נׇכְרִי (nokh.ri)
nokh.ri
foreign
H:AQuick Reference
- Language
- Biblical Hebrew
- Testament
- Old Testament
- Occurrences
- 42 verses
- Root
- —
- Part of speech
- H:A
Word Overview
The Hebrew word nokhri describes someone who is foreign, alien, or unfamiliar. It functions as both an adjective and a noun, referring to people from other nations or those outside one’s own family and social circle. In the Old Testament, it appears in contexts ranging from legal distinctions about commerce to warnings against intermarriage with non-Israelites.
A significant nuance of this term is its frequent use to describe a "strange woman" or foreign wife, particularly in Proverbs. Here, nokhri carries strong moral and religious weight, symbolizing a threat to covenant faithfulness rather than merely indicating ethnic difference. The text contrasts this figure with the faithful wife, using the concept of strangeness to highlight spiritual danger.
The word derives from a root meaning "to be strange" or "unknown." This etymology underscores that being nokhri is defined by lack of familiarity and belonging. Translators often render it as "foreigner," "alien," or "stranger," capturing the essential idea of an outsider who does not share the community’s laws, kinship ties, or worship practices.
Based on public-domain lexicons (Strong's, Thayer, Gesenius, Brown-Driver-Briggs and others).
What This Word Means for Your Faith
The Hebrew word nokhri points to someone who is foreign or unfamiliar, often carrying a sense of distance from one’s own community and covenant. In the Old Testament, it marks a boundary between Israel and other nations, highlighting differences in worship, law, and kinship. This distinction was not merely ethnic but deeply spiritual, as sharing life with those outside the faith could lead people away from their devotion to God.
Yet this word also reveals God’s wider heart. In Solomon’s prayer at the temple dedication, he asks that God hear the foreigner who comes from a far country seeking His name (1 Kings 8:41-43). Here, nokhri is not just a label of exclusion but an invitation for outsiders to draw near. The text shows that while separation was often required to protect faithfulness, God’s desire was always to welcome those who sought Him with sincerity.
For your faith today, this word reminds us that belonging to God’s people involves both loyalty to His ways and openness to His grace. It challenges us to examine where we might build walls out of fear or pride, and where we can instead extend the same hospitality and respect that God extends to all who seek Him.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 42 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- foreign15×
- the/ foreigner5×
- a foreign [woman]5×
- a foreigner3×
- <the>/ foreign3×
- from/ a foreign [woman]2×
- foreigners2×
- to/ foreigners1×
- to/ a foreigner1×
- and/ foreigners1×
- alien1×
- [is] alien1×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- נָכְרִיָּֽה\׃6×
- נָכְרִיּ֑וֹת4×
- נָכְרִיָּ֣ה2×
- נָכְרִיּ֛וֹת2×
- נָכְרִ֔י2×
- נָ֝כְרִ֗י2×
- מִ֝/נָּכְרִיָּ֗ה2×
- הַ/נָּכְרִיּֽוֹת\׃2×
- הַ/נָּכְרִ֑י2×
- נָכְרִֽי\׃1×
- נָכְרִיּוֹת֙1×
- נָכְרִיּֽוֹת\׃1×
Key Verses
-
Exodus 2:22
She bore a son, and he named him Gershom, for he said, “I have lived as a foreigner in a foreign land.”
Moses names his son Gershom because he feels like a foreigner in Midian, showing how the word expresses personal displacement and alienation.
-
Ruth 2:10
Then she fell on her face and bowed herself to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your sight, that you should take knowledge of me, since I am a foreigner?”
Ruth identifies herself as a nokhri to Boaz, humbly acknowledging her outsider status while seeking refuge under God’s covenant people.
-
I Kings 8:43
hear in heaven, your dwelling place, and do according to all that the foreigner calls to you for; that all the peoples of the earth may know your name, to fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by your name.
Solomon prays that God will hear the foreigner who comes from a distant land, demonstrating that God’s name is meant to be known among all peoples.
-
Ezra 10:11
Now therefore make confession to Yahweh, the God of your fathers and do his pleasure. Separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign women.”
Ezra calls the people to separate from foreign women to restore covenant faithfulness, showing how the term warns against spiritual compromise.
-
Deuteronomy 17:15
you shall surely set him whom Yahweh your God chooses as king over yourselves. You shall set as king over you one from among your brothers. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother.
The law forbids placing a foreigner over Israel as king, emphasizing that leadership must remain within the covenant community to ensure fidelity to God’s statutes.