---
title: נָכַל — be crafty · The Tanakh dictionary
description: נָכַל (5230), a word of Biblical Hebrew, used 4 times: be crafty. BDB 1906: vb. be crafty, deceitful, knavish. With 2 verses in Hebrew, word for word and JPS 1917.
---

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# נָכַל

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«נָכַל» in the Tanakh dictionary: **be crafty** — how often it is used, MACULA's glosses, its meanings in the printed dictionaries and why they were chosen, and 2 verses in layers.

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**Used:** 4 times · **Key:** 5230 · **BDB:** נָכַל

### Glosses

\[one.who\].deals.deceptively (1); deal.cunningly (1); they.dealt.cunningly.with (1)

### Meaning (OSHB)

be crafty [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1504/5230/#m1)

### Meaning (BDB 1906)

vb. be crafty, deceitful, knavish [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1504/5230/#m2)

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**The whole BDB entry:** vb. be crafty, deceitful, knavish (Assyrian nakâlu, be crafty, cunning; 𝔗 נְכֵל be crafty, Pa. deceive; Syriac ܢܟܶܠ deceive, plot; cf. perhaps Amh. ወነጀለ act faithlessly, ወነጌለ faithless, PräAmhar. Spr. 90);— Pt. נוֹכֵל Mal 1:14 knave. Pf. 3 mpl. c. acc. cogn. נִכְּלוּ לָכֶם נִכְלֵיהֶם אֲשֶׁר Nu 25:18 their wiles with which they beguiled you. Impf. וַיִּתְנַכְּלוּ אֹתוֹ לַהֲמִיתוֹ Gn 37:18 they knavishly planned against him (Köiii. 9), etc.; Inf. cstr. לְהִתְנַכֵּל בְּ ψ 105:25 to deal knavishly with.

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Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech agrees, 4 of its verses cited, 0 words shared with the glosses, lists its Strong's number (2 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 1 words shared with the BDB entry, 0 with the glosses (2 candidates)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every English meaning of «נָכַל» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1504/5230/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.

### In the verses

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[Psalms 105:25](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PSA.105.25/)

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הָפַ֣ךְ לִ֭בָּם לִשְׂנֹ֣א עַמּ֑וֹ לְ֝הִתְנַכֵּ֗ל בַּעֲבָדָֽיו׃

*Word for word:* he.turned heart their to hate people his to deal.cunningly with servants his

*JPS 1917:* He turned their heart to hate His people, to deal craftily with His servants.

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[Genesis 37:18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/GEN.37.18/)

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וַיִּרְא֥וּ אֹת֖וֹ מֵרָחֹ֑ק וּבְטֶ֙רֶם֙ יִקְרַ֣ב אֲלֵיהֶ֔ם וַיִּֽתְנַכְּל֥וּ אֹת֖וֹ לַהֲמִיתֽוֹ׃

*Word for word:* and they.saw him from a.distance and before he.drew.near to them and they.dealt.cunningly.with him to kill him

*JPS 1917:* And they saw him afar off, and before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him.

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