נָא (na)
na
raw
H:AQuick Reference
- Language
- Biblical Hebrew
- Testament
- Old Testament
- Occurrences
- 1 verses
- Root
- —
- Part of speech
- H:A
Word Overview
The Hebrew word na describes meat that is raw or uncooked. It appears only once in the entire Old Testament, found in Exodus 12:9 during the instructions for the first Passover meal. In this specific context, it stands in direct contrast to boiled or roasted flesh, emphasizing a state of being completely untouched by heat.
This single occurrence highlights the strictness of the ritual command. The text forbids eating the sacrificial lamb in any form that involves boiling water, requiring it to be consumed only when roasted with fire. By specifying "raw" as the prohibited alternative to proper cooking methods, the law reinforces the need for deliberate preparation and reverence in observing the feast.
Based on public-domain lexicons (Strong's, Thayer, Gesenius, Brown-Driver-Briggs and others).
What This Word Means for Your Faith
The word na appears in Exodus 12:9 to describe meat that is raw or uncooked. This single occurrence emphasizes the strictness of the ritual command for the first Passover meal. The text forbids eating the sacrificial lamb in any form that involves boiling water, requiring it to be consumed only when roasted with fire.
By specifying na as the prohibited alternative to proper cooking methods, the law reinforces the need for deliberate preparation and reverence in observing the feast. This attention to detail highlights how even small actions can reflect our respect for God's instructions.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 1 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- raw1×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- נָ֔א1×
Key Verses
-
Exodus 12:9
Don’t eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted with fire; with its head, its legs and its inner parts.
This verse uses na to explicitly forbid eating the Passover lamb raw, emphasizing the necessity of proper preparation through roasting with fire.