5220. neked
Lexical Summary
neked: Spotted, speckled

Original Word: נֶכֶד
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: neked
Pronunciation: NEH-ked
Phonetic Spelling: (neh'-ked)
KJV: nephew, son's son
NASB: posterity
Word Origin: [from an unused root meaning to propagate]

1. offspring

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
nephew, son's son

From an unused root meaning to propagate; offspring -- nephew, son's son.

NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
from an unused word
Definition
progeny, posterity
NASB Translation
posterity (3).

Brown-Driver-Briggs
נֶ֫כֶד noun [masculine] progeny, posterity, always with נִין in standing phrase (Ecclus 41:5; 47:22c; both with נין); — absolute בְּעַמּוֺ ׳לֹא נִין וְלֹא נ Job 18:19, compare שֵׁם ׳וּשְׁאָר וְנִין וְנ Isaiah 14:22; suffix לִי וּלְנִינִי וּלְנֶכְדִּי Genesis 21:23 to me and to my offspring and to my posterity.

Topical Lexicon
Semantic Scope and Old Testament Usage

Strong’s Hebrew 5220 denotes the second generation that follows a father—grandsons in the narrow sense, but by extension any posterity that perpetuates a family line. Each of its three occurrences sits in a context where future generations stand as evidence of either blessing or curse, underscoring the biblical conviction that lineage is never morally neutral.

Occurrences in Canonical Context

Genesis 21:23 records Abimelech’s treaty with Abraham: “Now, therefore, swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my children or with my descendants” (Genesis 21:23). The term is invoked to secure ethical faithfulness that will safeguard Abraham’s future lineage after his sojourn in Philistine territory.
Job 18:19 sounds a lament over the wicked: “He has no offspring or progeny among his people, no survivor where he once lived” (Job 18:19). Here the absence of נֶכֶד is the emblem of divine retribution, stripping the evildoer of any enduring memory in Israel.
Isaiah 14:22 proclaims judgment upon imperial Babylon: “I will rise up against them,” declares the LORD of Hosts, “and I will cut off from Babylon name and remnant, offspring and heir” (Isaiah 14:22). The eradication of descendants ensures that oppression cannot be perpetuated.

Covenantal Theology of Generations

Neched surfaces in the first text associated with Abraham, anchoring it in the foundational promises of Genesis 12:1–3. God’s blessing on Abraham specifically involved offspring “as numerous as the stars” (Genesis 15:5), assuring that faith-rooted obedience would ripple through time. By contrast, Job and Isaiah expose the other side of the covenant equation: the line of the wicked is snuffed out so that injustice will not reproduce itself. Scripture thus presents the second generation as a moral barometer of divine favor or displeasure.

Intergenerational Blessing and Curse

1. Continuity of Covenant—The survival of neched confirms God’s fidelity, seen supremely when Jesus Christ is proclaimed the ultimate Seed who secures an everlasting posterity comprised of all who believe (Galatians 3:16, 29).
2. Finality of Judgment—The excision of neched in Job and Isaiah prefigures eschatological judgment, when rebellious powers will be forever silenced (Revelation 18:21).
3. Memorial and Name—Hebrew culture prized an enduring “name” through descendants (Ruth 4:5, 10). The texts demonstrate that only righteous reliance upon the Lord preserves that name.

Historical Resonance

In the Ancient Near East, royal dynasties measured legitimacy by the stability of succession. Isaiah’s oracle targets Babylon’s dynastic ambitions by promising there will be no grandson to ascend its throne. Likewise, Job’s dialogue mirrors wisdom traditions that connected moral order with social stability: the disappearance of progeny signals cosmos-level disorder brought upon oneself.

Practical Ministry Implications

• Family Discipleship—The promise and warning implicit in neched urge parents and church leaders to transmit the faith “to children yet unborn” (Psalm 78:6).
• Legacy Evaluation—Believers are called to steward reputation and resources so that succeeding generations glorify God, not merely remember ancestors.
• Corporate Repentance—Communities must reject systemic sins lest God remove their lampstand, figuratively eliminating their posterity (Revelation 2:5).

Christological Fulfillment

While Isaiah foresees Babylon’s line ended, the New Testament presents Jesus as the Davidic King whose lineage “will endure forever” (Psalm 89:29; Luke 1:32-33). Every believer becomes His spiritual descendant, ensuring that, in Christ, the vision of a righteous neched finds eternal realization.

Forms and Transliterations
וָנֶ֖כֶד וּלְנֶכְדִּ֑י ולנכדי ונכד נֶ֣כֶד נכד ne·ḵeḏ Neched neḵeḏ ū·lə·neḵ·dî ulenechDi ūləneḵdî vaNeched wā·ne·ḵeḏ wāneḵeḏ
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Englishman's Concordance
Genesis 21:23
HEB: לִ֔י וּלְנִינִ֖י וּלְנֶכְדִּ֑י כַּחֶ֜סֶד אֲשֶׁר־
NAS: with me or with my offspring or with my posterity, but according to the kindness
KJV: with me, nor with my son, nor with my son's son: [but] according to the kindness
INT: deal my offspring my posterity to the kindness which

Job 18:19
HEB: ל֣וֹ וְלֹא־ נֶ֣כֶד בְּעַמּ֑וֹ וְאֵ֥ין
NAS: offspring or posterity among his people,
KJV: He shall neither have son nor nephew among his people,
INT: offspring has no posterity his people Nor

Isaiah 14:22
HEB: וּשְׁאָ֛ר וְנִ֥ין וָנֶ֖כֶד נְאֻם־ יְהוָֽה׃
NAS: offspring and posterity, declares
KJV: and son, and nephew, saith
INT: and survivors offspring and posterity declares God

3 Occurrences

Strong's Hebrew 5220
3 Occurrences


ne·ḵeḏ — 1 Occ.
ū·lə·neḵ·dî — 1 Occ.
wā·ne·ḵeḏ — 1 Occ.

5219
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