נְקֵא
𐤍𐤒𐤀
nᵉqêʼ
H5343 adjective
SILEX Entry
Definition
Aramaic adjective or participle meaning clean, pure, or free from impurity. Refers to something physically clean, ritually undefiled, or morally innocent, depending on context. Applies both to ceremonial states (such as ritual purity laws) and to moral or ethical innocence.
Semantic Range
clean, pure, undefiled, innocent, guiltless, ritually pure, physically clean, morally blameless
Root / Etymology
From the root נקא (corresponding to Hebrew נקי, nqh/nqy), meaning to be clean, pure, or free from guilt or impurity. The Aramaic form is parallel to the Hebrew ניקי or נקי, with a similar semantic field but reflected in the dialectal vocabulary of Biblical Aramaic.
Historical & Contextual Notes
נְקֵא appears in the Aramaic sections of the Hebrew Bible (notably in Daniel and Ezra), functioning as the direct Aramaic equivalent to Hebrew נקי. Usage covers both ritual-cleanness/defilement (such as qualification for temple service or sacrificial eating) and judicial contexts (innocence of wrongdoing). The term is almost always contextually bound—referring to ritual, social, or ethical categories of cleanness. English Bibles sometimes translate as 'innocent' or 'free from guilt,' which can obscure the physical or cultic nuances in certain passages. In post-biblical Aramaic, the word maintains both ritual/legal and everyday meanings of purity and freedom from contamination or guilt. Related Hebrew forms (נקי, נקה) show similar breadth, but Aramaic נְקֵא is often specifically opposed to טמא (unclean, defiled) in cultic texts. Later traditions (including rabbinic Aramaic) expanded the sense to metaphorical or abstract purity.
Original Strong's Gloss (1890)
(Aramaic) from a root corresponding to נָקָה; clean; pure.
Bantu Hebrew
No Bantu Hebrew comparisons have been submitted for this word yet.
+ Add Bantu Hebrew WordRoot Family
נקה (n-q-h) — to be clean, to be pure, to be free from impurity or guilt
| Strong's | Lemma | SIBI-P1 |
|---|---|---|
| H4518 | מְנַקִּית | the purifying basins |
| H5352 | נָקָה | I will declare you clean |
| H5355 | נָקִי | the guiltless one |
| H5356 | נִקָּיוֹן | in cleanness |
Word Forms
1 distinct form
| SIDANCE | Surface | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | Occurrences |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H5343-01 |
נְקֵ֔א | neqe | AAamsa |
pure | clean, pure | 1 |
Occurrences in Scripture
1 total occurrence
| SIDANCE | Reference | Word | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H5343-01 |
Daniel 7:9 | נְקֵ֔א | neqe | AAamsa |
pure | clean, pure |