נָשִׂיא
na.si
leader
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
Supported# The Hebrew Word for Leader: נָשִׂיא (nasi) The Hebrew term *nasi* appears 130 times throughout the biblical text and carries the fundamental meaning of "leader." This frequency indicates the word held considerable importance in describing authority structures within ancient Israelite society. The term's consistent application across the text suggests it functioned as a standard designation for individuals holding positions of power and responsibility. While the lexicon data provided does not detail the specific contexts or variations in how *nasi* was applied, its prevalence in the biblical corpus indicates it served as a versatile term for leadership across different institutional settings—whether tribal, civil, or religious contexts. The broad definition of "leader" suggests the word could encompass various ranks and types of authority rather than designating a single, rigid political office. This flexibility would have allowed biblical writers to apply the term across different historical periods and social structures described in the text. The 130 occurrences of *nasi* across the Bible reflect the central concern of the biblical narrative with questions of leadership, authority, and governance. Understanding this term as a primary Hebrew word for "leader" provides foundational insight into how ancient Israelite texts conceptualized and discussed those who held power and direction over communities.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
130 total occurrences across the text — showing 50
even those, Cyrus king of Persia brought out by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and counted them out to Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah.
Ezekiel 45:22On that day the prince shall prepare for himself and for all the people of the land a bull for a sin offering.
Ezekiel 46:2The prince shall enter by the way of the porch of the gate outside, and shall stand by the post of the gate; and the priests shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate. Then he shall go out; but the gate shall not be shut until the evening.
Ezekiel 46:4The burnt offering that the prince shall offer to Yahweh shall be on the Sabbath day six lambs without defect and a ram without defect;
Ezekiel 46:8When the prince enters, he shall go in by the way of the porch of the gate, and he shall go out by its way.
Ezekiel 7:27The king will mourn, and the prince will be clothed with desolation. The hands of the people of the land will be troubled. I will do to them after their way, and according to their own judgments I will judge them. Then they will know that I am Yahweh.’ ”
Ezekiel 12:10“Say to them, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “This burden concerns the prince in Jerusalem, and all the house of Israel among whom they are.” ’
Ezekiel 19:1“Moreover, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,
Ezekiel 21:12Cry and wail, son of man; for it is on my people. It is on all the princes of Israel. They are delivered over to the sword with my people. Therefore beat your thigh.
Ezekiel 46:10The prince shall go in with them when they go in. When they go out, he shall go out.
Ezekiel 21:25“ ‘You, deadly wounded wicked one, the prince of Israel, whose day has come, in the time of the iniquity of the end,
Ezekiel 22:6“ ‘ “Behold, the princes of Israel, everyone according to his power, have been in you to shed blood.
Ezekiel 46:12When the prince prepares a free will offering, a burnt offering or peace offerings as a free will offering to Yahweh, one shall open for him the gate that looks toward the east; and he shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, as he does on the Sabbath day. Then he shall go out; and after his going out one shall shut the gate.
Ezekiel 26:16Then all the princes of the sea will come down from their thrones, and lay aside their robes, and strip off their embroidered garments. They will clothe themselves with trembling. They will sit on the ground, and will tremble every moment, and be astonished at you.
Ezekiel 27:21“ ‘ “Arabia, and all the princes of Kedar were the merchants of your hand; in lambs, rams, and goats. In these, they were your merchants.
Ezekiel 30:13“ ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “I will also destroy the idols, and I will cause the images to cease from Memphis. There will be no more a prince from the land of Egypt. I will put a fear in the land of Egypt.
Ezekiel 32:29“There is Edom, her kings, and all her princes, who in their might are laid with those who are slain by the sword. They will lie with the uncircumcised, and with those who go down to the pit.
Ezekiel 34:24I, Yahweh, will be their God, and my servant David prince among them. I, Yahweh, have spoken it.
Ezekiel 37:25They will dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob my servant, in which your fathers lived. They will dwell therein, they, and their children, and their children’s children, forever. David my servant will be their prince forever.
Ezekiel 38:2“Son of man, set your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him,
Ezekiel 38:3and say, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Behold, I am against you, Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal.
Ezekiel 39:1“You, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Behold, I am against you, Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal.
Ezekiel 39:18You shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bulls, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
Ezekiel 46:16“ ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “If the prince gives a gift to any of his sons, it is his inheritance. It shall belong to his sons. It is their possession by inheritance.
Ezekiel 44:3As for the prince, he shall sit in it as prince to eat bread before Yahweh. He shall enter by the way of the porch of the gate, and shall go out the same way.”
Ezekiel 44:3As for the prince, he shall sit in it as prince to eat bread before Yahweh. He shall enter by the way of the porch of the gate, and shall go out the same way.”
Ezekiel 45:7“ ‘ “What is for the prince shall be on the one side and on the other side of the holy offering and of the possession of the city, in front of the holy offering and in front of the possession of the city, on the west side westward, and on the east side eastward; and in length answerable to one of the portions, from the west border to the east border.
Ezekiel 45:8In the land it shall be to him for a possession in Israel. My princes shall no more oppress my people; but they shall give the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes.”
Ezekiel 45:9“ ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Let it suffice you, princes of Israel: remove violence and plunder, and execute justice and righteousness; dispossessing my people,” says the Lord Yahweh.
Ezekiel 45:16“All the people of the land shall give to this offering for the prince in Israel.
Ezekiel 45:17It shall be the prince’s part to give the burnt offerings, the meal offerings, and the drink offerings, in the feasts, and on the new moons, and on the Sabbaths, in all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel. He shall prepare the sin offering, the meal offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offerings, to make atonement for the house of Israel.”
Ezekiel 46:17But if he gives of his inheritance a gift to one of his servants, it shall be his to the year of liberty; then it shall return to the prince; but as for his inheritance, it shall be for his sons.
Ezekiel 46:18Moreover the prince shall not take of the people’s inheritance, to thrust them out of their possession. He shall give inheritance to his sons out of his own possession, that my people not each be scattered from his possession.” ’ ”
Ezekiel 48:21“The remainder shall be for the prince, on the one side and on the other of the holy offering and of the possession of the city; in front of the twenty-five thousand of the offering toward the east border, and westward in front of the twenty-five thousand toward the west border, alongside the portions, it shall be for the prince. The holy offering and the sanctuary of the house shall be in the middle of it.
Ezekiel 48:21“The remainder shall be for the prince, on the one side and on the other of the holy offering and of the possession of the city; in front of the twenty-five thousand of the offering toward the east border, and westward in front of the twenty-five thousand toward the west border, alongside the portions, it shall be for the prince. The holy offering and the sanctuary of the house shall be in the middle of it.
Ezekiel 48:22Moreover from the possession of the Levites, and from the possession of the city, being in the middle of that which is the prince’s, between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin, shall be for the prince.
Ezekiel 48:22Moreover from the possession of the Levites, and from the possession of the city, being in the middle of that which is the prince’s, between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin, shall be for the prince.
Ezekiel 12:12“ ‘The prince who is among them will bear on his shoulder in the dark, and will go out. They will dig through the wall to carry things out that way. He will cover his face, because he will not see the land with his eyes.
Genesis 17:20As for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He will become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.
Genesis 23:6“Hear us, my lord. You are a prince of God among us. Bury your dead in the best of our tombs. None of us will withhold from you his tomb. Bury your dead.”
Genesis 25:16These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, by their villages, and by their encampments: twelve princes, according to their nations.
Genesis 34:2Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her. He took her, lay with her, and humbled her.
Exodus 16:22On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one; and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses.
Exodus 22:28“You shall not blaspheme God, nor curse a ruler of your people.
Exodus 34:31Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned to him; and Moses spoke to them.
Exodus 35:27The rulers brought the onyx stones and the stones to be set for the ephod and for the breastplate;
Leviticus 4:22“ ‘When a ruler sins, and unwittingly does any one of all the things which Yahweh his God has commanded not to be done, and is guilty,
Numbers 1:16These are those who were called of the congregation, the princes of the tribes of their fathers; they were the heads of the thousands of Israel.
Numbers 1:44These are those who were counted, whom Moses and Aaron counted, and the twelve men who were princes of Israel, each one for his fathers’ house.
Numbers 2:3Those who encamp on the east side toward the sunrise shall be of the standard of the camp of Judah, according to their divisions. The prince of the children of Judah shall be Nahshon the son of Amminadab.