H5237 — נׇכְרִי (nokriy)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H5237
Original: נׇכְרִי
Transliteration: nokriy
Pronunciation: nok-ree
Part of Speech: Adjective
Root: נֵכָר (nekar, H5236) — foreign, foreignness
Occurrences: 45 unique verses in OT
First Occurrence: Gen 31:15 — "Are we not counted of him strangers? for he hath sold us, and hath quite devoured also our money."
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

From H5236 (nekar); strange, in a variety of degrees and applications (foreign, non-relative, adulterous, different, wonderful): alien, foreigner, outlandish, strange(-r, woman).

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Count	%
strange	16	35.6%
a stranger	6	13.3%
a strange woman	3	6.7%
of a stranger	3	6.7%
the stranger	3	6.7%
from the stranger	2	4.4%
Other (alien, foreigner, outlandish, etc.)	12	26.7%

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Obadiah	1	4.8
Ezra	7	2.5
Zephaniah	1	1.9
Proverbs	9	1.0
Lamentations	1	0.6
1 Kings	4	0.5
Nehemiah	2	0.5
Deuteronomy	5	0.5
Ecclesiastes	1	0.5
Exodus	3	0.2
Isaiah	2	0.2
Judges	1	0.2
2 Chronicles	2	0.2
Genesis	1	0.1
Jeremiah	1	0.1
2 Samuel	1	0.1
Job	1	0.1
Ruth	1	0.0
Psalms	1	0.0

Concentrated in Wisdom literature (Proverbs 9x) and post-exilic reform texts (Ezra 7x, Nehemiah 2x). Deuteronomy provides the legal framework (5x). Absent from Leviticus, Numbers, and all minor prophets except Obadiah and Zephaniah.

Semantic Categories¶

1. The Foreign/Non-Israelite Person (legal/ethnic sense)¶

Deut 14:21 — "thou shalt give it unto the stranger that is in thy gates... or thou mayest sell it unto an alien (nokriy)"
Deut 15:3 — "Of a foreigner (nokriy) thou mayest exact it again: but that which is thine with thy brother thine hand shall release"
Deut 17:15 — "thou mayest not set a stranger (nokriy) over thee, which is not thy brother"
Deut 23:20 — "Unto a stranger (nokriy) thou mayest lend upon usury; but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon usury"

2. Foreign Wives / "Strange Women" (marital-religious boundary)¶

1 Ki 11:1 — "king Solomon loved many strange (nokriy) women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites"
1 Ki 11:8 — "likewise did he for all his strange (nokriy) wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods"
Ezra 10:2 — "We have trespassed against our God, and have taken strange (nokriy) wives of the people of the land"
Neh 13:26-27 — "Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things?... marrying strange (nokriy) wives"

3. The Seductive Outsider (Wisdom literature — the "strange woman")¶

Prov 2:16 — "To deliver thee from the strange woman (nokriy), even from the stranger which flattereth with her words"
Prov 5:20 — "why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman (nokriy), and embrace the bosom of a stranger?"
Prov 6:24 — "To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman (nokriy)"
Prov 7:5 — "That they may keep thee from the strange woman (nokriy), from the stranger which flattereth with her words"

4. Personal Alienation / Estrangement¶

Job 19:15 — "They that dwell in mine house, and my maids, count me for a stranger (nokriy): I am an alien in their sight"
Psalm 69:8 — "I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien (nokriy) unto my mother's children"
Gen 31:15 — "Are we not counted of him strangers (nokriy)? for he hath sold us"

5. The Foreign Worshipper at the Temple¶

1 Ki 8:41-43 — "Moreover concerning a stranger (nokriy), that is not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far country for thy name's sake... hear thou in heaven"
2 Chr 6:32-33 — "Moreover concerning the stranger (nokriy), which is not of thy people Israel, but is come from a far country for thy great name's sake"

6. Foreign Invaders / Hostile Outsiders¶

Obad 1:11 — "In the day that the strangers (nokriy) carried away captive his forces"
Lam 5:2 — "Our inheritance is turned to strangers (nokriy), our houses to aliens"
Isa 2:6 — "they please themselves in the children of strangers (nokriy)"

7. The Strange / Alien Act of God¶

Isa 28:21 — "that he may do his work, his strange (nokriy) work; and bring to pass his act, his strange (nokriy) act"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
אִשָּׁה (ishshah)	H802	14x	"strange woman" — foreign/seductive wife
זוּר (zuwr)	H2114	12x	Paired as synonyms: nokriy ∥ zuwr in parallel lines
אֶרֶץ (erets)	H776	11x	"strange land" — foreign territory
אֱלֹהִים (elohiym)	H430	10x	Contexts of foreign gods or God's sovereignty over foreigners
בֵּן (ben)	H1121	10x	"children of strangers" or "not thy brother's son"
עַם (am)	H5971	9x	"not of thy people" — defining nokriy against Israel
יָשַׁב (yashab)	H3427	9x	"dwell" — residency status of the foreigner
יִשְׂרָאֵל (Yisrael)	H3478	8x	The reference community from which nokriy is excluded
בַּיִת (bayith)	H1004	7x	"house" — household, temple, or lineage context
אָח (ach)	H251	5x	Brother/stranger contrast in Deuteronomic law

Word Family / Cognates¶

H5236 נֵכָר (nekar) — parent noun: foreignness, foreign land, foreign god
H5234 נָכַר (nakar) — root verb: to recognize, regard, acknowledge (Hiphil: treat as foreign)

Synonyms¶

Semantic domain "Different" neighbors: - H312 אַחֵר (acher) — another, other, different - H2015 הָפַךְ (haphak) — to turn, overturn, change

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
זוּר (zuwr)	H2114	"strange" (12v), "stranger" (5v)	zuwr = verb "to turn aside," emphasizes deviance/estrangement; nokriy = adjective for national/ethnic foreignness
נֵכָר (nekar)	H5236	"strange" (7v), "the stranger" (1v)	nekar = abstract noun "foreignness" or concrete "foreign land/god"; nokriy = adjectival form applied to persons
גֵּר (ger)	H1616	"a stranger" (15v), "the stranger" (13v)	ger = resident alien living within Israel with partial legal protections; nokriy = outsider with no covenant ties

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Co-occurrences	PMI Score	Notes
ἀλλότριος (allotrios) G245	38x	27.28	Primary equivalent — "belonging to another"
ξένος (xenos) G3581	4x	12.67	"Foreign, guest-stranger"
γυνή (gyne) G1135	14x	9.39	When nokriy modifies "woman" — LXX renders the noun
πάροικος (paroikos) G3941	3x	8.30	"Dwelling beside, sojourner"