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נוּס

𐤍𐤅𐤎

nûwç

H5127 verb

SILEX Entry

Definition

to flee, escape, run away; in causative forms, to put to flight, cause to flee, drive away. Used both of physical running away from danger or threat and, at times, metaphorically (e.g., fleeing from anger, judgment, or terror). In the Hiphil stem, the root can denote causing others to flee (to rout, expel, banish, or deliver from pursuit). Less commonly, it can describe vanishing, departing, subsiding (especially of fear or wrath).

Semantic Range

to flee (from danger or pursuit), run away, escape, cause to flee, put to flight, expel, vanish, subside, retreat

Root / Etymology

Root: נ-ו-ס (nus). A well-attested Semitic root with the core meaning 'to flee, escape.' The verb appears in both the simple/active (Qal) and causative (Hiphil) stems, with the sense shifting accordingly from 'to flee/escape' to 'cause to flee/drive out.' Cognate Hebrew forms also share these senses and are reflected in related Northwest Semitic languages.

Historical & Contextual Notes

Throughout the Hebrew Bible, נוּס most often occurs in military or conflict settings—individuals or armies fleeing from superior forces, threats, or divine judgment (e.g., narrative accounts in the Former Prophets). It can refer to physical flight from a location or danger (Genesis 16:8; Judges 4:17), to fleeing in panic or terror from defeat in battle (Joshua 8:20), or to being routed or expelled from a position. In the Hiphil, the sense broadens to include causing or forcing others to flee (e.g., 2 Samuel 18:17), and in some poetic passages, it describes the retreat or subsiding of non-human entities (e.g., darkness, anger). Occasionally, figurative uses occur, such as fleeing from guilt, shame, or fear. Translation tradition renders the term as 'flee,' 'escape,' or 'put to flight,' but these can obscure its range in some passages, especially where the action is agency rather than the act of flight. The word is distinct from other terms like ברח (barach, to flee), though the meanings overlap. Unlike some later terms, נוּס is not specific to exile or migration but rather to immediate response to danger or pursuit. Its use continues from the earliest narratives through exilic texts, sometimes with subtle shifts in nuance but retaining the core meaning of urgent physical or existential escape.

Translation Consistency

primary "flee" 48 occurrences

Most frequent and natural rendering in the corpus (forms appear overwhelmingly as “fled/flee”). It covers the primary intransitive sense (to run away, escape) and is easily used with causative inflection/context (to cause to flee, put to flight), while avoiding overly formal or rare senses such as “vanish” or “expel.”

Alternatives (2 occurrences):
"hide" (1x) "put to flight" (1x)

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

a primitive root; to flit, i.e. vanish away (subside, escape; causatively, chase, impel, deliver); [idiom] abate, away, be displayed, (make to) flee (away, -ing), put to flight, [idiom] hide, lift up a standard.

Bantu Hebrew

No Bantu Hebrew comparisons have been recorded for this word yet.

Root Family

נוס (mânôwç) — to flee, escape, run away

Root נוס to flee, escape, run away, put to flight, drive away
Strong's Lemma SIBI-P1
H4498 מָנוֹס place of escape
H4499 מְנוּסָה refuge of
H5211 נִיס fleeing one

Word Forms

39 distinct forms

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2 Occurrences
H5127-27 וַ/יָּנֻ֔סוּ vayanusu HC/Vqw3mp and they fled they fled and they fled 31
H5127-25 וַ/יָּ֑נָס vayanas HC/Vqw3ms and fled and he fled and he fled 19
H5127-10 נָ֣ס nas HVqp3ms had fled he fled he fled 15
H5127-05 לָ/נ֖וּס lanus HR/Vqc to flee to flee to flee 13
H5127-16 נָ֔סוּ nasu HVqp3cp fled they fled they fled 11
H5127-37 יָנ֥וּס yanus HVqi3ms flees he will flee he will flee 9
H5127-28 וְ/נָ֖ס venas HC/Vqq3ms and flee and he fled and he fled 7
H5127-15 נָסִ֣ים nasim HVqrmpa are-fleeing fleeing ones fleeing ones 5
H5127-20 נֻ֖סוּ nusu HVqv2mp Flee Flee, you men Flee, you men 4
H5127-32 וְ/נָ֖סוּ venasu HC/Vqq3cp and the shadows flee and they fled and the shadows flee 4

Occurrences in Scripture

161 occurrences

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2
H5127-27 Genesis 14:10 וַ/יָּנֻ֛סוּ vayanusu HC/Vqw3mp fled they fled and they fled
H5127-16 Genesis 14:10 נָּֽסוּ nasu HVqp3cp fled they fled they fled
H5127-05 Genesis 19:20 לָ/נ֥וּס lanus HR/Vqc to flee to flee to flee
H5127-25 Genesis 39:12 וַ/יָּ֖נָס vayanas HC/Vqw3ms and he fled and he fled and he fled
H5127-25 Genesis 39:13 וַ/יָּ֖נָס vayanas HC/Vqw3ms and he fled and he fled and he fled
H5127-25 Genesis 39:15 וַ/יָּ֖נָס vayanas HC/Vqw3ms and fled and he fled and he fled
H5127-25 Genesis 39:18 וַ/יָּ֥נָס vayanas HC/Vqw3ms and he fled and he fled and he fled
H5127-25 Exodus 4:3 וַ/יָּ֥נָס vayanas HC/Vqw3ms and fled and he fled and he fled
H5127-04 Exodus 9:20 הֵנִ֛יס henis HVhp3ms made flee he put to flight he made flee
H5127-01 Exodus 14:25 אָנ֨וּסָה֙ anusah HVqh1cs Let us flee let me flee let us flee
H5127-15 Exodus 14:27 נָסִ֣ים nasim HVqrmpa were fleeing fleeing ones fleeing ones
H5127-37 Exodus 21:13 יָנ֖וּס yanus HVqi3ms he-may-flee he will flee he will flee
H5127-31 Leviticus 26:17 וְ/נַסְתֶּ֖ם venasetem HC/Vqq2mp and you shall flee and you will flee and you will flee
H5127-32 Leviticus 26:36 וְ/נָס֧וּ venasu HC/Vqq3cp and they shall flee and they fled and they fled
H5127-34 Numbers 10:35 וְ/יָנֻ֥סוּ veyanusu HC/Vqi3mp and let them flee and they will flee and let them flee
H5127-16 Numbers 16:34 נָ֣סוּ nasu HVqp3cp fled they fled they fled
H5127-05 Numbers 35:6 לָ/נֻ֥ס lanus HR/Vqc for fleeing to flee to flee
H5127-28 Numbers 35:11 וְ/נָ֥ס venas HC/Vqq3ms that one may flee and he fled and may flee
H5127-05 Numbers 35:15 לָ/נ֣וּס lanus HR/Vqc for fleeing to flee to flee
H5127-10 Numbers 35:25 נָ֣ס nas HVqp3ms he fled he fled he fled
H5127-37 Numbers 35:26 יָנ֖וּס yanus HVqi3ms he flees he will flee he will flee
H5127-05 Numbers 35:32 לָ/נ֖וּס lanus HR/Vqc for the fugitive to flee to flee
H5127-05 Deuteronomy 4:42 לָ/נֻ֨ס lanus HR/Vqc that he might flee to flee to flee
H5127-28 Deuteronomy 4:42 וְ/נָ֗ס venas HC/Vqq3ms that he might flee and he fled and he fled
H5127-05 Deuteronomy 19:3 לָ/נ֥וּס lanus HR/Vqc for fleeing to flee to flee
H5127-37 Deuteronomy 19:4 יָנ֥וּס yanus HVqi3ms flees he will flee flees
H5127-37 Deuteronomy 19:5 יָנ֛וּס yanus HVqi3ms shall flee he will flee he will flee
H5127-28 Deuteronomy 19:11 וְ/נָ֕ס venas HC/Vqq3ms and flees and he fled and he fled
H5127-38 Deuteronomy 28:7 יָנ֥וּסוּ yanusu HVqi3mp they will flee they will flee they will flee
H5127-21 Deuteronomy 28:25 תָּנ֣וּס tanus HVqi2ms you will flee you will flee you will flee
H5127-36 Deuteronomy 32:30 יָנִ֣יסוּ yanisu HVhi3mp put-to-flight they will cause to flee would cause to flee
H5127-10 Deuteronomy 34:7 נָ֥ס nas HVqp3ms had-fled he fled fled
H5127-27 Joshua 7:4 וַ/יָּנֻ֕סוּ vayanusu HC/Vqw3mp and they fled they fled and they fled
H5127-29 Joshua 8:5 וְ/נַ֖סְנוּ venasenu HC/Vqq1cp we will flee and we fled and we will flee
H5127-15 Joshua 8:6 נָסִ֣ים nasim HVqrmpa fleeing fleeing ones fleeing ones
H5127-29 Joshua 8:6 וְ/נַ֖סְנוּ venasenu HC/Vqq1cp and-we-will-flee and we fled and we fled
H5127-27 Joshua 8:15 וַ/יָּנֻ֖סוּ vayanusu HC/Vqw3mp and fled they fled and they fled
H5127-05 Joshua 8:20 לָ/נ֖וּס lanus HR/Vqc to flee to flee to flee
H5127-03 Joshua 8:20 הַ/נָּ֣ס hanas HTd/Vqrmsa who were fleeing the fleeing one the fleeing one
H5127-02 Joshua 10:11 בְּ/נֻסָ֣/ם benusam HR/Vqc/Sp3mp as they fled in their fleeing in their fleeing
H5127-27 Joshua 10:16 וַ/יָּנֻ֕סוּ vayanusu HC/Vqw3mp and they fled they fled and they fled
H5127-05 Joshua 20:3 לָ/נ֥וּס lanus HR/Vqc to flee to flee to flee
H5127-28 Joshua 20:4 וְ/נָ֞ס venas HC/Vqq3ms and he flees and he fled and he fled
H5127-10 Joshua 20:6 נָ֥ס nas HVqp3ms he fled he fled he fled
H5127-05 Joshua 20:9 לָ/נ֣וּס lanus HR/Vqc to flee to flee to flee
H5127-25 Judges 1:6 וַ/יָּ֨נָס֙ vayanas HC/Vqw3ms and he fled and he fled and he fled
H5127-25 Judges 4:15 וַ/יָּ֥נָס vayanas HC/Vqw3ms and-he-fled and he fled and he fled
H5127-10 Judges 4:17 נָ֣ס nas HVqp3ms fled he fled he fled
H5127-06 Judges 6:11 לְ/הָנִ֖יס lehanis HR/Vhc to hide to cause to flee to hide
H5127-35 Judges 7:21 ו/יניסו vynysv HC/Vhw3mp and fled and they put to flight and they put to flight
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