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Hebrew

To watch

נָצַרStrong’s H5341

natsar (na-tsar)

Appears in 62 verses of the Old Testament

In short

Natsar is the Hebrew word usually translated “watchmen”, “preserve me” and “keep”. It appears in 62 verses of the Old Testament.

“Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.”
Exodus 34:7 KJV
Meaning
  1. To guard, watch, watch over, keep(Qal)
How it's translated
  • watchmen 3
  • you will preserve me 3
  • keep 3
  • they will observe 2
  • i observe 2
  • i have observed 2
  • guard 2
  • guards 2

Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.

Where it's used most
  • Psalms 24
  • Proverbs 19
  • Isaiah 8
  • Deuteronomy 2
  • 2 Kings 2
  • Job 2

10 books in all.

Related words
Explore in Scripture
All 62 verses, by book
Exodus 1
34:7
Deuteronomy 2
32:1033:9
2 Kings 2
17:918:8
Jeremiah 2
4:1631:6
Ezekiel 1
6:12
Nahum 1
2:1
Hebrew dictionary

נָצַר natsar · to watch

1) to guard, watch, watch over, keep 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to watch, guard, keep 1a2) to preserve, guard from dangers 1a3) to keep, observe, guard with fidelity 1a4) to guard, keep secret 1a5) to be kept close, be blockaded 1a6) watchman (participle)

From STEPBible’s Hebrew lexicon (based on Brown-Driver-Briggs).

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

How the English word “watch” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.

WATCH, noun

[It is from the same root as wake, which see.]

  1. Forbearance of sleep.
  2. Attendance without sleep.
  3. Attention; close observation.
  4. Guard; vigilance for keeping or protecting against danger.
All definitions and other forms of “watch”
  1. A watchman, or watchmen; men set for a guard, either one person or more, set to espy the approach of an enemy or other danger, and to give an alarm or notice of such danger; a sentinel; a guard.“Ye have a watch; go your way, make it as sure as ye can” Matthew 27:65
  2. The place where a guard is kept.
  3. Post or office of a watchman.
  4. A period of the night, in which one person or one set of persons stand as sentinels; or the time from one relief of sentinels to another. Exodus 14:24Matthew 14:25Luke 12:38
  5. A small time piece or chronometer, to be carried in the pocket or about the person, in which the machinery is moved by a spring.
  6. At sea, the space of time during which one set or division of the crew remain on deck to perform the necessary duties.

WATCH, verb intransitive

  1. To be awake; to be or continue without sleep.
  2. To be attentive; to look with attention or steadiness. watch and see when the man passes.
  3. To look with expectation.“My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning” Psalms 130:6
  4. To keep guard; to act as sentinel; to look for danger.
  5. To be attentive; to be vigilant in preparation for an event or trial, the time of whose arrival is uncertain.
  6. To be insidiously attentive; as, to watch for an opportunity to injure another.
  7. To attend on the sick during the night; as, to watch with a man in a fever.

WATCH, verb transitive

  1. To guard; to have in keeping.
  2. To observe in ambush; to lie in wait for.“Saul also sent messengers to Davids house to watch him, and to slay him” 1 Samuel 19:11
  3. To tend; to guard.
  4. To observe in order to detect or prevent, or for some particular purpose; as, to watch a suspected person; to watch the progress of a bill in the legislature.

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.