H5236 — נֵכָר (nekar)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H5236
Original: נֵכָר
Transliteration: nekar
Pronunciation: nay-kawr
Part of Speech: Masculine noun
Root: נ-כ-ר (n-k-r) — to recognize, regard as foreign
Occurrences: 35 unique verses (36 tokens) in OT across 16 books
First Occurrence: Gen 17:12 — "he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger (nekar), which is not of thy seed"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

From H5234 (nakar); foreign, or (concretely) a foreigner, or (abstractly) heathendom: alien, strange(-er).

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Count	%
strange	7	20.0%
the strange	6	17.1%
stranger(s)	6	17.1%
of the stranger	3	8.6%
Strangers	2	5.7%
of strange	2	5.7%
Other (alien, stranger's, etc.)	9	25.7%

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Malachi	1	1.8
Nehemiah	2	0.5
Isaiah	5	0.4
Genesis	4	0.3
Joshua	2	0.3
Daniel	1	0.3
2 Samuel	2	0.3
Ezekiel	2	0.2
Judges	1	0.2
2 Chronicles	2	0.2
Deuteronomy	2	0.2
Psalms	6	0.2
Exodus	1	0.1
1 Samuel	1	0.1
Leviticus	1	0.1
Jeremiah	2	0.1

Spread broadly across 16 books with no single concentration. Isaiah has the most occurrences (5). Psalms has 6 but across 2,461 verses, yielding low density. The word spans Torah, historical, prophetic, and poetic genres.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Foreign Gods — "strange gods" (elohey nekar)¶

The most frequent usage. Nekar qualifies gods as alien to Israel's covenant relationship with YHWH. - Gen 35:2 — "Put away the strange gods that are among you" - Gen 35:4 — "they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand" - Deut 31:16 — "go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land" - Deut 32:12 — "the LORD alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him" - Josh 24:20 — "If ye forsake the LORD, and serve strange gods" - Josh 24:23 — "put away the strange gods which are among you" - Judg 10:16 — "they put away the strange gods from among them" - 1 Sam 7:3 — "put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you" - 2 Chr 14:3 — "he took away the altars of the strange gods" - 2 Chr 33:15 — "he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of the house of the LORD" - Psa 81:9 — "There shall no strange god be in thee; neither shalt thou worship any strange god" - Jer 5:19 — "ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land" - Dan 11:39 — "he shall do in the most strong holds with a strange god" - Mal 2:11 — "Judah hath married the daughter of a strange god"

2. Foreigners as Persons — "son(s) of nekar" (ben-nekar / beney-nekar)¶

Persons who are ethnically outside Israel. Distinct from ger (resident alien with covenant obligations). - Gen 17:12 — "bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed" - Gen 17:27 — "bought with money of the stranger, were circumcised with him" - Exo 12:43 — "There shall no stranger eat thereof" (Passover exclusion) - Lev 22:25 — "Neither from a stranger's hand shall ye offer the bread of your God" - Isa 56:3 — "Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the LORD, speak, saying, The LORD hath utterly separated me from his people" - Isa 56:6 — "Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the LORD, to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant" - Isa 60:10 — "the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls" - Isa 61:5 — "the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers" - Isa 62:8 — "the sons of the stranger shall not drink thy wine" - Eze 44:7 — "ye have brought into my sanctuary strangers, uncircumcised in heart" - Eze 44:9 — "No stranger, uncircumcised in heart, nor uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary" - Neh 9:2 — "the seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers" - Neh 13:30 — "Thus cleansed I them from all strangers"

3. Hostile/Subjected Foreigners¶

Foreign peoples in military context, subjected or threatening. - 2 Sam 22:45 — "Strangers shall submit themselves unto me" - 2 Sam 22:46 — "Strangers shall fade away, and they shall be afraid" - Psa 18:44 — "the strangers shall submit themselves unto me" - Psa 18:45 — "The strangers shall fade away" - Psa 144:7 — "rid me... from the hand of strange children" - Psa 144:11 — "deliver me from the hand of strange children, whose mouth speaketh vanity"

4. Foreign Land / Abstract Foreignness¶

The abstract quality of being in a place where one does not belong. - Psa 137:4 — "How shall we sing the LORD's song in a strange land?" - Jer 8:19 — "provoked me to anger with... strange vanities"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
בֵּן (ben)	H1121	18x (51%)	"son(s) of nekar" — the defining construct for foreign persons
יְהֹוָה (YHWH)	H3068	15x (43%)	YHWH as the God contrasted with strange gods, or as the one ben-nekar joins
כֹּל (kol)	H3605	14x (40%)	"all the strange gods," "all strangers"
אֱלֹהִים (elohiym)	H430	10x (29%)	"strange gods" (elohey nekar)
סוּר (sur)	H5493	6x (17%)	"put away" the strange gods — reform formula
עָבַד (abad)	H5647	4x (11%)	"serve" strange gods — apostasy formula
בְּרִית (beriyth)	H1285	3x (9%)	Covenant context — broken by admitting strangers, or held by foreigners who join YHWH
זוּר (zur)	H2114	3x (9%)	Near-synonym co-occurring in parallel or same context

Word Family / Cognates¶

H5234 נָכַר (nakar) — root verb: to recognize, acknowledge, regard as foreign (49v)
H5237 נׇכְרִי (nokriy) — adjectival form: foreign, strange (45v) — the person-focused derivative
H5235 נֶכֶר (neker) — calamity, misfortune (3v) — separate semantic branch from same root

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
נׇכְרִי (nokriy)	H5237	"strange," "stranger"	nokriy is the adjective applied to persons/things; nekar is the abstract noun — foreignness itself, or used in construct "gods of nekar"
זוּר (zur)	H2114	"strange," "strangers"	zur = estranged, deviant, morally alien; nekar = ethnically/nationally foreign
גֵּר (ger)	H1616	"stranger"	ger = resident alien integrated into community with legal rights and Torah obligations; nekar = outsider with no covenant standing (unless voluntarily joining, as in Isa 56)
גּוּר (gur)	H1481	"strangers"	gur = verb "to sojourn"; describes the act of temporary residence, not ethnic identity

Semantic Domain¶

[002001001020] Different — Other words: אַחֵר (H312), הפך (H2015)
[001002007001] Classes — Other words: אֶזְרָח (H249), אַלְמָנָה (H490), אָמָה (H519)

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Strong's	Co-occurrences	PMI Score	Notes
ἀλλότριος (allotrios)	G245	18x	20.88	Primary — "belonging to another"; dominant rendering
ἀλλογενής (allogenes)	G241	6x	14.68	"Of another race" — used for ben-nekar specifically

The LXX uses allotrios as a catch-all for both nekar and its derivative nokriy, collapsing the noun/adjective distinction. Allogenes (Luke 17:18 "this stranger") preserves the ethnic-outsider nuance more precisely.