---
title: נָצַח — be pre-eminent · The Tanakh dictionary
description: נָצַח (5329), a word of Biblical Hebrew, used 65 times: be pre-eminent. BDB 1906: vb. be pre-eminent, enduring. With 2 verses in Hebrew, word for word and JPS 1917.
---

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# נָצַח

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«נָצַח» in the Tanakh dictionary: **be pre-eminent** — 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:** 65 times · **Key:** 5329 · **BDB:** נָצַח

### Glosses

choirmaster (56); act.as.overseers (5); overseers (2)

### Meaning (OSHB)

be pre-eminent [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1504/5329/#m1)

### Meaning (BDB 1906)

vb. be pre-eminent, enduring [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1504/5329/#m2)

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**The whole BDB entry:** vb. be pre-eminent, enduring (Ecclus \[Pi.\] make brilliant 43:5, 13 \[?\] (cf. Oxford ed.xxxiii); NH נָצַח conquer, etc.; Ph. נצח, Aramaic נְצַח, ܢܨܰܚ shine, be illustrious, pre-eminent, victorious; Arabic نَصَحَ be pure, reliable; Ethiopic ነድሐ be pure, innocent; both classes of meaning prob. derived from shine, be bright, brilliant, v. also Dr 1 S 15:29);— Pt. act. f. נִצַּ֫חַת Je 8:5 enduring (מְשֻׁבָה apostasy). = act as overseer, superintendent, director, only Chr. and ψ-titles;—Inf. לְנַצֵּחַ 1 Ch 15:21 + 4 times; pt. לַמְנַצֵּחַ Hb 3:19 ψ 4:1 + 54 times ψψ; pl. מְנַצְּחִים 2 Ch 2:1, 17; 34:13;— in building temple 2 Ch 2:1, 17; Ezr 3:8, 9, cf. 2 Ch 34:12, 13. in ministry of house of י׳ 1 Ch 23:4. in liturgical service of song, על־השׁמינית, over the bass voices, leading them with כִּנֹּרוֹת 1 Ch 15:21; לַמְנַצֵּחַ in titles of ψψ has prob. sim. meaning, = musical director or choirmaster; Gk. Vrss. of 2nd cent. a.d., Aq Theod Sym, and so Jer, think of Aramaic victorious, but no clear explan.; 𝔊 εἰς τὸ τέλος (prob. לַמִּנְצָח) follows ordinary meaning of noun נֵצַח, which may be expl. in eschatological sense as referring to end of age of world after Euseb Theod; or for full rendering after De; neither satisfactory. Chr., near in date, gives the clue which is intrinsically prob.: לְ indicates, not assignment (nothing special in these ψψ to suggest it, and assignment of ψψ for such use a matter of course), but that these ψψ were taken by final editor from an older major Psalter known as the Director’s Collection, cf. the still earlier collections known as (ל)דוד, (ל)אסף, (ל)בני קרח. The 55 ψψ with למנצח were taken 39 from Davidic, 9 from Korahite, and 5 from Asaphic Psalters; only 2 anonymous. Hb 3 originally belonged to Director’s Psalter. This and other Director’s ψψ have musical directions in titles. The Director’s Psalter was prob. the prayer-book of synagogue of Gk. period, presupposed by our Hab., the collection of the twelve Minor Prophets, the prophetic canon, and Daniel (v. BrGen. Intr. 123).

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Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech agrees, 11 of its verses cited, 1 words shared with the glosses, lists its Strong's number (5 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 2 words shared with the BDB entry, 0 with the glosses (4 candidates)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every English meaning of «נָצַח» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1504/5329/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.

### In the verses

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[Psalms 13:1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PSA.13.1/)

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לַמְנַצֵּ֗חַ מִזְמ֥וֹר לְדָוִֽד׃

*Word for word:* to the choirmaster a.psalm of David

*JPS 1917:* For the Leader. A Psalm of David.

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[Psalms 19:1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PSA.19.1/)

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לַמְנַצֵּ֗חַ מִזְמ֥וֹר לְדָוִֽד׃

*Word for word:* to the choirmaster a.psalm of David

*JPS 1917:* For the Leader. A Psalm of David.

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