נוּם
num (H5123)
to slumber
AI Word Study
# נוּם (num): Biblical Slumber The Hebrew word *num* (H5123) denotes a specific state of sleep or drowsiness—slumber rather than full sleep. With only six occurrences across the biblical text, this is a relatively rare term, suggesting it carries particular weight when used. The narrowness of its distribution indicates the biblical writers chose this word deliberately rather than reaching for more common sleep terminology. The rarity of *num* suggests it may have been reserved for specific contexts or carried nuanced meaning that distinguished it from other sleep-related vocabulary in biblical Hebrew. Its particular definition—slumber, a lighter state than deep sleep—would have allowed writers to convey conditions of drowsiness, partial sleep, or vulnerability that full-sleep terminology might not capture as precisely. This semantic distinction between types of sleep states reflects the Hebrew language's capacity for specificity in describing human conditions. Without access to the specific biblical passages where *num* appears, we cannot determine whether it was consistently applied to particular scenarios (such as divine punishment, vulnerability, or spiritual states) or used more varied contexts. The six occurrences represent the complete biblical evidence for this word's usage, making it a minor but intentional element of biblical Hebrew's descriptive vocabulary for the human experience of sleep.
AI synthesis uses only provided lexicon data -- never training knowledge.
Valiant men lie plundered, they have slept their last sleep. None of the men of war can lift their hands.
He will not allow your foot to be moved. He who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
No one shall be weary nor stumble among them; no one shall slumber nor sleep, neither shall the belt of their waist be untied, nor the strap of their sandals be broken,
His watchmen are blind. They are all without knowledge. They are all mute dogs. They can’t bark— dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber.
Your shepherds slumber, king of Assyria. Your nobles lie down. Your people are scattered on the mountains, and there is no one to gather them.