5054. negohah
Lexical Summary
negohah: Brightness, Light, Radiance

Original Word: נְגֹהָה
Part of Speech: Noun Feminine
Transliteration: ngohah
Pronunciation: neh-go-HAH
Phonetic Spelling: (neg-o-haw')
KJV: brightness
NASB: brightness
Word Origin: [feminine of H5051 (נוֹגַהּ - brightness)]

1. splendor

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
brightness

Feminine of nogahh; splendor -- brightness.

see HEBREW nogahh

NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
from nagah
Definition
brightness
NASB Translation
brightness (1).

Brown-Driver-Briggs
[נְגֹהָה] noun feminine brightness; figurative of prosperity; — plural לִנְנֹהוֺת Isaiah 59:9 (opposed to אֲפֵלוֺת; "" אוֺר).

Topical Lexicon
Biblical Occurrence

Strong’s Hebrew 5054 appears once, at Isaiah 59:9, rendered “brightness” in the Berean Standard Bible: “Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We look for light, but there is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in gloom.”

Immediate Context in Isaiah 59

Isaiah 59 is a national confession of sin. Verses 1–8 expose Israel’s violence, deceit, and injustice; verses 9–15 describe the people’s self-awareness of the resulting moral darkness. “Brightness” (נְגֹהָה) is paired antithetically with “gloom,” intensifying the lament that the covenant community, created to reflect God’s light (Isaiah 42:6), now stumbles in spiritual night.

Key contrasts in the chapter:
• Light vs. Darkness (59:9)
• Justice vs. Injustice (59:14)
• Salvation vs. Transgression (59:16)

Historical Setting

The oracle reflects conditions either during Isaiah’s later ministry under Manasseh or the early post-exilic era reflected through Isaiah’s prophetic lens. In both contexts the people experienced political turmoil and social breakdown, prompting hopes for restoration and righteousness that only God could supply.

Thematic Significance

1. Moral Perception: “Brightness” conveys the clarity that accompanies righteousness. Its absence marks a numbed conscience incapable of discerning God’s ways (cf. Proverbs 4:19).
2. Covenant Accountability: Israel’s loss of “brightness” is not merely existential; it is judicial, flowing from violation of Torah ethics (Leviticus 19:15).
3. Eschatological Contrast: Isaiah later proclaims, “Arise, shine, for your light has come” (Isaiah 60:1). The single use of נְגֹהָה foreshadows the greater, permanent light promised in the Messianic age.

Related Old Testament Motifs of Light

Psalm 27:1 “The LORD is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear?”
Isaiah 60:19 “The LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory.”

Although these texts use different Hebrew terms, they illuminate the broader Scriptural pattern in which divine presence dispels moral and existential darkness.

Prophetic Hope and Christological Fulfillment

Isaiah 59 closes with a promise: “The Redeemer will come to Zion” (59:20). The New Testament identifies this Redeemer as Jesus Christ, who declares, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). The single Old Testament cry for “brightness” finds its answer in the incarnate Word (John 1:9).

Ministry Application

1. Preaching: Isaiah’s juxtaposition of “brightness” and “gloom” exposes sin while pointing to divine remedy. Gospel preaching must retain both emphases—human inability and God’s intervention.
2. Discipleship: Believers are called to “walk as children of light” (Ephesians 5:8), embodying the brightness absent in Isaiah 59:9.
3. Social Ethics: The chapter links light with justice; ministries of mercy and advocacy visibly manifest God’s brightness to a watching world.

Practical Reflection

When personal or communal sin dims spiritual sight, Isaiah 59:9 provides language for honest confession. Yet the verse also invites confident expectation: the God who reveals darkness can replace it with unquenchable brightness, culminating in the glory of the Lamb who “will be their light” (Revelation 21:23).

Forms and Transliterations
לִנְגֹה֖וֹת לנגהות lin·ḡō·hō·wṯ lingoHot linḡōhōwṯ
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Englishman's Concordance
Isaiah 59:9
HEB: וְהִנֵּה־ חֹ֔שֶׁךְ לִנְגֹה֖וֹת בָּאֲפֵל֥וֹת נְהַלֵּֽךְ׃
NAS: darkness, For brightness, but we walk
KJV: but behold obscurity; for brightness, [but] we walk
INT: behold darkness brightness gloom walk

1 Occurrence

Strong's Hebrew 5054
1 Occurrence


lin·ḡō·hō·wṯ — 1 Occ.

5053
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