נָסַךְ
na.sakh
to pour
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
Supported# Hebrew נָסַךְ (nasakh): The Act of Pouring The Hebrew verb נָסַךְ carries the fundamental meaning "to pour," describing the physical action of transferring liquid from one container to another. With 23 occurrences in the biblical text, this word represents a straightforward, concrete action essential to ancient religious and domestic life. The verb's primary semantic range centers on the literal pouring of liquids, whether water, oil, or wine, making it a practical term rooted in observable, everyday activities. The significance of this verb extends beyond mere physical description into the religious sphere. Given its appearances in a scriptural context, the word likely connects to cultic practices—particularly ritual libations and drink offerings that formed part of ancient Israelite worship. Pouring liquids as part of religious observance was a widespread practice in the ancient Mediterranean world, and this verb would have designated those formal ceremonial actions. The moderate frequency of the word (23 occurrences) suggests it held enough importance to warrant consistent vocabulary, yet remained specialized enough to apply primarily to specific contexts rather than general household use. The term exemplifies how biblical Hebrew preserved distinct vocabulary for both mundane and sacred applications of the same physical action. נָסַךְ maintains its basic lexical meaning while functioning as a technical term when describing ritual activities, allowing ancient writers to communicate both the concrete action and its
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
23 total occurrences across the text
Their sorrows shall be multiplied who give gifts to another god. Their drink offerings of blood I will not offer, nor take their names on my lips.
Isaiah 29:10For Yahweh has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes, the prophets; and he has covered your heads, the seers.
Isaiah 30:1“Woe to the rebellious children”, says Yahweh, “who take counsel, but not from me; and who make an alliance, but not with my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin,
Isaiah 40:19A workman has cast an image, and the goldsmith overlays it with gold, and casts silver chains for it.
Isaiah 44:10Who has fashioned a god, or molds an image that is profitable for nothing?
Jeremiah 7:18The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead the dough, to make cakes to the queen of the sky, and to pour out drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.
Jeremiah 19:13The houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, which are defiled, will be as the place of Topheth, even all the houses on whose roofs they have burned incense to all the army of the sky and have poured out drink offerings to other gods.” ’ ”
Jeremiah 32:29The Chaldeans, who fight against this city, will come and set this city on fire, and burn it with the houses on whose roofs they have offered incense to Baal, and poured out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke me to anger.
Jeremiah 44:17But we will certainly perform every word that has gone out of our mouth, to burn incense to the queen of the sky, and to pour out drink offerings to her, as we have done, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then had we plenty of food, and were well, and saw no evil.
Jeremiah 44:18But since we stopped burning incense to the queen of the sky, and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine.
Jeremiah 44:19“When we burned incense to the queen of the sky, and poured out drink offerings to her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings to her, without our husbands?”
Jeremiah 44:19“When we burned incense to the queen of the sky, and poured out drink offerings to her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings to her, without our husbands?”
Jeremiah 44:25Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says, ‘You and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and with your hands have fulfilled it, saying, “We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of the sky, and to pour out drink offerings to her.” “ ‘Establish then your vows, and perform your vows.’
Ezekiel 20:28For when I had brought them into the land which I swore to give to them, then they saw every high hill, and every thick tree, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offering. There they also made their pleasant aroma, and there they poured out their drink offerings.
Hosea 9:4They won’t pour out wine offerings to Yahweh, neither will they be pleasing to him. Their sacrifices will be to them like the bread of mourners; all who eat of it will be polluted; for their bread will be for their appetite. It will not come into Yahweh’s house.
Genesis 35:14Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he spoke with him, a pillar of stone. He poured out a drink offering on it, and poured oil on it.
Exodus 25:29You shall make its dishes, its spoons, its ladles, and its bowls to pour out offerings with. You shall make them of pure gold.
Exodus 30:9You shall offer no strange incense on it, nor burnt offering, nor meal offering; and you shall pour no drink offering on it.
Exodus 37:16He made the vessels which were on the table, its dishes, its spoons, its bowls, and its pitchers with which to pour out, of pure gold.
Numbers 28:7Its drink offering shall be the fourth part of a hin for each lamb. You shall pour out a drink offering of strong drink to Yahweh in the holy place.
2 Samuel 23:16The three mighty men broke through the army of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate, and took it and brought it to David; but he would not drink of it, but poured it out to Yahweh.
2 Kings 16:13He burned his burnt offering and his meal offering, poured his drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings on the altar.
1 Chronicles 11:18The three broke through the army of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David; but David would not drink any of it, but poured it out to Yahweh,