nagash · come near, bring near

What it means

nagash (נָגַשׁ) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “come near, bring near”.

Come near, approach; in the causative form, bring near, present. Also come near to attack, or to worship.

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. To go until one is near someone or something.
2. To carry something over, or present a gift.

From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)

Word study

To come near; in the causative form, to bring near, to present an offering. BDB: to be or come near (for any purpose); as an enemy, to attack; in worship, to approach; causatively, to present.

• Abraham comes near to intercede Genesis 18:23
• Jacob comes near to Isaac; Judah approaches Joseph Genesis 27:22Genesis 44:18
• “Come near to me” Genesis 45:41 Kings 18:30
• Moses draws near to the dense cloud Exodus 20:21
• The priests who come near to the altar Exodus 28:43
• Offering on the altar Malachi 1:7

How we translate it

“Come near” 28 times, “came near” 25, “brought” 12, “Bring” 10, “approached” 10, “Bring near” 6, “drew near” 5… In the causative, with offerings, “offer” (Malachi 1:7). This edition sets נִגַּשׁ = “come near”.

How it is translated

The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.

• come near ×28
• came near ×25
• brought ×12
• Bring ×10
• approached ×10
• Bring near ×6
• drew near ×5
• draw near ×4
• approach ×3
• you offer ×3
• others ×19

Where it appears

• Genesis×20
• Exodus×13
• Leviticus×5
• Numbers×3
• Deuteronomy×4
• Joshua×4
• Judges×3
• Ruth×1
• 1 Samuel×15
• 2 Samuel×7
• 1 Kings×9
• 2 Kings×5
• 1 Chronicles×1
• 2 Chronicles×3
• Ezra×2
• Job×2
• Psalms×1
• Isaiah×9
• Jeremiah×4
• Ezekiel×3
• Joel×1
• Amos×4
• Malachi×6

• Genesis 18:23

  Abraham came near and said, “Will you really sweep away the righteous with the wicked?

• Genesis 19:9

  But they said, “Step aside!” And they said, “This one came to reside as an alien, and he keeps acting as judge! Now we will do worse to you than to them.” And they pressed hard against the man, against Lot, and came near to break the door.

• Genesis 27:21

  Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near, please, so that I may feel you, my son, to know whether you are really my son Esau or not.”

• Genesis 27:22

  Jacob came near to Isaac his father, and he felt him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.”

• Genesis 27:25

  He said, “Bring it near to me, and let me eat of the game of my son, so that I may bless you.” So he brought it near to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank.

• Genesis 27:26

  Then Isaac his father said to him, “Come near, please, and kiss me, my son.”

• Genesis 27:27

  So he came near and kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his garments and blessed him and said, “See, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that YHWH has blessed.

• Genesis 29:10

  When Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, Jacob came near and rolled the stone from the mouth of the well and watered the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother.

• Genesis 33:3

  He himself passed on ahead of them and bowed down to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.

• Genesis 33:6

  Then the slave women came near, they and their children, and bowed down.

• Genesis 33:7

  Leah also came near with her children, and they bowed down; and afterward Joseph came near with Rachel, and they bowed down.

• Genesis 43:19

  So they approached the man who was over the house of Joseph and spoke to him at the entrance of the house,

• Genesis 44:18

  Then Judah approached him and said, “Please, my lord, let your servant speak a word in the ears of my lord, and do not let your anger burn against your servant, for you are like Pharaoh.

• Genesis 45:4

  Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came near. He said, “I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt.

• Genesis 48:10

  Now the eyes of Israel were heavy from old age; he could not see. So he brought them near to him, and he kissed them and embraced them.

• Genesis 48:13

  Joseph took the two of them, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right, and brought them near to him.

• Exodus 19:15

  He said to the people, “Be ready in three days; do not go near a woman.”

• Exodus 19:22

  And also the priests who come near to YHWH must consecrate themselves, lest YHWH break out against them.”

• Exodus 20:21

  The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the dense cloud where Elohim was.

• Exodus 21:6

  then his master shall bring him before Elohim; he shall bring him to the door or to the doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl, and he shall serve him forever.

• Exodus 24:2

  Moses alone shall come near to YHWH, but they shall not come near, and the people shall not come up with him.”

• Exodus 24:14

  To the elders he said, “Wait for us here until we return to you. Look, Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a matter, let him go to them.”

• Exodus 28:43

  They shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they go into the tent of meeting, or when they come near to the altar to minister in the Holy Place, so that they do not bear iniquity and die. It is a statute forever for him and for his offspring after him.

• Exodus 30:20

  When they go into the tent of meeting, they shall wash with water so that they will not die; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to offer up in smoke a fire offering to YHWH,

• Exodus 32:6

  And they rose early on the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to revel.

• Exodus 34:30

  And Aaron and all the sons of Israel saw Moses, and look, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near to him.

• Exodus 34:32

  And afterward all the sons of Israel came near, and he commanded them all that YHWH had spoken with him on Mount Sinai.

• Leviticus 2:8

  You shall bring the grain offering that is made from these things to YHWH, and he shall present it to the priest, and he shall bring it near to the altar.

• Leviticus 8:14

  He brought near the bull of the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the bull of the sin offering.

• Leviticus 21:21

  No man of the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a defect shall come near to present the fire offerings of YHWH; he has a defect; he shall not come near to present the food of his Elohim.

• Leviticus 21:23

  only he shall not go to the veil and shall not come near to the altar, for he has a defect, so that he does not profane my sanctuaries; for I am YHWH, who sanctifies them.”

• Numbers 4:19

  But do this for them, so that they may live and not die when they approach the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in and assign them, each man to his service and to his load.

• Numbers 8:19

  And I have given the Levites as given ones to Aaron and to his sons from among the sons of Israel, to do the service of the sons of Israel in the tent of meeting, and to make expiation for the sons of Israel, so that there may be no plague among the sons of Israel when the sons of Israel come near to the Holy Place.”

• Numbers 32:16

  They came near to him and said, “We will build sheep pens here for our livestock and cities for our little ones.

• Deuteronomy 20:2

  And when you draw near to the war, the priest shall come forward and speak to the people

• Deuteronomy 21:5

  And the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come forward, for YHWH your Elohim has chosen them to minister to him and to bless in the name of YHWH, and by their word every dispute and every blow shall be settled.

• Deuteronomy 25:1

  If there is a dispute between men, and they come near to judgment, and they judge them, they shall declare righteous the righteous and declare wicked the wicked.

• Deuteronomy 25:9

  then his sister-in-law shall come near to him in the sight of the elders and pull his sandal off his foot and spit in his face; and she shall answer and say, “So shall it be done to the man who does not build up his brother’s house.”

• Joshua 3:9

  And Joshua said to the sons of Israel, “Come near here and listen to the words of YHWH your Elohim.”

• Joshua 8:11

  And all the people of war who were with him went up and drew near and came in front of the city and camped on the north of Ai, with the valley between him and Ai.

And 85 more times.