נְכֹת
ne.khot
treasure
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
Supported# Analysis of נְכֹת (nekot): A Rare Hebrew Term for Treasure The Hebrew word נְכֹת (nekot) appears only twice in the biblical text, making it one of the rarer vocabulary items in Scripture. According to the lexical data, it denotes "treasure"—specifically, accumulated valuables or precious goods. The extreme scarcity of this term in the biblical corpus means that its precise nuances and range of meaning remain limited to just two documented instances. The rarity of nekot distinguishes it from more common Hebrew words for treasure, such as אוֹצָר (otsar), which appears far more frequently in biblical literature. This suggests that nekot may have been either a specialized or archaic term, or one limited to particular registers of Hebrew usage. Without access to the specific contexts in which it appears, we cannot determine whether it referred to royal treasuries, hidden wealth, or treasure in a more metaphorical sense. The limited data prevents us from drawing conclusions about its connotations or its relationship to similar terms in biblical Hebrew. For readers encountering this word in biblical study, the takeaway is straightforward: nekot represents one of ancient Hebrew's less-used vocabulary choices for wealth and valuables. Its rarity in the biblical record makes it a minor but real element of Old Testament vocabulary.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
2 total occurrences across the text
Hezekiah was pleased with them, and showed them the house of his precious things, the silver, the gold, the spices, and the precious oil, and all the house of his armor, and all that was found in his treasures. There was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah didn’t show them.
2 Kings 20:13Hezekiah listened to them, and showed them all the storehouse of his precious things, the silver, the gold, the spices, and the precious oil, and the house of his armor, and all that was found in his treasures. There was nothing in his house, or in all his dominion, that Hezekiah didn’t show them.