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נׇעֳמִי

𐤍𐤏𐤌𐤉

Nomi

H5281 noun

SILEX Entry

Root נעם to be pleasant, to be delightful, to be agreeable

Definition

A personal name derived from a root meaning 'pleasantness' or 'delight.' In the Hebrew Bible, it is used exclusively as the name of a woman, specifically the mother-in-law of Ruth. The primary lexical meaning is 'pleasantness' as a quality, but as a proper name it designates the bearer as 'Pleasant One' or 'My Pleasantness.'

Semantic Range

pleasantness (as a quality); used specifically as a proper name: Naomi, female Israelite from Bethlehem; 'my pleasantness' (as a literal meaning of the name)

Root / Etymology

From the root נעם (nun-ayin-mem), meaning 'to be pleasant, to be delightful, to be agreeable.' The form נׇעֳמִי is a feminine proper noun, formed as a substantivized derivative, likely with a first-person singular possessive suffix ("my pleasantness"), though the precise grammatical construction can also be interpreted simply as a name meaning 'Pleasantness.'

Historical & Contextual Notes

Naomi (נׇעֳמִי) appears only in the Book of Ruth as the name of the Israelite woman from Bethlehem. The name directly expresses the quality of pleasantness or charm, which is underscored in the narrative when she later asks to be called 'Mara' (מרה, 'bitter') to reflect her changed circumstances (Ruth 1:20). The name is not used as a common noun, only as a proper name, and does not denote an ethnic, geographic, or religious identity beyond its bearer in the narrative. English translations sometimes render the name symbolically as 'pleasant.' In later Jewish and Christian tradition, the name 'Naomi' became widely used as a female given name, but in the context of the Hebrew Bible, it remains specific to the character in the Ruth narrative. Notably, modern translations and reference works avoid rendering this as 'Noomi' or other forms that may appear in older sources, preferring the historical transliteration 'Naomi.' The meaning of the name should not be confused with other terms for 'beauty' or 'grace' in Hebrew.

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

from נֹעַם; pleasant; Noomi, an Israelitess; Naomi.

Bantu Hebrew

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Root Family

נעם (n-ʿ-m) — to be pleasant, to be delightful, to be agreeable

Strong's Lemma SIBI-P1
H4516 מַנְעַם in their delights
H5273 נָעִים in pleasant ones
H5276 נָעֵם you were pleasant
H5277 נַעַם and Pleasantness
H5278 נֹעַם in pleasantness of

Word Forms

3 distinct forms

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 Occurrences
H5281-02 נָעֳמִ֜י naomi HNp Naomi My Pleasantness 19
H5281-03 וּֽ/לְ/נָעֳמִ֞י ulenaomi HC/R/Np Now to Naomi and to My Pleasantness 1
H5281-01 לְ/נָעֳמִ֑י lenaomi HR/Np to Naomi to My Pleasantness 1

Occurrences in Scripture

21 total occurrences

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1
H5281-02 Ruth 1:2 נָעֳמִ֜י naomi HNp Naomi My Pleasantness
H5281-02 Ruth 1:3 נָעֳמִ֑י naomi HNp Naomi My Pleasantness
H5281-02 Ruth 1:8 נָעֳמִי֙ naomi HNp Naomi My Pleasantness
H5281-02 Ruth 1:11 נָעֳמִי֙ naomi HNp Naomi My Pleasantness
H5281-02 Ruth 1:19 נָעֳמִֽי naomi HNp Naomi My Pleasantness
H5281-02 Ruth 1:20 נָעֳמִ֑י naomi HNp Naomi My Pleasantness
H5281-02 Ruth 1:21 נָעֳמִ֔י naomi HNp Naomi My Pleasantness
H5281-02 Ruth 1:22 נָעֳמִ֗י naomi HNp Naomi My Pleasantness
H5281-03 Ruth 2:1 וּֽ/לְ/נָעֳמִ֞י ulenaomi HC/R/Np Now to Naomi and to My Pleasantness
H5281-02 Ruth 2:2 נָעֳמִ֗י naomi HNp Naomi My Pleasantness
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