נִיר
lamp
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
See every Construct-state word in the Hebrew Bible →
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Noun
- A naming word — a person, place, thing, or idea.
Noun type
- Common
- A common noun — a general class of person, place, or thing (“king,” “city,” “water”), not a specific name.
State
- Construct
- A noun bound to a following noun in a possessive / “of” relationship (the construct chain).
- Absolute
- The independent form of a noun, not bound to a following word.
Gender
- Masculine
- Grammatically masculine.
Number
- Plural
- More than one (in Hebrew, generally three or more).
- Singular
- One.
3 verses where H5216 appears in the Absolute state in the Book of Exodus. Filtered view — show all forms. Click any verse to open its interlinear word-by-word view. Verse text shown in the World English Bible for context — . Each verse’s Hebrew form is shown with its reference; the English is not keyword-highlighted, since the data carries no word-level English alignment. Use “Compare translations” on any verse to read it across multiple English versions. This concordance covers the Hebrew Bible; Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) occurrences are not indexed here.
Exodus
- Exodus 30:7 הַ/נֵּרֹ֖ת ptcl def.art + n c mp Aaron shall burn incense of sweet spices on it every morning. When he tends the lamps, he shall burn it.
- Exodus 30:8 הַ/נֵּרֹ֛ת ptcl def.art + n c mp When Aaron lights the lamps at evening, he shall burn it, a perpetual incense before Yahweh throughout your generations.
- Exodus 40:25 הַ/נֵּרֹ֖ת ptcl def.art + n c mp He lit the lamps before Yahweh, as Yahweh commanded Moses.
About this entry
At a glance — auto-summarized from this page’s data, not written by a person. Every figure links to its source below. This summary describes the numbers; it doesn’t interpret them.
ניר — transliterated nîyr — is a Hebrew noun carrying the sense “lamp.” Debuting at Exodus 25:37, it then recurs through the corpus. Spanning 42 verses in 15 books, it ranks among the moderately common words of the Hebrew Bible. From the same root come ניר, מנור and ניר. See the sense tree, 42-verse concordance, and the renderings breakdown below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H5216 catalogs a Hebrew word from the Hebrew Old Testament.
These counts are not copied from any lexicon or concordance. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged Hebrew Old Testament. What Lemma adds →
- 42
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 42 distinct verses.
- 15 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 15 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #767
- by frequency
- Top 1000 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 767 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 42 occurrences in the concordance →
Most concentrated in
- Exodus 9 verses 21%
- Proverbs 6 verses 14%
- 2 Chronicles 5 verses 12%
By section of the Old Testament
By traditional corpus
Conventional, traditional groupings — biblical authorship is debated, so this is a traditional corpus grouping, not an authorship claim. Each share is this word’s portion of its verses in that division of the Hebrew canon. Each figure is a share of the word’s 42 distinct verses.
- Writings (Ketuvim) 18 verses · 43%
- Torah (Pentateuch) 14 verses · 33%
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 10 verses · 24%
How translations render this word
Counts come from each version’s own published word-to-Strong’s tagging or interlinear alignment — an approximate guide to how each version renders this word, not a word-level alignment the data otherwise carries. Because each total is that version’s own tagged count, the per-version totals vary from one another and need not match the appearance or distinct-verse counts above. These counts may also differ from a printed concordance because Lemma counts each distinctly tagged rendering and does not collapse phrase taggings into a single head-word total. This is a fixed set of word-tagged versions (KJV, ASV, BSB, ULT) and does not change with the reading translation you choose elsewhere. Each version’s license is shown beside its name below (and on Sources).
BDB lists this Strong’s number as 5 distinct words (homographs). Each count above pools all of them and is not split by sense — see the Senses section below. A low-frequency rendering may belong to a different one of those words, not the primary meaning.
- King James Version†: Lamps 24×, Candle 5×, Lamp 4×
- American Standard Version†: Lamps 21×, Lamp 13×, Cause a lamp 2×
- Berean Standard Bible†: Lamps 22×, Lamp 16×, Is a lamp 2×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text†: Lamps 25×, Lamp 14×, Lamp of 5×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H5216 across 48† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 10 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H5216 across 48† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 12 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
Renders H5216 across 47† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 5 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 2 further occurrences.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H5216 across 55† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 7 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Senses in the full BDB
What do BDB’s symbols mean?
BDB uses these scholarly abbreviations:
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 𝔊 | the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation, LXX) |
| 𝔙 | the Vulgate (the Latin translation) |
| 𝔖 | the Syriac version (the Peshitta) |
| 𝔗 | the Targum (the Aramaic translation) |
| ψ | the Psalms |
| √ | root (the underlying root or stem) |
| ‖ | parallel passage (a synonymous or contrasted parallel) |
| † | the dagger: every passage where the word occurs is cited |
The 3 senses and sub-senses the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency), with BDB’s own verbatim wording and sub-sense lettering. Shown in Hebrew script with BDB’s own scholarly abbreviations. The condensed entry is in the Lexicon Entry tab. See also the Forms in the corpus table below.
ניר I
- 1. father of Abner 1 S 14:50, 51; 26:5, 14 2 S 2:8, 12; 3:23, 25, 28, 37 1 K 2:5, 32; 1 Ch 26:28. e.g. 1 Samuel 14:50
- 2. father of Kish 1 Ch 8:33; 9:36, 39. e.g. 1 Chronicles 8:33
ניר II [m.] lamp
ניר III break up, freshly till
Qal
- Imv. mpl. נִ֫ירוּ, c. acc. cogn. נִיר Ho 10:12 Je 4:3. e.g. Hosea 10:12
ניר IV [m.] the tillable, untilled or fallow ground
Senses from the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon (Brown, Driver, Briggs; Oxford 1906 — public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). Full attribution on Sources.
Word origin
I. n.m. Ex 25:37 lamp;—נ׳ abs. Ex 27:20 +, cstr. 1 S 3:3 +; sf. נֵרִי ψ 18:29, †נֵירִי ‖ 2 S 22:29, etc.; pl. נֵרוֹת abs. Lv 24:4 +; cstr. Ex 39:37; sf. נֵרֹתֶיהָ Ex 25:37(×2) +, נֵרֹתֵיהֶם 1 Ch 28:15 2 Ch 4:20;—lamp in shrine at Shiloh 1 S 3:3; especially of lamps in temple 1 K 7:49 + 7 times Ch, and in tabern. Ex 25:37(×2) + 15 times P; cf. in Zech.’s vision Zc 4:2(×2) as token of merrymaking Je 25:10; used in search Zp 1:12, cf. (fig.) נֵר י׳ נִשְׁמַת אָדָם Pr 20:27; used in household work Pr 31:18; fig. of prosperity נ׳ יִשְׂרָאֵל 2 S 21:17 (embodied in David); also Jb 18:6; 21:17; 29:3 ψ 18:29 = 2 S 22:29, ψ 132:17 Pr 13:9; 20:20; 24:20; of God’s word as a guide ψ 119:105, cf. Pr 6:23.
I. n.[m.] lamp;—always fig. לְמַעַן הֱיוֹת־נ׳ לְדָוִיד 1 K 11:36, i.e. that his family may remain on the throne; cf. 15:4; 2 K 8:19 = 2 Ch 21:7; = happiness, delight (cstr.) נִר רְשָׁעִים Pr 21:4 (so Vrss Thes Buhl Now Wild, > Ew Del SS Frankenb = ii. נִיר sub i. [נִיר] infr.).
II. vb. break up, freshly till;—
III. n.[m.] the tillable, untilled or fallow ground;—נ׳ abs. as acc. cogn. נִירוּ לָכֶם נִ֑יר Ho 10:12; Je 4:3 till you the untilled ground (fig. of unaccustomed moral action); cstr. only רָב־אֹכֶל נִיר רָאשִׁים Pr 13:23 abundant food (yields) the fallow ground of poor men (i.e. with י׳’s blessing).—i. נִיר v. נור.
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Derived from ניר (nîyr) (H5214) — to plow.
Jastrow Dictionary
A second Hebrew/Aramaic lexicon for comparison, covering Aramaic and post-biblical (Talmudic, Targumic, Midrashic) usage that the biblical-Hebrew BDB does not. Matched by lemma rather than by Strong’s number, so a lemma may carry more than one Jastrow headword (shown separately below), and the entries cover usage well beyond the Bible.
נִיר I
- v. Del. Proleg., p. 98, sq.) [to conquer,] to break ground, clear. Tosef. Men. IX, 3 נָרָהּ שנה ראשונה ושנייה חורשה וכ׳ he breaks the field the first year, the second year he ploughs it &c.; Men. 85ᵃ. Arakh. IX, 1 (29ᵇ) נָרָהּ if he broke it (without planting). Tosef. B. Mets. IX, 7 לא יהא נָר … אלא נָאר וכ׳ (Var. נָר) he must not plough it over entirely one year and plant the next, but plough one half &c. Ib. 8 והיה נָרָהּ וכ׳ and he ploughed all of it one year &c. Ib. 26 נאר (Var. נָיֵיר, נָר); a. fr.—Part. pass. נִיר; f. נִירָה. Ib. 29 מניחה לפניו נ׳ when he surrenders the field to him cleared, opp. שֶׁלֶף.—[Men. 85ᵇ ניר חציה, Ms. M. נָר.]
- to plough over repeatedly. Part. pass. מְנוֹנָר (= מְנוּרְנָר; cmp. מְטוֹטֶלֶת a. מְטוּלְטֶלֶת); f. מְנוֹנֶרֶת, pl. מְנוֹנָרוֹת. Men. 85ᵃ שדות … והמ׳ לכך (Ms. M. הנונרות לבד, corr. acc. or הנִינָּרוֹת Nif.) fields … repeatedly ploughed over for that purpose; Tosef. ib. IX, 3 הגינירות, Var. הניטרות, read הנִינָּרוֹת or הנִינּוֹרוֹת).
- (cmp. נִידּוֹן fr. דִּין) to be broken, v. supra.
נִיר
- Targ. I Sam. VIII, 12 לְמֵינָר (ed. Wil. למִינַר).
נִיר II
- preced.)
- 1. clearing, ploughing over. Tosef. B. Mets. IX, 24 בשעת הנ׳ (read: בשנת) in the year during which he cleared the land.
- 2. newly broken land. Peah II, 1 הבור והנ׳ fallow land or newly broken land. Y. Naz. VII, 56ᵇ top; a. e.—Pl. נִירִין. Shebi. IV, 3.
נִיר ²
- Targ. I Sam. VIII, 12.
נִיר III
- (preced. wds.; Assyr. nîru) yoke; servitude. Targ. Deut. XXI, 3. Targ. Num. XIX, 2.—Targ. Jer. XXVII, 8; a. fr.—Y. Sabb. V, end, 7ᶜ; Bab. Sabb. 54ᵇ, v. גִּימוֹן.—Pl. נִירִין. Targ. Jer. XXVII, 2. Ib. XXVIII, 13.
נִיר IV
- (v. preced.; cmp. jugum a. ζυγόν, v. Sm. Ant. s. v. Tela) cross-beam of the loom, also the cross-rod under the cross-beam (liciatorium) to which the ends of the leashes are fastened; trnsf (mostly pl.) נִירִים, נִירִין the leashes or thrums to which the threads of the warp are fastened; also the warp. Gen. R. s. 94, v. פָּתַל. B. Kam. 119ᵇ אין לוקחין … ולא נ׳ you must not buy from the weaver remnants of woof or of warp threads. Kel. XXI, 1 הנוגע בנ׳ … he who touches the upper beam … or the rods, contrad. to קֵירוֹס.—בית נ׳ that portion of the web produced by passing the spool with the woof across the warp, mesh, slip. Sabb. XIII, 2 (105ᵃ) העושה שני בתי נ׳ בנִירַיִּים וכ׳ Ms. M. (ed. בנירין) he who starts a web by making two meshes, attaching them either to the cross-pieces or to the slips (קֵירוֹס). Ib. 105ᵃ ברוחב ג׳ בתי נ׳ within a distance of three meshes; (Tosef. ib. XII (XIII), 1 על ג׳ בתים). Y. ib. VII, 10ᶜ שני נ׳ בחף … בניר אחד two sets of warp threads fastened to one old border web (licium) or two borders fastened to one set of warp threads. Shek. VIII, 5 על ע"ב נ׳ וכ׳ Ms. M. a. Ar. (ed. נימין; v. Rabb. D. S. a. l., p. לד, note) the curtain was woven on seventy-two leashes, and each twist of the warp (נִימָה) contained twenty four threads; Ḥull. 90ᵇ; Tam. 29ᵇ נימין; Num. R. s. 4 נימין; Tanḥ. Vayaḳh. 7 נימין; ed. Bub. 10 נירים.
A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (Marcus Jastrow; London, Luzac, 1903) — Public Domain. Digitized via Sefaria. Digitized via Sefaria. Full attribution on Sources.
Forms in the corpus
The 39 distinct written forms H5216 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that state’s occurrences in the concordance. Hebrew forms include their vowel points and cantillation, so a single lemma takes many written forms.
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H5216, grouped by Strong’s listed origin. These share a root / origin per the lexicon — not necessarily a shared meaning. Each links to that word’s own entry.
Derives from
Shares the same root
Derived from this word
Proper names from this root
People and places named from this root — a name, not an additional meaning of the word.
Compare all same-root words → Showing 4 of 8 — not the complete family. 2 of the same-root words are proper names (people or places). They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 36 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 42 Hebrew verses it occurs in. You can read those verses in Greek by switching the Old Testament edition to the Septuagint.
Read these verses in the Septuagint
- Exodus 25:37
- Leviticus 24:2
- Numbers 4:9
- 1 Samuel 3:3
- 2 Samuel 21:17
- 1 Kings 7:49
- 2 Kings 8:19
- 1 Chronicles 28:15
- 2 Chronicles 4:20
- Job 18:6
- Proverbs 6:23
- Jeremiah 25:10
This is a verse-level parallel only — the same verses exist in both the Hebrew and Greek Old Testaments. No word-level Hebrew↔Greek correspondence is claimed: the data carries no such alignment, so no Greek word is shown as this Hebrew word’s translation. Coverage is not total — the Septuagint omits the deuterocanon and renumbers the Psalms, so some Hebrew verses have no direct Greek parallel.
