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Hebrew verb · H5034

נָבֵל

nabelnaw-bale'

be senseless; to wither

25 uses in the Hebrew text, one for each word STEP Bible has tagged with this key

Concordance spelling: nâbêl

Word page · Part of the concordance, one page for every word of the Hebrew and Greek text. Strong's H5034is this word's number in James Strong's 1890 index of the King James Bible.

  • 11 of 39
    Old Testament books
  • 22
    spellings
  • 2
    meanings

The definition in full

Strong's key (1890) · H5034

to wilt; generally, to fall away, fail, faint; figuratively, to be foolish or (morally) wicked; causatively, to despise, disgrace

The King James renders it: disgrace, dishounour, lightly esteem, fade (away, -ing), fall (down, -ling, off), do foolishly, come to nought, [idiom] surely, make vile, wither.

James Strong, The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890), public domain. Strong indexed the King James text, and this site quotes his entry as that index.

Summary

nabel is rendered "be senseless; to wither". It stands 25 times in the Hebrew text, across eleven books.

  • Eleven of the uses stand in Isaiah, more than in any other book.
  • The lexicon lists two meanings for it, beginning with "be senseless".
  • Its first use in canonical order opens the ledger below.Exodus 18:18Surely you and these people with you will wear yourselves out, because the task is too heavy for you. You cannot handle it alone.
  • The Greek text spells it twenty-two different ways.

The first use

Surely you and these people with you will wear yourselves out, because the task is too heavy for you. You cannot handle it alone.

Exodus 18:18נָבֹ֣ל

The first use, in the order of the Old Testament's books.

Where the word stands

Eleven of the word's twenty-five uses are in Isaiah.

The other 28 Old Testament books never use the word.

What the word means

The word carries two meanings: be senseless, and to wither.

Each meaning, and the words it is translated by

The English STEP Bible gives each use, word by word, and how many times.
be senselessStrong's entry ATagged aslisted under the tableWhereExodus 18:18Surely you and these people with you will wear yourselves out…
to witherStrong's entry BTagged aslisted under the tableWherein the ledger below

How the Greek text is glossed, word by word

  • it will wither3
  • it withers3
  • it has withered2
  • withering2
  • and he treated with contempt1
  • and I will treat with contempt you1
  • and like withered fruit1
  • and we have withered1
  • as withers1
  • certainly to wear out1
  • it crumbles away1
  • of withering1

and 7 more, 25 uses in all

The words built on the same word-part

Each word below begins with the same letters this one begins with. A shared word-part shows a family. It does not settle what any one of them means, so each word carries its own uses on its own page. Scholars call that shared part the stem.

The words it stands beside

All 25, in canonical order

Every use, in order

Every use, grouped by book, with its verse.

22 spellings and their grammar

STEP Bible tags every word of the Hebrew and Greek text with its spelling and its grammar. Both lists below count the rows printed underneath, written out in English, with the code beside each one as it was tagged.

How it is spelled

  • יִבּ֑וֹל2
  • יִבֹּ֑לוּ2
  • נָ֣בֵֽל2
  • וַיְנַבֵּ֖ל1
  • וּכְנֹבֶ֖לֶת1
  • וַנָּ֤בֶל1
  • וְנִבַּלְתִּ֑יךְ1
  • יִבּ֔וֹל1
  • יִבּ֨וֹל1
  • יִבּוֹלֽוּן׃1
  • כִּנְבֹ֤ל1
  • מְנַבֵּ֣ל1

and 10 more spellings in the ledger below.

The grammar of each form

  • verb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person masculine singular4HVqi3ms
  • verb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person masculine singular3HVqp3ms
  • verb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person masculine plural2HVqi3mp
  • verb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person feminine singular2HVqp3fs
  • verb · simple (qal), participle · masculine singular2HVqrmsa
  • conjunction (“and”) + preposition + verb · simple (qal), participle · feminine singular1HC/R/Vqrfsa
  • Hc/Vhw1cp1Hc/Vhw1cp
  • Hc/Vpq1cs/Sp2fs1Hc/Vpq1cs/Sp2fs
  • Hc/Vpw3ms1Hc/Vpw3ms
  • preposition + verb · simple (qal), infinitive (“to…”)1HR/Vqcc
  • verb · intensive (piel), jussive (“let him”) · 2nd person masculine singular1HVpj2ms
  • verb · intensive (piel), participle · masculine singular1HVprmsa

Exodus

two uses
  • Surely you and these people with you will wear yourselves out, because the task is too heavy for you. You cannot handle it alone.

    Exodus 18:18

    • נָבֹ֣לnavolverb · simple (qal), infinitive absolutetagged: certainly to wear out
    • תִּבֹּ֔לtibolverb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 2nd person masculine singulartagged: you will wear yourself out

Deuteronomy

one use
  • But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked—becoming fat, bloated, and gorged. He abandoned the God who made him and scorned the Rock of his salvation.

    Deuteronomy 32:15

    • וַיְנַבֵּ֖לvaynabelHc/Vpw3mstagged: and he treated with contempt

2 Samuel

one use
  • Foreigners lose heart and come trembling from their strongholds.

    2 Samuel 22:46

    • יִבֹּ֑לוּyiboluverb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person masculine pluraltagged: they withered

Job

one use
  • But as a mountain erodes and crumbles and a rock is dislodged from its place,

    Job 14:18

    • יִבּ֑וֹלyibolverb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: it crumbles away

Psalms

three uses
  • He is like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither, and who prospers in all he does.

    Psalms 1:3

    • יִבּ֑וֹלyibolverb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: it withers
  • Foreigners lose heart and come trembling from their strongholds.

    Psalms 18:45

    • יִבֹּ֑לוּyiboluverb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person masculine pluraltagged: they wither
  • For they wither quickly like grass and wilt like tender plants.

    Psalms 37:2

    • יִבּוֹלֽוּן׃yibolunverb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person masculine plural + paragogic nuntagged: they will fade

Proverbs

one use
  • If you have foolishly exalted yourself or if you have plotted evil, put your hand over your mouth.

    Proverbs 30:32

    • נָבַ֥לְתָּnavaltaverb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 2nd person masculine singulartagged: you have been foolish

Isaiah

eleven uses
  • For you will become like an oak whose leaves are withered, like a garden without water.

    Isaiah 1:30

    • נֹבֶ֣לֶתnoveletverb · simple (qal), participle · feminine singular · in construct (“…of”)tagged: withering
  • The earth mourns and withers; the world languishes and fades; the exalted of the earth waste away.

    Isaiah 24:4

    • נָֽבְלָה֙navelahverb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person feminine singulartagged: it has withered
    • נָבְלָ֖הnavelahverb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person feminine singulartagged: it has withered
  • Woe to the majestic crown of Ephraim’s drunkards, to the fading flower of his glorious splendor, set on the summit above the fertile valley, the pride of those overcome by wine.

    Isaiah 28:1

    • נֹבֵ֖לnovelverb · simple (qal), participle · masculine singulartagged: withering
  • The fading flower of his beautiful splendor, set on the summit above the fertile valley, will be like a ripe fig before the summer harvest: Whoever sees it will take it in his hand and swallow it.

    Isaiah 28:4

    • נֹבֵל֙novelverb · simple (qal), participle · masculine singulartagged: of withering
  • All the stars of heaven will be dissolved. The skies will be rolled up like a scroll, and all their stars will fall like withered leaves from the vine, like foliage from the fig tree.

    Isaiah 34:4

    • יִבּ֔וֹלyibolverb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: it will wither
    • כִּנְבֹ֤לkinvolpreposition + verb · simple (qal), infinitive (“to…”)tagged: as withers
    • וּכְנֹבֶ֖לֶתukhenoveletconjunction (“and”) + preposition + verb · simple (qal), participle · feminine singulartagged: and like withered fruit
  • The grass withers and the flowers fall when the breath of the LORD blows on them; indeed, the people are grass.

    Isaiah 40:7

    • נָ֣בֵֽלnavelverb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: it withers
  • The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.”

    Isaiah 40:8

    • נָ֣בֵֽלnavelverb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: it withers
  • Each of us has become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind.

    Isaiah 64:6

    • וַנָּ֤בֶלvanavelHc/Vhw1cptagged: and we have withered

Jeremiah

two uses
  • I will take away their harvest, declares the LORD. There will be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the tree, and even the leaf will wither. Whatever I have given them will be lost to them.”

    Jeremiah 8:13

    • נָבֵ֔לnavelverb · simple (qal), qatal (perfect) · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: it will wither
  • For the sake of Your name do not despise us; do not disgrace Your glorious throne. Remember Your covenant with us; do not break it.

    Jeremiah 14:21

    • תְּנַבֵּ֖לtenabelverb · intensive (piel), jussive (“let him”) · 2nd person masculine singulartagged: you treat with contempt

Ezekiel

one use
  • Along both banks of the river, fruit trees of all kinds will grow. Their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. Each month they will bear fruit, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will be used for food and their leaves for healing.”

    Ezekiel 47:12

    • יִבּ֨וֹלyibolverb · simple (qal), yiqtol (imperfect) · 3rd person masculine singulartagged: it will wither

Micah

one use
  • For a son dishonors his father, a daughter rises against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man’s enemies are the members of his own household.

    Micah 7:6

    • מְנַבֵּ֣לmenabelverb · intensive (piel), participle · masculine singulartagged: treating with contempt

Nahum

one use
  • I will pelt you with filth and treat you with contempt; I will make a spectacle of you.

    Nahum 3:6

    • וְנִבַּלְתִּ֑יךְvenibaltikhHc/Vpq1cs/Sp2fstagged: and I will treat with contempt you

The letters

Where it leads

How the numbers are counted

Every count on this page comes from STEP Bible's tagged Hebrew and Greek text, the same text the ledger prints. A use is counted once each time the tagging marks a word with this key.

Spellings are counted as the Greek text spells them, with the sentence's own punctuation taken off the word first, so a form that ends a clause is not counted as a second spelling.

The words it stands beside are the nouns, verbs and adjectives immediately before or after it, counted in every verse where the word stands. The article, the conjunctions and the prepositions are left out, because they stand beside every word.

Hebrew and Greek text, word tagging and grammar: STEP Bible (www.STEPBible.org), Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0. Their grammar codes are written out in English here and shown as tagged beside each one.

Meaning and senses: STEP Bible TBESH gloss (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary key: Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890, public domain). English verse text: Berean Standard Bible (public domain, 2023).

Revised 2026-09-05. Every cited work, the sources registry →