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נוּס

𐤍𐤅𐤎

nûwç

H5127 verb

SILEX Entry

Root נוס to flee, escape, run away, put to flight, drive away

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.

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

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Root Family

נוס (n-w-s) — 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
H5254 נָסָה he fled
H5375 נָשָׂא they fled

Word Forms

39 distinct forms

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

Occurrences in Scripture

161 total occurrences

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1
H5127-27 Genesis 14:10 וַ/יָּנֻ֛סוּ vayanusu HC/Vqw3mp fled they fled
H5127-16 Genesis 14:10 נָּֽסוּ nasu HVqp3cp fled they fled
H5127-05 Genesis 19:20 לָ/נ֥וּס lanus HR/Vqc to flee to flee
H5127-25 Genesis 39:12 וַ/יָּ֖נָס vayanas HC/Vqw3ms and he fled and he fled
H5127-25 Genesis 39:13 וַ/יָּ֖נָס vayanas HC/Vqw3ms and he fled and he fled
H5127-25 Genesis 39:15 וַ/יָּ֖נָס vayanas HC/Vqw3ms and fled and he fled
H5127-25 Genesis 39:18 וַ/יָּ֥נָס vayanas HC/Vqw3ms and he fled and he fled
H5127-25 Exodus 4:3 וַ/יָּ֥נָס vayanas HC/Vqw3ms and fled and he fled
H5127-04 Exodus 9:20 הֵנִ֛יס henis HVhp3ms made flee he put to flight
H5127-01 Exodus 14:25 אָנ֨וּסָה֙ anusah HVqh1cs Let us flee let me flee
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