נָקַםnâqam
avenge, take vengeance
Pronunciation: naw-kam' · Hebrew/Aramaic (Old Testament) · H5358
Meanings
Qal
1. avenge, take vengeance
a. the blood of his servants he avengeth, on their doings (Deuteronomy 32:43; 1 Kings 2:5; Nahum 1:2)
b. Israel and its leaders against their enemies (Numbers 31:2; Joshua 10:13)
2. entertain revengeful feelings (Leviticus 19:18)
Niph`al
1. avenge oneself
2. suffer vengeance (Exodus 21:20; 2 Kings 9:7; Jeremiah 51:36)
Hoph`al: be avenged, vengeance be taken (Genesis 4:24; Exodus 21:21; Genesis 4:15)
Hithpa`el: avenge oneself (Jeremiah 5:9; Jeremiah 5:29; Jeremiah 9:8)
Same root
Where it appears
Appears 35 times in the Bible.
- Genesis 4:15 The Lord replied, “No, for I will give a sevenfold punishment to anyone who kills you.” Then the Lord put a mark on Cain to warn anyone who might try to kill him.
- Genesis 4:24 If someone who kills Cain is punished seven times, then the one who kills me will be punished seventy-seven times!”
- Exodus 21:20 “If a man beats his male or female slave with a club and the slave dies as a result, the owner must be punished.
- Exodus 21:21 But if the slave recovers within a day or two, then the owner shall not be punished, since the slave is his property.
- Leviticus 19:18 “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against a fellow Israelite, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.
- Leviticus 26:25 I will send armies against you to carry out the curse of the covenant you have broken. When you run to your towns for safety, I will send a plague to destroy you there, and you will be handed over to your enemies.
See every passage
Source: Brown, Driver and Briggs, Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain; markup by unfoldingWord, CC BY (github.com/unfoldingWord/Brown-Driver-Briggs-Enhanced).