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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" 50 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.”

✓ All renderings match approved senses

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 Judges 7:21 וַ/יָּנֽוּסוּ vayanusu HC/Vqw3mp and they fled they fled and they fled
H5127-25 Judges 7:22 וַ/יָּ֨נָס vayanas HC/Vqw3ms and-fled and he fled and he fled
H5127-27 Judges 8:12 וַ/יָּנ֗וּסוּ vayanusu HC/Vqw3mp and they fled they fled and they fled
H5127-25 Judges 9:21 וַ/יָּ֣נָס vayanas HC/Vqw3ms and ran away and he fled and he fled
H5127-25 Judges 9:40 וַ/יָּ֖נָס vayanas HC/Vqw3ms and he fled and he fled and he fled
H5127-27 Judges 9:51 וַ/יָּנֻ֨סוּ vayanusu HC/Vqw3mp and-they-fled they fled and they fled
H5127-09 Judges 20:32 נָנ֨וּסָה֙ nanusah HVqh1cp let us flee let us flee let us flee
H5127-27 Judges 20:45 וַ/יָּנֻ֤סוּ vayanusu HC/Vqw3mp and fled they fled and they fled
H5127-27 Judges 20:47 וַ/יָּנֻ֤סוּ vayanusu HC/Vqw3mp and fled they fled and they fled
H5127-27 1 Samuel 4:10 וַ/יָּנֻ֨סוּ֙ vayanusu HC/Vqw3mp and they fled they fled and they fled
H5127-14 1 Samuel 4:16 נַ֣סְתִּי naseti HVqp1cs have fled I fled I fled
H5127-10 1 Samuel 4:17 נָ֤ס nas HVqp3ms has fled he fled he fled
H5127-16 1 Samuel 14:22 נָ֖סוּ nasu HVqp3cp had fled they fled they fled
H5127-27 1 Samuel 17:24 וַ/יָּנֻ֨סוּ֙ vayanusu HC/Vqw3mp fled they fled and they fled
H5127-27 1 Samuel 17:51 וַ/יָּנֻֽסוּ vayanusu HC/Vqw3mp and fled they fled and they fled
H5127-27 1 Samuel 19:8 וַ/יָּנֻ֖סוּ vayanusu HC/Vqw3mp and they fled they fled and they fled
H5127-10 1 Samuel 19:10 נָ֥ס nas HVqp3ms fled he fled he fled
H5127-27 1 Samuel 30:17 וַ/יָּנֻֽסוּ vayanusu HC/Vqw3mp and fled they fled and they fled
H5127-27 1 Samuel 31:1 וַ/יָּנֻ֜סוּ vayanusu HC/Vqw3mp and-they-fled they fled and they fled
H5127-16 1 Samuel 31:7 נָ֨סוּ֙ nasu HVqp3cp had fled they fled they fled
H5127-27 1 Samuel 31:7 וַ/יָּנֻ֔סוּ vayanusu HC/Vqw3mp and fled they fled and they fled
H5127-10 2 Samuel 1:4 נָ֨ס nas HVqp3ms have fled he fled the people fled
H5127-24 2 Samuel 4:4 וַ/תָּנֹ֔ס vatanos HC/Vqw3fs and fled and she fled and she fled
H5127-05 2 Samuel 4:4 לָ/נ֛וּס lanus HR/Vqc to flee to flee to flee
H5127-27 2 Samuel 10:13 וַ/יָּנֻ֖סוּ vayanusu HC/Vqw3mp and they fled they fled and they fled
H5127-10 2 Samuel 10:14 נָ֣ס nas HVqp3ms had fled he fled he fled
H5127-27 2 Samuel 10:14 וַ/יָּנֻ֨סוּ֙ vayanusu HC/Vqw3mp and they fled they fled and they fled
H5127-25 2 Samuel 10:18 וַ/יָּ֣נָס vayanas HC/Vqw3ms and fled and he fled and he fled
H5127-27 2 Samuel 13:29 וַ/יָּנֻֽסוּ vayanusu HC/Vqw3mp and fled they fled and they fled
H5127-28 2 Samuel 17:2 וְ/נָ֖ס venas HC/Vqq3ms and will flee and he fled and he fled
H5127-17 2 Samuel 18:3 נֹ֨ס nos HVqa we flee to flee we flee
H5127-08 2 Samuel 18:3 נָנ֜וּס nanus HVqi1cp we flee we flee we will flee
H5127-16 2 Samuel 18:17 נָ֖סוּ nasu HVqp3cp fled they fled they fled
H5127-02 2 Samuel 19:4 בְּ/נוּסָ֖/ם benusam HR/Vqc/Sp3mp in their fleeing in their fleeing in their fleeing
H5127-10 2 Samuel 19:9 נָ֖ס nas HVqp3ms had fled he fled he fled
H5127-10 2 Samuel 23:11 נָ֖ס nas HVqp3ms fled he fled fled
H5127-19 2 Samuel 24:13 נֻסְ/ךָ֨ nusekha HVqc/Sp2ms you flee your fleeing your fleeing
H5127-25 1 Kings 2:28 וַ/יָּ֤נָס vayanas HC/Vqw3ms and-fled and he fled and he fled
H5127-10 1 Kings 2:29 נָ֤ס nas HVqp3ms had fled he fled he fled
H5127-05 1 Kings 12:18 לָ/נ֖וּס lanus HR/Vqc to flee to flee to flee
H5127-27 1 Kings 20:20 וַ/יָּנֻ֣סוּ vayanusu HC/Vqw3mp and fled they fled and they fled
H5127-27 1 Kings 20:30 וַ/יָּנֻ֨סוּ vayanusu HC/Vqw3mp and they fled they fled and they fled
H5127-10 1 Kings 20:30 נָ֔ס nas HVqp3ms fled he fled he fled
H5127-27 2 Kings 3:24 וַ/יָּנֻ֖סוּ vayanusu HC/Vqw3mp and they fled they fled and they fled
H5127-27 2 Kings 7:7 וַ/יָּנ֣וּסוּ vayanusu HC/Vqw3mp and fled they fled and they fled
H5127-27 2 Kings 7:7 וַ/יָּנֻ֖סוּ vayanusu-2 HC/Vqw3mp and fled they fled and they fled
H5127-25 2 Kings 8:21 וַ/יָּ֥נָס vayanas HC/Vqw3ms and fled and he fled and he fled
H5127-30 2 Kings 9:3 וְ/נַ֖סְתָּה venasetah HC/Vqq2ms and flee and you fled and you shall flee
H5127-26 2 Kings 9:10 וַ/יָּנֹֽס vayanos HC/Vqw3ms and fled and he fled and he fled
H5127-26 2 Kings 9:23 וַ/יָּנֹ֑ס vayanos HC/Vqw3ms and fled and he fled and he fled
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