Stem	Count	Typical Meaning
Hiphil	481	smite, strike (active — the dominant form; nakah is overwhelmingly causative)
Hophal	16	be smitten, be struck (passive of Hiphil)
Pual	2	be beaten down (intensive passive)
Niphal	1	be struck (simple passive)
NA/unmarked	8	(participial/nominal uses)

[Derived from text-fabric BHSA; total = 508 parsed tokens. Note: nakah is a Hiphil-dominant verb — there is effectively no Qal. This is a morphologically distinctive feature: the action is almost always construed as something one causes to happen.]

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation Family	Verses	Approx. %
smote / smite / smitten (and forms)	~320	~70%
slew / slay / slain / killeth	~70	~15%
stricken / strike / stripes / beat	~20	~4%
wound(ed) / give wounds	~5	~1%
murderer / slayer / slaughter	~10	~2%
punish / cast forth / clap / other	~35	~8%

Top individual glosses: "and smote" (43), "smote" (35), "slew" (23), "and slew" (15), "smite" (12), "and smite" (11), "smote him" (9), "had smitten" (8), "Smite" (7).

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
2 Samuel	46	6.6
2 Kings	43	6.0
1 Samuel	46	5.7
Joshua	35	5.3
Judges	29	4.7
Jonah	2	4.2
Amos	4	2.7
Haggai	1	2.6
1 Chronicles	24	2.5
Zechariah	5	2.4
2 Chronicles	19	2.3
Exodus	27	2.2
Deuteronomy	21	2.2
Numbers	28	2.2
Jeremiah	29	2.1
1 Kings	17	2.1
Isaiah	20	1.5
Ezekiel	13	1.0
Genesis	12	0.8
Psalms	14	0.6
Leviticus	4	0.5
Job	4	0.4
Daniel	1	0.3

Genre pattern: dominant in the Former Prophets / historical narrative (2 Sam, 2 Ki, 1 Sam, Josh, Judg) — these are books of conquest, battle, and royal violence. Noticeably sparse in wisdom (Job 0.4, Prov 0.7) and in cultic material (Lev 0.5). Appears in every major OT book except Ruth and Obadiah; absent from Song of Songs (one apparent hit in the data file marks 5:7 but the normalized book is empty).

Semantic Categories¶

1. Military Defeat — to smite an army, city, or nation in battle¶

The largest usage cluster. Nakah is the standard verb for battlefield victory. - Gen 14:5 — Chedorlaomer "smote (nakah) the Rephaims in Ashteroth Karnaim" - Josh 10:40 — "So Joshua smote (nakah) all the country of the hills" - 1 Sam 17:50 — David "smote (nakah) the Philistine, and slew him" - 1 Kgs 20:29 — "the children of Israel slew (nakah) of the Syrians an hundred thousand footmen in one day"

2. Divine Judgment — God smites with plague, pestilence, or calamity¶

Nakah is the standard verb for Yahweh's punitive striking, especially in the Exodus plagues and covenant curses. - Exo 12:29 — "the LORD smote (nakah) all the firstborn in the land of Egypt" - Num 14:12 — "I will smite (nakah) them with the pestilence, and disinherit them" - Deut 28:22 — "The LORD shall smite (nakah) thee with a consumption, and with a fever" - 2 Sam 12:15 — "the LORD struck (nakah) the child that Uriah's wife bare unto David"

3. Judicial / Punitive Striking — blows as penalty, discipline, or execution¶

Includes capital punishment, corporal discipline, and judicial blows. - Exo 2:12 — "he slew (nakah) the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand" - Lev 24:17 — "he that killeth (nakah) any man shall surely be put to death" - Prov 17:26 — "to punish the just is not good, nor to strike (nakah) princes for equity" - Deut 25:2 — the judicially prescribed stripes (related usage in this chapter)

4. Physical Assault — one person striking another¶

Often an insulting or dishonoring blow rather than a killing stroke. - Num 22:28 — Balaam's ass: "thou hast smitten (nakah) me these three times" - 1 Kgs 22:24 — "Zedekiah... smote (nakah) Micaiah on the cheek" - Lam 3:30 — "He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth (nakah) him" - Neh 13:25 — Nehemiah "smote (nakah) certain of them, and plucked off their hair"

5. Striking an Object or Element — non-personal targets¶

Nakah is used for striking rocks, waters, ground, dust, trees — often in prophetic sign-acts. - Exo 8:16 — "Stretch out thy rod, and smite (nakah) the dust of the land" - Exo 17:6 — Moses smites the rock at Horeb (nakah) - 2 Kgs 2:8 — Elijah "smote (nakah) the waters, and they were divided" - Jonah 4:7 — the worm "smote (nakah) the gourd that it withered"

6. Figurative / Internal Striking — of conscience, heart, or affliction¶

A smaller but important category where the blow is emotional, psychological, or moral. - 1 Sam 24:5 — "David's heart smote (nakah) him" - 2 Sam 24:10 — "David's heart smote (nakah) him after that he had numbered the people" - Isa 1:5 — "Why should ye be stricken (nakah) any more?" - Psa 121:6 — "The sun shall not smite (nakah) thee by day, nor the moon by night"

7. The Smitten Servant — prophetic striking of a representative figure¶

A theologically loaded minor category in the Prophets. - Isa 53:4 — "we did esteem him stricken, smitten (nakah) of God, and afflicted" - Zech 13:7 — "smite (nakah) the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered" - Mic 5:1 — "they shall smite (nakah) the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
כֹּל (kol) "all"	H3605	118x (26%)	"smote all the firstborn / all the inhabitants" — totalizing destruction
עַל (ʿal) "upon"	H5921	102x (22%)	"smote upon the waters / the thigh / the cheek" — surface or target marker
יְהֹוָה (YHWH)	H3068	100x (22%)	"the LORD smote" — divine agent construction
אָמַר (amar) "say"	H559	95x (21%)	speech-then-strike sequence, command-fulfillment narrative
בֵּן (ben) "son"	H1121	93x (20%)	collective "sons of X smote" (national/tribal subject)
אִישׁ (ish) "man"	H376	79x (17%)	"every man smote" or "the man that smiteth"
מֶלֶךְ (melek) "king"	H4428	77x (17%)	"the king smote" / "smote the king of X" — royal-martial idiom
יִשְׂרָאֵל (Yisrael)	H3478	75x (16%)	Israel as subject or object of smiting
יָד (yad) "hand"	H3027	68x (15%)	"by the hand of" / "smote with the hand" — instrumental
מוּת (muth) "die"	H4191	60x (13%)	"he smote him, and he died" — the stock narrative formula
חֶרֶב (chereb) "sword"	H2719	49x (11%)	"smote with the edge of the sword" — standard warfare phrase
עִיר (ʿir) "city"	H5892	53x (12%)	"smote the city" — conquest idiom
עַם (ʿam) "people"	H5971	44x (10%)	object of collective smiting

Word Family / Cognates¶

H5222 נֵכֶה (nekeh) — "smitten one" (nominal form, a cripple/lame person)
H5223 נָכֶה (nakeh) — "smitten, disabled" (adjectival form)
H4347 מַכָּה (makkah) — "a blow, wound, plague" (feminine noun from the same root)
H4223 מְחָא (mecha') — Aramaic counterpart, "to strike" (used in Dan 2:34–35)

Synonyms¶

נטה יָד — phrase-level neighbor returned by search_relationships.py

Antonyms¶

No antonyms were returned by search_relationships.py for H5221.

Easily Confused Words (KJV / LXX overlap)¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
הָרַג (harag)	H2026	"slew" (19x shared), "slay"	harag = deliberate killing with intent; nakah = to strike (killing is a frequent outcome, not the semantic core)
מוּת (muth)	H4191	"slew" (5x shared), "killeth"	muth = to die / be put to death (state or result); nakah = to deliver the blow (action)
שָׁחַט (shachat)	H7819	"slew" (2x), "slaughter"	shachat = ritual/sacrificial slaughter (animals, covenant); nakah = battlefield or judicial blow
נָגַף (nagaph)	H5062	"smote" (4x), "smitten"	nagaph = to strike with plague/stumble/defeat (narrower — usually divine plague-defeat); nakah = full breadth of striking
נָגַע (nagaʿ)	H5060	"and smote" (1x)	nagaʿ = to touch, reach, even lightly afflict; nakah = forceful blow
חָלָל (chalal)	H2491	"slain" (29x as adjective)	chalal = the result (one pierced / slain corpse); nakah = the verbal act
רָצַח (ratsach)	H7523	"slain" (1x)	ratsach = murder (illegitimate killing, the Decalogue verb); nakah = morally neutral striking
כָּתַת (kathath)	H3807	"is smitten" (1x)	kathath = to crush, beat fine; nakah = to strike (no crushing nuance)
הָלַם (halam)	H1986	"Smite me" (1x)	halam = hammer-blow (often rhythmic/percussive); nakah = generic strike
סָפַק (saphaq)	H5606	"smite" (hand-clap contexts)	saphaq = to clap / slap hands together; nakah = to strike a target

Semantic Domains¶

UBS / Relationship Domains¶

[002001001024] Impact — search_relationships.py places nakah in the core impact/strike field, with neighbors such as אֲבַעְבֻּעָה (H76), אָכְלָה (H402), ארר (H779), אשׁם (H816), בֶּדֶק (H919), and בֹּהַק (H933).
[002003002005] Chastise — a punitive/disciplinary field, with neighbors such as אכל (A399/H398), אשׁם (H816), גְּמוּל (H1576), גְּמוּלָה (H1578), and הפך (H2015).
[002003002006] Conflict — a warfare/opposition field, with neighbors such as איב (H340/H341), אנה (H578/H579), בוא (H935), and גוד (H1464).
[002003002007] Control — a force/control field, with neighbors such as אַמָּה (A521/H520/H522), אֱסוּר (H613), אסר (H631), and אפק (H662).
[002001001019] Dead — the death-result field, with neighbors such as אבד (A7/H6), אֹבֵד (H8), אַבְדָן (H12), אָבְדָן (H13), and אֶבֶן (A69).
[002003003011] Engage — an encounter/engagement field, with neighbors such as אָב (H1), אחד (H258), אחז (H270), אנס (A598/H597), and אפק (H662).
[002001002013] Grieve — a pain/affliction field, with neighbors such as אבל (H56), אֵבֶל (H59/H60), אָבֵל (H57), אָגֵם (H99), and אדב (H109).
[002002001012] Move — a motion/force field, with neighbors such as אבך (H55), אבר (H82), אזל (A236/H235), אסף (H622), and אפף (H661).
[002001001056] Stage — a setting/scene field, with neighbors such as אֵב (A4/H3), אָבִיב (H24), and אֹון (H202/H203/H204).

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Strong's	Co-occ	PMI	Notes
πατάσσω (patassō)	G3960	312	5.54	Primary equivalent — covers the full range (battle, divine plague, object-striking)
τύπτω (typtō)	G5180	26	5.27	Used for ordinary hitting / blows
πληγή (plēgē)	G4127	25	4.24	"Wound/stroke" — the noun result; often pairs with a verb of nakah
πλήσσω (plēssō)	G4141	13	5.04	Poetic/rare strike verb
παίζω (paizō)	G3815	13	4.46	Unusual — likely text-critical alignments rather than genuine semantic overlap
παίω (paiō)	G3817	8	5.20	Secondary hit verb
ἀλλόφυλος (allophylos)	G246	38	3.07	Co-occurrence artifact ("Philistines smote/were smitten")
θανατόω (thanatoō)	G2289	26	3.31	LXX smoothing toward "put to death" when nakah context implies killing
μαστιγόω (mastigoō)	G3146	8	4.85	For flogging / stripes contexts

Nakah → patassō is one of the strongest lexical bridges from Hebrew OT into Greek NT. Patassō retains the full semantic range (blow, plague-strike, prophetic shepherd-stroke in Zech 13:7 → Matt 26:31 / Mark 14:27).