נָתַץ
to tear down
‘to tear down’ is one of 5 main senses fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
See every Qal verb in the Hebrew Bible →
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Verb
- An action or state-of-being word.
Stem
- Qal
- The basic, simple active stem — the plain form of the verb (“he wrote”). Here: ‘lit. pull down a structure’
- Piel
- An intensive or resultative active stem.
- Niphal
- Usually the simple passive or reflexive of the Qal (“he was written”). Here: ‘be pulled’
- Hophal
- The passive counterpart of the Hiphil (“he was caused to…”).
- Pual
- The passive counterpart of the Piel. Here: ‘be torn down’
Form
- Perfect
- A completed action or state — Hebrew marks aspect (completeness) more than strict tense (“he wrote”).
- Infinitive Construct
- A bound verbal noun, frequently with prepositions (“to write / in writing”).
- Sequential Imperfect
- An imperfect with prefixed waw — the standard past-narrative form (waw-consecutive imperfect).
- Imperfect
- An incomplete, ongoing, or future action (“he will / would write”).
- Sequential Perfect
- A perfect with prefixed waw continuing a preceding imperfect or command (waw-consecutive perfect).
- Participle Passive
- A verbal adjective expressing action received (“written”).
- Imperative
- A direct command (“write!”).
State
- Absolute
- The independent form of a noun, not bound to a following word.
Person
- 3rd Person
- The one spoken about (“he / she / it / they”).
- 2nd Person
- The one addressed (“you”).
- 1st Person
- The speaker (“I / we”).
Gender
- Masculine
- Grammatically masculine.
- Common
- Either gender — not distinguished for this form.
Number
- Singular
- One.
- Plural
- More than one (in Hebrew, generally three or more).
Grammatical forms 21 distinct
- Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular 7 times (17%)
- Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural 4 times (10%)
- Verb, Qal, Infinitive Construct 3 times (7%)
- Verb, Piel, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural 3 times (7%)
- Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Common, Plural 3 times (7%)
- Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Plural 3 times (7%)
- Verb, Qal, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular 3 times (7%)
- Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular 2 times (5%)
+13 more forms (14 occurrences)
Parsed forms decoded from the imported morphology (morphhb / Westminster Leningrad Codex — WLC text public domain, morphhb tagging CC BY 4.0), counted across 42 parsed occurrences — not distinct verses.
Every verse where H5422 appears — 41 distinct verses across 12 books. 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 1 verse
Leviticus 2 verses
- Leviticus 11:35 יֻתָּ֖ץ Hophal impf 3ms Everything whereupon part of their carcass falls shall be unclean; whether oven, or range for pots, it shall be broken in pieces: they are unclean, and shall be unclean to you.
- Leviticus 14:45 וְ/נָתַ֣ץ conj + Qal wpf 3ms He shall break down the house, its stones, and its timber, and all the house's mortar. He shall carry them out of the city into an unclean place.
Deuteronomy 2 verses
- Deuteronomy 7:5 תִּתֹּ֔צוּ Qal impf 2mp But thus shall you deal with them: you shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and hew down their Asherim, and burn their engraved images with fire.
- Deuteronomy 12:3 וְ/נִתַּצְתֶּ֣ם conj + Piel wpf 2mp and you shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and burn their Asherim with fire; and you shall cut down the engraved images of their gods; and you shall destroy their name out of that place.
Judges 8 verses
- Judges 2:2 תִּתֹּצ֑וּ/ן Qal impf 2mp + sfx n and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars. But you have not listened to my voice: why have you done this?
- Judges 6:28 נֻתַּץ֙ Pual pf 3ms When the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah was cut down that was by it, and the second bull was offered on the altar that was built.
- Judges 6:30 נָתַץ֙ Qal pf 3ms Then the men of the city said to Joash, Bring out your son, that he may die, because he has broken down the altar of Baal, and because he has cut down the Asherah that was by it.
- Judges 6:31 נָתַ֖ץ Qal pf 3ms Joash said to all who stood against him, Will you contend for Baal? Or will you save him? he who will contend for him, let him be put to death while [it is yet] morning: if he be a god, let him contend for himself, because one has broken down his altar.
- Judges 6:32 נָתַ֖ץ Qal pf 3ms Therefore on that day he named him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal contend against him, because he has broken down his altar.
- Judges 8:9 אֶתֹּ֖ץ Qal impf 1cs He spoke also to the men of Penuel, saying, When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower.
- Judges 8:17 נָתָ֑ץ Qal pf 3ms He broke down the tower of Penuel, and killed the men of the city.
- Judges 9:45 וַ/יִּתֹּץ֙ conj + Qal wimpf 3ms Abimelech fought against the city all that day; and he took the city, and killed the people who were therein: and he beat down the city, and sowed it with salt.
2 Kings 7 verses
- 2 Kings 10:27 וַֽ/יִּתְּצ֔וּ וַֽ/יִּתְּצוּ֙ conj + Qal wimpf 3mp conj + Qal wimpf 3mp They broke down the pillar of Baal, and broke down the house of Baal, and made it a latrine, to this day.
- 2 Kings 11:18 וַֽ/יִּתְּצֻ֗/הוּ conj + Qal wimpf 3mp + sfx pers 3ms All the people of the land went to the house of Baal, and broke it down; his altars and his images broke they in pieces thoroughly, and killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. The priest appointed officers over the house of Yahweh.
- 2 Kings 23:7 וַ/יִּתֹּץ֙ conj + Qal wimpf 3ms He broke down the houses of the sodomites, that were in the house of Yahweh, where the women wove hangings for the Asherah.
- 2 Kings 23:8 וְ/נָתַ֞ץ conj + Qal pf 3ms He brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba; and he broke down the high places of the gates that were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man's left hand at the gate of the city.
- 2 Kings 23:12 נָתַ֣ץ Qal pf 3ms The altars that were on the roof of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of Yahweh, did the king break down, and beat [them] down from there, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron.
- 2 Kings 23:15 נָתָ֑ץ Qal pf 3ms Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, even that altar and the high place he broke down; and he burned the high place and beat it to dust, and burned the Asherah.
- 2 Kings 25:10 נָֽתְצוּ֙ Qal pf 3cp All the army of the Chaldeans, who were [with] the captain of the guard, broke down the walls of Jerusalem round about.
2 Chronicles 6 verses
- 2 Chronicles 23:17 וַֽ/יִּתְּצֻ֔/הוּ conj + Qal wimpf 3mp + sfx pers 3ms All the people went to the house of Baal, and broke it down, and broke his altars and his images in pieces, and killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars.
- 2 Chronicles 31:1 וַ/יְנַתְּצ֣וּ conj + Piel wimpf 3mp Now when all this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah, and broke in pieces the pillars, and hewed down the Asherim, and broke down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they had destroyed them all. Then all the children of Israel returned, every man to his possession, into their own cities.
- 2 Chronicles 33:3 נִתַּ֖ץ Piel pf 3ms For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; and he reared up altars for the Baals, and made Asheroth, and worshiped all the host of the sky, and served them.
- 2 Chronicles 34:4 וַ/יְנַתְּצ֣וּ conj + Piel wimpf 3mp They broke down the altars of the Baals in his presence; and the sun-images that were on high above them he hewed down; and the Asherim, and the engraved images, and the molten images, he broke in pieces, and made dust of them, and strewed it on the graves [of those] who had sacrificed to them.
- 2 Chronicles 34:7 וַ/יְנַתֵּ֣ץ conj + Piel wimpf 3ms He broke down the altars, and beat the Asherim and the engraved images into powder, and hewed down all the sun-images throughout all the land of Israel, and returned to Jerusalem.
- 2 Chronicles 36:19 וַֽ/יְנַתְּצ֔וּ conj + Piel wimpf 3mp They burnt the house of God, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces of it with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels of it.
Job 1 verse
Psalms 2 verses
- Psalms 52:5 יִתָּצְ/ךָ֪ Qal impf 3ms + sfx pers 2ms God will likewise destroy you forever. He will take you up, and pluck you out of your tent, And root you out of the land of the living. Selah.
- Psalms 58:6 נְתֹ֣ץ Qal impv 2ms Break their teeth, God, in their mouth. Break out the great teeth of the young lions, Yahweh.
Isaiah 1 verse
Jeremiah 7 verses
- Jeremiah 1:10 וְ/לִ/נְת֖וֹץ conj + prep + Qal inf.cs behold, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down and to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.
- Jeremiah 4:26 נִתְּצוּ֙ Niphal pf 3cp I saw, and, behold, the fruitful field was a wilderness, and all the cities of it were broken down at the presence of Yahweh, [and] before his fierce anger.
- Jeremiah 18:7 וְ/לִ/נְת֖וֹץ conj + prep + Qal inf.cs At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up and to break down and to destroy it;
- Jeremiah 31:28 וְ/לִ/נְת֛וֹץ conj + prep + Qal inf.cs It shall happen that, like as I have watched over them to pluck up and to break down and to overthrow and to destroy and to afflict, so will I watch over them to build and to plant, says Yahweh.
- Jeremiah 33:4 הַ/נְּתֻצִ֕ים ptcl def.art + Qal ptcp.pass mp For thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are broken down [to make a defense] against the mounds and against the sword;
- Jeremiah 39:8 נָתָֽצוּ Qal pf 3cp The Chaldeans burned the king's house, and the houses of the people, with fire, and broke down the walls of Jerusalem.
- Jeremiah 52:14 נָֽתְצוּ֙ Qal pf 3cp All the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down all the walls of Jerusalem round about.
Ezekiel 3 verses
- Ezekiel 16:39 וְ/נִתְּצ֣וּ conj + Piel wpf 3cp I will also give you into their hand, and they shall throw down your vaulted place, and break down your lofty places; and they shall strip you of your clothes, and take your beautiful jewels; and they shall leave you naked and bare.
- Ezekiel 26:9 יִתֹּ֖ץ Qal impf 3ms He shall set his battering engines against your walls, and with his axes he shall break down your towers.
- Ezekiel 26:12 יִתֹּ֑צוּ Qal impf 3mp They shall make a spoil of your riches, and make a prey of your merchandise; and they shall break down your walls, and destroy your pleasant houses; and they shall lay your stones and your timber and your dust in the midst of the waters.
Nahum 1 verse
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.
“to tear down” is the headline sense of the Hebrew verb נתץ (nâthats). Older and newer Bibles part ways — “brake down” in the King James Version, “tear down” (Berean Standard Bible) and “he tore down” (unfoldingWord Literal Text) in modern versions. See the renderings breakdown. It turns up in 41 verses across 12 books, a moderately common footprint. Its earliest occurrence is Exodus 34:13. The verb spans 5 stems, from Qal to Niphal. See the sense tree, 41-verse concordance, and the renderings breakdown below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H5422 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 →
- 41
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 41 distinct verses.
- 12 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 12 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #864
- by frequency
- Top 1000 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 864 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 41 occurrences in the concordance →
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 41 distinct verses.
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 27 verses · 66%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 9 verses · 22%
- Torah (Pentateuch) 5 verses · 12%
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).
- King James Version: Brake down 6×, Are thrown down 2×, Brake it down 2×
- American Standard Version: Brake down 6×, Break down 5×, He brake down 5×
- Berean Standard Bible: Tear down 7×, Broke down 3×, He tore down 2×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: He tore down 8×, They tore down 4×, You shall break down 3×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H5422 across 42 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 22 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 H5422 across 38 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 16 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 H5422 across 42 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 24 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H5422 across 40 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 21 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
10 senses and sub-senses in the full BDB
Hebrew verbs can shift meaning by stem (binyan): Qal is the basic action, Niphal is often passive or reflexive, Piel often intensifies or makes it factitive, and Hiphil is typically causative. The senses below are grouped under the stem BDB assigns to each. This entry also uses Pual (the passive of Piel) and Hophal (the passive of Hiphil).
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 10 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.
Qal
- Pf. 3 ms. נ׳ Ju 6:30 +, 3 pl. נָֽתְצוּ 2 K 25:10; Je 52:14, etc.; Impf. 3 ms. יִתֹּץ Ez 26:9 + v 12 (Co, for MT יִתְּצוּ); וַיִּתֹּץ Ju 9:45; 2 K 23:7; sf. יִתְּצֵנִי Jb 19:10, יִתָּצְךָ ψ 52:7; 1 s. אֶתֹּץ Ju 8:9; 3 mpl. וַיִּתְּצוּ 2 K 10:27(×2); 2 mpl. תִּתֹּ֑צוּ Dt 7:5 תִּתֹּצ֑וּן Ex 34:13 Ju 2:2; וַתִּתְֿצוּ Is 22:2, etc.; Imv. נְתֹץ ψ 58:7; Inf. cstr. לִנְתֿוֹץ Je 1:10; 18:7, לִנְתֹֿץ 31:28 (on תֿ v. Ges§ 45 g); Pt. pass. pl. הַנְּתֻצִים Je 33:4;— e.g. Judges 6:30
- 1. lit. pull down a structure (acc.): altar Ju 2:2; 6:30, 31, 32; Ex 34:13 (J), Dt 7:5; 2 K 23:12; high place (במה) v 8, בָּמָה + מִזְבֵּחַ v 15; מַצֵּבָה 10:27; בֵּית הַבַּעַל v 27; 11:18 = 2 Ch 23:17, cf. 2 K 23:7; a tower Ju 8:9, 17, cf. Ez 26:9 (בְּחַרְבוֹתָיו); (any) house Is 22:10; Ez 26:12; Lv 14:45, so הַנְּתֻצִים Je 33:4 (strangely + אֶל, cf. Gf Gie); city-wall Je 39:8; 2 K 25:10 = Je 52:14; city Ju 9:45. e.g. Judges 2:2
- 2. fig.:
- a. pull down a nation, break its power, וְלִנְתוֹשׁ וְלִנ׳ וּלְהַאֲבִיד (וְלַהֲרוֹם) (obj. not expressed) Je 1:10 (so Ecclus 49:7b), = 18:7. cf. 31:28. e.g. Jeremiah 1:10
- b. an individual, subj. God, יִתְּצֵנִי סָבִיב Jb 19:10, יִתָּצְךָ ψ 52:7. e.g. Job 19:10
- c. jawteeth of lions (metaph.) ψ 58:7 (break down, break off, so only here, but v. נָתַע). e.g. Psalms 58:7
Niphal
- be pulled, broken, down: Pf. 3 pl. נִתְּצוּ מִפְּנֵי י׳ Je 4:26 (of cities), so נ׳ מִמֶּנּוּ Na 1:6 (of rocks). e.g. Jeremiah 4:26
Piel
- Pf. 3 ms. נִתַּץ 2 Ch 33:3; 3 pl. וְנִתְּצוּ Ez 16:39 (consec.); 2 mpl. וְנִתַּצְתֶּם Dt 12:3; Impf. 3 ms. וַיְנַתֵּץ 2 Ch 34:7; 3 mpl. וַיְנַתְּצוּ 31:1 + 2 times;—tear down (chiefly late): c. acc. altars Dt 12:3, + בָּמוֹת 2 Ch 31:1, + הַחַמָּנִים, etc., 34:4, + אֲשֵׁרִים v 7; בָּמוֹת alone 33:3, רָמֹתַיִךְ Ez 16:39; city wall 2 Ch 36:19. e.g. 2 Chronicles 33:3
Pual
- be torn down: Pf. 3 ms. נֻתַּץ Ju 6:28 (of altar + אֲשֵׁרָה). e.g. Judges 6:28
Hophal
- (or Qal pass. Ges§ 53 u) be broken down, broken, only Impf. 3 ms. יֻתָּ֑ץ Lv 11:35 (of תַּנּוּר, v. Dr-WhiteHpt, and כִּירַיִם, v. supr., p. 468 b). e.g. Leviticus 11:35
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
vb. pull down, break down (NH Hoph., and deriv.; cf. perhaps Ethiopic ነሠተ (with transp. and weakening of sibilant), destruere, demoliri, excidere Di 634);—
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Origin: a primitive root
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.
נָתַץ
- (b. h.) to chip off; to tear down. Neg. XIII, 2 בזמן שהוא נוֹתֵץ נותץ את שלו when he has to tear down (Lev. XIV, 45), he must chip off his part of the house, contrad. to חָלַץ; Tosef. ib. VI, 10. Ib. בנתיצה נותץ את וכ׳ (not נותן) when he has to tear down, he must chop those stones which are affected as well as those which are not; a. fr. e.g. Leviticus 14:45
- to be torn down. Ab. Zar. 53ᵇ עד שיִנָּתֵץ רובו until the largest part of it is torn down; Tosef. ib. V (VI), 8 שינתן (corr. acc.). Neg. XIII, 1; a. fr.
- same. Ab. Zar. III, 9 אם חדש יוּתַּץ if the oven was new, it must be taken apart; Pes. 26ᵇ; a. fr.
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 36 distinct written forms H5422 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that stem’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 H5422, 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.
Derived from this word
Compare all same-root words → They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 41 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 41 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 34:13
- Leviticus 11:35
- Deuteronomy 7:5
- Judges 2:2
- 2 Kings 10:27
- 2 Chronicles 23:17
- Job 19:10
- Psalms 52:5
- Isaiah 22:10
- Jeremiah 1:10
- Ezekiel 16:39
- Nahum 1:6
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.
