H5258 — נָסַךְ (nāsak)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H5258
Original: נָסַךְ
Transliteration: nāsak (nâçak)
Pronunciation: naw-sak'
Part of Speech: Verb (primitive root)
Root: Primitive root; cognate noun H5262 נֶסֶךְ (nesek, "libation"); cf. H4541 מַסֵּכָה (massēkāh); Aramaic by-form H5260
Occurrences: 24 unique verses (31 tokens) across 12 books
First Occurrence: Gen 35:14 — "Jacob set up a pillar... and he poured (nāsak) a drink offering thereon, and he poured oil thereon"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

Strong's: "a primitive root; to pour out, especially a libation, or to cast (metal); by analogy, to anoint a king:—cover, melt, offer, (cause to) pour (out), set (up)."

The semantic core is pouring-out a liquid at a cultic site (the libation act). Secondary senses radiate from the physical action of pouring: (a) pouring molten metal → casting an image; (b) pouring oil → anointing/installing a king; (c) in Isa 25:7 a by-form meaning "weave/spread over," possibly a homonymous root. The dominant KJV renderings ("pour out," "pour," "cover [with a molten image]," "melt," "offer [a drink offering]," "set up") all trace to the single mental picture of a liquid or molten substance being emptied onto or into a receiving surface.

Verb Stem Distribution¶

Stem	Count (verses)	Typical Function
Qal	6	simple active "pour out" / "cast"; also Isa 25:7 Ptcp "interweave" (possibly homonymous root)
Niphal	1	passive "be poured out" / idiomatic "be set up / installed" (Prov 8:23)
Piel	1	intensive "pour out" (Isa 29:10: "hath poured out upon you")
Hiphil	~9	causative "cause to pour / pour out [a libation]" — dominant stem for cultic libation acts
Hophal	2	passive-causative "be poured (out)" — of libation liquid on the table (Exo 25:29; 37:16)

Tallied from hebrew_parser.py (ETCBC BHSA). The Hiphil is the technical-cultic stem: it carries the ritual libation act in Gen 35:14, Num 28:7, 2 Sam 23:16, 2 Ki 16:13, and the Jeremiah polemical cluster (Jer 7:18; 19:13; 32:29; 44:17–19). The figura-etymologica phrase hassēk nesek ("pour-out a poured-thing") in Num 28:7 uses the Hiphil infinitive absolute with the cognate noun — morphologically unambiguous "cause-to-be-poured the poured-offering."

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation Cluster	Verses	%
pour / pour out / poured / cause to pour (drink offering)	14	58%
cover / cover with a molten image	2	8%
offer (drink offering / libation)	2	8%
melt / molten (casting an image)	2	8%
set / set up (installed / anointed — Ps 2:6; Prov 8:23)	2	8%
miscellaneous fragment renderings	2	8%

The "pour" family dominates (~58%). Residual senses cluster around metal-casting (melt/molten, 8%) and installation-by-anointing (set/set up, 8%). All senses share the underlying physical action of pouring a fluid or molten substance.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Hosea	1	0.5
Jeremiah	7	0.5
Isaiah	4	0.3
Exodus	3	0.2
Genesis	1	0.1
Numbers	1	0.1
2 Samuel	1	0.1
1 Chronicles	1	0.1
2 Kings	1	0.1
Psalms	2	0.1
Proverbs	1	0.1
Ezekiel	1	0.1

Pattern: Heavily prophetic-polemical distribution (Jer 7, Isa 4, Hos 1, Eze 1). Pentateuchal verb occurrences are sparse (Gen 1, Exo 3, Num 1 — though the noun H5262 dominates Num 28–29 with 33 uses, the verb appears only once, in the Num 28:7 figura etymologica). The largest cluster is Jeremiah's polemic against illicit libations to the queen of heaven (Jer 44:17–19). The verb is conspicuously absent from wisdom literature outside the two installation-sense verses (Ps 2:6; Prov 8:23).

Semantic Categories¶

1. Prescribed Cultic Libation to YHWH (Pouring-Out a Drink Offering)¶

The archetypal sense: pouring a measured liquid (wine or shēkār/strong drink) at/onto the altar as part of the sacrificial rite. - Gen 35:14 — "Jacob... poured (nāsak) a drink offering thereon, and he poured oil thereon" (Bethel pillar). - Num 28:7 — "in the holy [place] shalt thou cause the strong wine to be poured (Hiphil hassēk) unto the LORD [for] a drink offering (nesek)." - 2 Sam 23:16 — David "would not drink thereof, but poured it out (nāsak) unto the LORD" — explicit contrast between drinking and pouring-out as libation. - 2 Ki 16:13 — Ahaz "poured his drink offering" with burnt, meal, and blood rites.

2. Illicit / Foreign-Deity Libation¶

The same physical act directed to another god — condemned in prophetic polemic. - Jer 44:17 — "to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out (nāsak) drink offerings unto her." - Jer 44:18, 19, 25 — women defend their practice of pouring libations to the queen of heaven. - Jer 7:18; 19:13; 32:29 — libations poured on rooftops to Baal / the host of heaven. - Hos 9:4 — "They shall not offer (nāsak) wine [offerings] to the LORD." - Eze 20:28 — on every high hill and under every green tree "poured out (nāsak) there their drink offerings."

3. Casting / Molding a Metal Image¶

Pouring molten metal into a mold — the physical action extended to metallurgy. - Isa 40:19 — "The workman melteth (nāsak) a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold." - Isa 44:10 — "Who hath formed a god, or molten (nāsak) a graven image [that] is profitable for nothing?" - Isa 30:1 — "that cover (nāsak) with a covering, but not of my spirit" — idiomatic for making a "molten" alliance/treaty overlay.

4. Installation by Pouring (Anointing / Setting-Up)¶

Pouring oil → installing a king; by extension, divinely "setting up/appointing." - Ps 2:6 — "Yet have I set (nāsak) my king upon my holy hill of Zion" — royal installation language. - Prov 8:23 — "I was set up (Niphal nissaktî) from everlasting, from the beginning" — Wisdom's primordial installation.

5. Pouring Out as Divine Judgment (Metaphorical)¶

The libation action metaphorically inverted — God pours out a noxious substance upon the people. - Isa 29:10 — "the LORD hath poured out (Piel) upon you the spirit of deep sleep" — punitive pouring.

6. Hophal Passive: Liquid Poured From Vessel¶

The tabernacle table's libation vessels are described by what is poured from them. - Exo 25:29; 37:16 — "covers... and bowls thereof, to cover withal [whereby libations] are poured out (Hophal)." - Exo 30:9 — prohibition: "neither shall ye pour (Qal) drink offering thereon" (on the incense altar).

7. Possibly Separate Root: Weave / Spread Over (Isa 25:7)¶

Isa 25:7 — "the face of the covering cast (Qal Ptcp n'sûkāh) over all people" — likely a by-form homonym meaning "woven/spread," unrelated to libation.

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-verses	Typical Pattern
נֶסֶךְ nesek (libation)	H5262	13x (54%)	figura etymologica "pour-out a poured-offering" — cognate object
עַל ʻal (upon, onto)	H5921	10x (42%)	"pour upon" — the receiving surface (altar, stone, people)
אֲשֶׁר ʼăsher	H834	9x (38%)	relative clauses specifying recipient/occasion
יְהֹוָה YHWH	H3068	7x (29%)	"pour out unto YHWH" (direction of legitimate libation)
עָשָׂה ʻāsāh (make/do/offer)	H6213	7x (29%)	ritual performance verb co-occurring
קָטַר qāṭar (burn incense)	H6999	7x (29%)	libation paired with incense-burning — esp. in polemic texts
לֹא lō' (not)	H3808	6x (25%)	prohibition/negation frame (Exo 30:9; Hos 9:4; Ps 16:4)
שָׁמַיִם šāmayim (heaven/host of heaven)	H8064	6x (25%)	illicit libations to astral deities
בּוֹא bô' (come/bring)	H935	5x (21%)	bringing the libation material
מְלֶכֶת mᵉleket (queen)	H4446	5x (21%)	"queen of heaven" libation cluster (Jer 44)
אַחֵר ʼachēr (other)	H312	4x (17%)	"other gods" — polemical frame
אֱלֹהִים ʼĕlôhîm	H430	4x (17%)	libation directed to deity (true or false)
נָשָׂא nāsā' (lift up / take away)	H5375	4x (17%)	lifting the libation vessel; or "take up their names" (Ps 16:4)
זָהָב zāhāb (gold)	H2091	3x (12%)	casting/overlaying — metal-image sense
מֶלֶךְ melek (king)	H4428	3x (12%)	royal installation sense (Ps 2:6); also royal-commissioned libation

Observation: The verb's most frequent object by far is its own cognate noun nesek (H5262, 54% of uses) — the classical figura etymologica construction "pour-out a pouring-offering" (Num 28:7; Jer 7:18; 19:13; 44:17, 18, 19, etc.). This tight morphological binding makes "pour out" the tool-verified core meaning — the verb is grammatically locked to the act of emptying liquid onto/toward a cultic object, never to consumption.

Word Family / Cognates¶

H5262 נֶסֶךְ (nesek) — masculine noun "libation, drink offering; molten image." 62v. The cognate object of nāsak.
H5261 נְסַךְ (nesak) — Aramaic cognate noun "drink-offering" (Ezra 7:17, hapax).
H5260 נָסַךְ (nāsak II) — homonymous by-form verb "to weave/spread" (possibly Isa 25:7 Qal Ptcp).
H4541 מַסֵּכָה (massēkāh) — feminine noun "molten image; woven covering; libation" from same root.

Synonyms¶

H3334 יצר — search_relationships.py links nāsak with a neighboring formation / production verb in the same libation-image field.

Antonyms¶

No antonyms were returned by search_relationships.py for H5258.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared KJV Translation	Key Difference
שָׁפַךְ šāpak	H8210	"pour out"	Generic "pour/spill" (blood, water, wrath); not cultic-technical; wider semantic range
יָצַק yātsaq	H3332	"pour (out)", "cast" (metal)	Pouring liquids generally; casting metal; lacks the libation-technical sense
קָרַב qārab	H7126	"offer"	To bring near / present; generic cultic approach verb; nāsak is specifically the liquid-pouring mode
זָבַח zābach	H2076	"offer", "sacrifice"	To slaughter for sacrifice; animal-oriented; nāsak is liquid-oriented
עָלָה ʻālāh (Hiphil)	H5927	"offer" (up)	To cause to ascend (burnt offering goes up in smoke); nāsak causes liquid to go down onto the altar
נָתַךְ nātak	H5413	"pour out", "melt"	Near-synonym for pouring/melting metal; prophetic wrath-language; nāsak is cultic-ritual
סָכַךְ sākak	H5526	"cover"	To screen / overshadow; nāsak "covers" only in the idiomatic "cover with a molten image" sense (Isa 30:1)
כָּסָה kāsāh	H3680	"cover"	General verbal "cover/conceal"; sharper KJV overlap with nāsak's idiomatic "cover" rendering
מָשַׁח māshach	H4886	"anoint"	Primary root for anointing; nāsak glances at anointing only via the pouring-of-oil logic (Ps 2:6)

Critical distinction for Num 28:7 interpretation: nāsak is morphologically and distributively incompatible with a "drinking" sense. The verbs of consumption are שָׁתָה šātāh (H8354, "drink"), אָכַל ʼākal (H398, "eat"), or לָקַק lāqaq (H3952, "lap"). No occurrence of nāsak in the OT describes a liquid being ingested; all 24 verses describe liquid being expelled from a vessel onto a receiving surface, object, or deity.

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Strong's	Co-occ	PMI	Notes
σπένδω spéndō	G4689	15	9.70	Primary bridge — "pour out as a libation"; technical verbal equivalent
θυμιάω thymiáō	G2370	5	6.81	"burn incense" — collocational, not lexical (paired ritual verb in Jer 44 cluster)
βασίλισσα basílissa	G938	4	6.80	"queen" — co-text (queen of heaven)
οὐρανός ouranós	G3772	6	3.65	"heaven" — co-text (queen of heaven / host of heaven)
θυσία thysía	G2378	3	3.29	"sacrifice" — generic absorption into sacrifice vocabulary
ποιέω poiéō	G4160	8	1.70	"do/make" — generic ritual-performance verb

Primary bridge: σπένδω (G4689) is the near-one-to-one Greek verbal rendering of nāsak's libation sense. The derived noun σπονδή names the offering. In the NT σπένδω carries forward in Paul's self-designation as being "poured out as a libation" (Phil 2:17; 2 Tim 4:6) — the direct linguistic heir of nāsak's semantic content.

Semantic Domains¶

UBS / Relationship Domains¶

[002002001008] Flow — groups nāsak with flow / pouring vocabulary such as H1680 דבב, H1830 דמע, and H2100 זוב.
[002001001004] Asleep — secondary field surfaced by search_relationships.py, with neighbors such as H3462/H3463/H3464 ישן and H5123/H5124 נום / נוּמה.
[002003002002] Associate — links nāsak to joining / binding vocabulary such as H92 אֲגֻדָּה, H262/H264 אַחֲוָה, and H622 אסף.
[002002002005] Exist — places the verb in a presence / establishment field with neighbors such as H371 אִין, A383 אִיתַי, and H935 בוא.
[002002002008] Role — aligns nāsak with installation / office language such as H530 אֱמוּנָה, H3245 יסד, and H3547 כהן.
[002003002020] Sacrifice — its clearest cultic cluster, alongside H801 אִשֶּׁה, H817 אָשָׁם, H818 אָשֵׁם, and A1684/A1685 דבח / דְּבַח.