To be sorry
נָחַםStrong’s H5162nacham (na-cham)
Appears in 100 verses of the Old Testament
In short
Nacham is the Hebrew word usually translated “comforter”, “comfort him” and “relented”. It appears in 100 verses of the Old Testament.
“Cry yet, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad; and the LORD shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem.”
Meaning
- To be sorry, console oneself, repent, regret, comfort, be comforted(Niphal) · (Piel) to comfort, console · (Pual) to be comforted, be consoled · (Hithpael)
How it's translated
- a comforter 7
- to comfort him 6
- and he relented 5
- to be comforted 3
- comforters 3
- i regret 2
- and he was comforted 2
- and he comforted 2
Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.
Where it's used most
- Jeremiah 14
- Isaiah 13
- Psalms 12
- Genesis 8
- Job 7
- Ezekiel 7
21 books in all.
Explore in Scripture
- Zechariah 8:14In contextFor thus saith the LORD of hosts; As I thought to punish you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath, saith the LORD of hosts, and I repented not:
- Zechariah 10:2In contextFor the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams; they comfort in vain: therefore they went their way as a flock, they were troubled, because there was no shepherd.
- Genesis 5:29And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed.
- Genesis 6:6And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
- Genesis 6:7And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
- Genesis 24:67And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.
All 100 verses, by book
Hebrew dictionary
נָחַם nacham · to be sorry
: comfort 1) to be sorry, console oneself, repent, regret, comfort, be comforted 1a) (Niphal) 1a1) to be sorry, be moved to pity, have compassion 1a2) to be sorry, rue, suffer grief, repent 1a3) to comfort oneself, be comforted 1a4) to comfort oneself, ease oneself 1b) (Piel) to comfort, console 1c) (Pual) to be comforted, be consoled 1d) (Hithpael) 1d1) to be sorry, have compassion 1d2) to rue, repent of 1d3) to comfort oneself, be comforted 1d4) to ease oneself Also means: na.cham (נָחַם ": relent" H5162H)
From STEPBible’s Hebrew lexicon (based on Brown-Driver-Briggs).
Webster's 1828 Dictionary
How the English word “comforter” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.
COMFORTER, noun
- One who administers comfort or consolation; one who strengthens and supports the mind in distress or danger.“I looked for comforters, but found none” Psalms 69:20“Miserable comforters are ye all” Job 16:2
- The title of the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name--he shall teach you all things. John 14:16
Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). Verse references are checked against the KJV. Read the full entry.
Verses are from the King James Version. Word meanings come from the original Hebrew, not from any one translation.