---
title: נׇכְרִי — foreign · The Tanakh dictionary
description: נׇכְרִי (5237), a word of Biblical Hebrew, used 45 times: foreign. BDB 1906: adj. With 2 verses in Hebrew, word for word and JPS 1917.
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/w/5237.html)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [dictionaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/) / [Tanakh](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/) / [נ](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/1504-3.md)‎ / נׇכְרִי‎

<!-- .hw dir=rtl lang=hbo -->
# נׇכְרִי

<!-- .meta -->
«נׇכְרִי» in the Tanakh dictionary: **foreign** — how often it is used, MACULA's glosses, its meanings in the printed dictionaries and why they were chosen, and 2 verses in layers.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Used:** 45 times · **Key:** 5237 · **BDB:** נָכְרִי

### Glosses

foreign (18); foreigner (7); a.foreign.\[woman\] (6)

### Meaning (OSHB)

foreign [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1504/5237/#m1)

### Meaning (BDB 1906)

adj. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1504/5237/#m2)

<!-- fold -->
**The whole BDB entry:** adj. foreign, alien (NH נָכְרִי = Gentile);—נ׳ abs. m. Zp 1:8 +; f. נָכְרִיָּה Ex 2:22 +; mpl. נָכְרִים Is 2:6 + 2 times + Pr 20:16 Kt (\> Qr נָכְרִיָּה), + 27:13 (so read for MT נָכְרִיָּה); fpl. נָכְרִיּוֹת Gn 31:15 +;— foreign: עַם נָכְרִי Ex 21:8 (E) a foreign (non-Isr.) people, אִישׁ נ׳ Dt 17:15 (‖ לֹא אָחִיךָ); מַלְבּוּשׁ נ׳ Zp 1:8; אֶרֶץ נָכְרִיָּה Ex 2:22 (J) foreign land, so 18:3 (E); especially נָשִׁים נָכְרִיּוֹת foreign (non-Isr.) women 1 K 11:1, 8; Ezr 10:2, 10, 11, 14, 17, 18, 44; Ne 13:26, 27. as subst. נָכְרִי foreigner (non-Isr.) Ju 19:12 (+ אֲשֶׁר לֹא מִבְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל), 1 K 8:41 (+ אֲשֶׁר לֹא מֵעַמְּךָ), = 2 Ch 6:32 (+ id.), 1 K 8:43 = 2 Ch 6:33, Dt 14:21 (‖ גֵּר), 15:3; 23:21 (opp. אָחִיךָ), 29:21 (+ אֲשֶׁר יָבֹא מֵאֶרֶץ רְהוֹקָה); as predicate, 2 S 15:19 (‖ גֹּלָה), נָכְרִיָּה Ru 2:10; pl. נָכְרִים foreigners La 5:2 (‖ זָרִים), Ob 11 (‖ id.); cf. יַלְדֵי נָכְרִים Is 2:6; fpl. alien women Gn 31:15 (E; i.e. not of one’s father’s family). נָכְרִיָּה foreign woman, as term. techn., in Pr, for harlot (perhaps because harlots were orig. chiefly foreigners): Pr 2:16 (‖ אִשָּׁה זָרָה), 7:5 (‖ id.), 5:20 (‖ זָרָה), 6:24 (‖ אֵשֶׁת רָ֑ע), 23:27 (‖ זוֹנָה).—On 20:16; 27:13 v. infr. fig. unknown, unfamiliar: נָכְרִי הָיִיתִי בְּעֵינֵיהֶם Jb 19:15 an alien am I become in their eyes; נ׳ לִבְנֵי אִמִּי ψ 69:9 (‖ מוּזָר הָיִיתִי לְאֶחָ֑י); אִישׁ נ׳ Ec 6:2; of י׳’s judgment, נָכְרִיָּה עֲבֹדָתוֹ Is 28:21 strange is his task! (‖ זָר מַעֲשֵׂהוּ); גֶּפֶן נָכְרִיָּה Je 2:21 an alien vine (opp. זֶרַע אֱמֶת), fig. of degenerate Israel; as subst., נָכְרִים Pr 20:16 Kt (\> Qr נָכְרִיָּה), aliens, persons unknown to him (‖ זָר), so read also (for MT נָכְרִיָּה) ‖ 27:13; cf. 5:10; 27:2.

<!-- .note -->
Why these entries: BDB: same consonants, part of speech agrees, 45 of its verses cited, 0 words shared with the glosses, lists its Strong's number (6 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 1 words shared with the BDB entry, 1 with the glosses (5 candidates)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every English meaning of «נׇכְרִי» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1504/5237/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.

### In the verses

<!-- div verse -->

<!-- .ref -->
[Proverbs 23:27](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PRO.23.27/)

<!-- .vt dir=rtl lang=hbo -->
כִּֽי־שׁוּחָ֣ה עֲמֻקָּ֣ה זוֹנָ֑ה וּבְאֵ֥ר צָ֝רָ֗ה נָכְרִיָּֽה׃

*Word for word:* (dm) \[is\].a.pit deep a.prostitute and.\[is\] a.well narrow a.foreign.\[woman\]

*JPS 1917:* For a harlot is a deep ditch; and an alien woman is a narrow pit.

<!-- /div -->

<!-- div verse -->

<!-- .ref -->
[Lamentations 5:2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/LAM.5.2/)

<!-- .vt dir=rtl lang=hbo -->
נַחֲלָתֵ֙נוּ֙ נֶֽהֶפְכָ֣ה לְזָרִ֔ים בָּתֵּ֖ינוּ לְנָכְרִֽים׃

*Word for word:* inheritance our it.has.been.turned.over to strangers houses our to foreigners

*JPS 1917:* Our inheritance is turned unto strangers, our houses unto aliens.

<!-- /div -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [נָכַר](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/w/lemma_3a_5e0_5b8_5db_5b7_5e8.md)
- next →: [נְכֹת](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/w/5238.md)
- ↑ back to [נ](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/1504-3.md)