Original Word: נָהַם
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: naham
Pronunciation: naw-kham'
Phonetic Spelling: (naw-ham')
KJV: mourn, roar(-ing)
NASB: groan, growl, growls, roaring
Word Origin: [a primitive root]

1. to growl

mourn, roaring

A primitive root; to growl -- mourn, roar(-ing).

Word Origin
a prim. root
Definition
to growl, groan
NASB Translation
groan (2), growl (1), growls (1), roaring (1).

[נָהַם] verb growl, groan (Late Hebrew id.; Arabic ; Aramaic , נְהַם); —

Qal Perfect וְנָהַמְתָּ֫ Proverbs 5:11; וּנְהַמְתֶּם Ezekiel 24:23; Imperfect יִנְהֹם Isaiah 5:29,30;

Participle נֹהֵם Proverbs 28:15; —

1 growl, of a lion (namely while it is devouring its prey: opposed to שׁאנ, of roar with which it springs upon it RS^{Proph. 243}) Proverbs 28:15, of Assyr. (under figure of lion) Isaiah 5:29; followed by עַל (over), Isaiah 5:30.

2 groan, of sufferer Proverbs 5:11; Ezekiel 24:23.

Character and Nuance

נָהַם evokes a low, resonant sound that may emerge either from the throat of a wild beast or from a human chest wrung by pain. In every context the audible quality of the verb conveys intensity—whether predatory power or crushing sorrow—so that the hearer feels the vibration before parsing the meaning.

Canonical Distribution

• Wisdom Literature: Proverbs 5:11; Proverbs 28:15
• Prophetic Writings: Isaiah 5:29; Isaiah 5:30; Ezekiel 24:23

The concentration in wisdom and prophetic books links the term to two complementary themes: personal moral consequence and national accountability under divine judgment.

Audible Sign of Personal Anguish

Proverbs sets נָהַם within the intimate sphere of bodily decay and regret. “At the end of your life you will groan when your flesh and your body are spent” (Proverbs 5:11). The sound marks the inevitable harvest of sin: what was once whispered temptation becomes a public, involuntary lament. Ezekiel 24:23 intensifies this portrait during the siege of Jerusalem—“you will … groan among yourselves”—expressing a grief so deep that conventional mourning rites cannot voice it. Here נָהַם embodies silent collapse, a heart turned inward under the weight of guilt.

Metaphor of Predatory Rulership

In Proverbs 28:15 the same verb describes the threatening vocalization of a lion: “Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked ruler over a helpless people”. The roar is not mere noise; it is a weapon. נָהַם thus exposes political tyranny as a form of predation, unmasking unjust leadership as an animalistic appetite that devours the defenseless.

Soundtrack of Approaching Judgment

Isaiah 5:29–30 transfers the roar to imperial armies raised up by God against a rebellious nation. “Their roaring is like that of a lion… On that day they will roar over it like the roaring of the sea”. The escalating imagery—lion to sea—turns נָהַם into a surround-sound prophecy: what the ear hears anticipates the devastation the eyes will soon witness. The verb therefore functions as a literary siren, warning Judah that divine holiness will not coexist with covenant infidelity.

Suppressed Grief and Moral Decay

Across the five occurrences a pattern emerges: the louder the external roar, the deeper the internal groan. Whether the noise comes from predatory rulers or punitive armies, the people’s hearts answer with an inward, muffled נָהַם. Scripture links the two, revealing a moral causality between collective sin and the oppressive sounds that follow.

Pastoral and Homiletical Trajectories

1. Personal holiness: Proverbs 5:11 urges self-examination before hidden sin matures into audible lament.
2. Social justice: Proverbs 28:15 exposes how leadership divorced from righteousness terrorizes rather than shepherds.
3. National repentance: Isaiah 5 and Ezekiel 24 illustrate that ignoring prophetic warnings invites a roar that cannot be silenced by ritual or sentiment.
4. Hope in judgment: The very groan that testifies against sin can also become a cry for mercy; repentance turns נָהַם from condemnation toward restoration (cf. Joel 2:12-13).

Foreshadowing Final Redemption

Romans 8:22 observes that “the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until the present time.” Though Greek replaces Hebrew here, the conceptual echo is unmistakable: every earthly נָהַם yearns for the revealing of the sons of God. The roaring of oppressive powers met its decisive answer in the victory of Jesus Christ, “the Lion of the tribe of Judah” (Revelation 5:5), whose triumphant voice will one day still every groan and replace it with praise (Revelation 19:6-7).

וְיִנְהֹ֥ם וְיִנְהֹם֙ וְנָהַמְתָּ֥ וּנְהַמְתֶּ֖ם וינהם ונהמת ונהמתם נֹ֭הֵם נהם nō·hêm Nohem nōhêm ū·nə·ham·tem unehamTem ūnəhamtem venahamTa veyinHom wə·nā·ham·tā wə·yin·hōm wənāhamtā wəyinhōmInterlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel Texts