H5251 H5251
A banner, standard, or ensign raised as a rallying point; a pole or mast; a warning sign
The noun נֵס evokes something raised high and visible from far off — a standard planted on a hilltop to rally the nations or signal the onset of war. Isaiah is the great poet of the נֵס: God 'lifts up a banner for the nations' (Isa 5:26), the root of Jesse 'stands as an ensign for the peoples' (Isa 11:10), and the scattered of Judah are gathered when the banner is raised (Isa 11:12). In its more concrete use, Moses sets the bronze serpent on a נֵס — a simple pole — so that anyone bitten might look and live (Num 21:8-9). The word also appears in the altar name יְהוָה נִסִּי, 'The LORD is my banner' (Exod 17:15), commemorating Israel's victory over Amalek.
Senses
1. banner, standard, ensign — The dominant sense of a banner, standard, or military ensign raised on a prominent height as a rallying point or signal, covering 17 of 20 occurrences. The multilingual glosses consistently use banner vocabulary — Spanish 'bandera/estandarte,' French 'banniere/etendard,' German 'Banner.' Isaiah uses it repeatedly for God's eschatological signal to the nations (Isa 5:26, 11:10, 11:12, 13:2, 18:3, 49:22, 62:10), while Jeremiah deploys it for the signal of approaching doom (Jer 4:6, 4:21, 50:2, 51:12,27). Psalm 60:4 applies the image devotionally: 'You have given a banner to those who fear You.' 17×
AR["رايَةً", "رَايَةً", "رَايَةٍ", "رَايَتِي", "عَلَمًا", "لِـ-رَايَةٍ", "مِنَ-الرَّايَةِ", "وَ-كَـ-رَايَةٍ"]·ben["-আমার-পতাকা", "-পতাকা", "-পতাকার", "ও-পতাকার-মত", "নিশান-থেকে", "পতাকা", "পতাকারূপে"]·DE["Banner", "ein-Banner", "und-Banner"]·EN["a-banner", "a-sail", "as-banner", "at-the-signal", "banner", "for-banner-of", "my-banner", "on"]·FR["bannière", "et-étendard", "étendard"]·heb["ו-כ-נס", "ל-נס", "מ-נס", "ניסי", "נס"]·HI["-झंडे-के-लिए", "अपना-झंडा", "और-जैसे-झंडा", "के-लिए-झंडा-", "झंडा", "झण्डा", "से-झंडे"]·ID["dan-seperti-panji", "dari-panji-panji", "layar", "panji", "panji-Ku", "panji-panji", "panji;", "sebagai-panji-panji"]·IT["[נס]", "e-stendardo", "stendardo", "vessillo"]·jav["Panjenengan-metak", "gendera", "gendera-Ingsun", "gendhéra", "kangge-gendera", "lan-kados-gendera", "panji", "saking-gendera"]·KO["그리고-같이-깃발", "깃발-로", "깃발로-", "깃발을", "나의-깃발을", "에서-깃발에서"]·PT["bandeira", "da-bandeira", "e-como-a-bandeira", "estandarte", "estandarte-de", "minha-bandeira", "para-estandarte-de", "por-bandeira"]·RU["знаменем", "знамени", "знамя", "знамя-Моё", "и-как-знамя", "как-знамя", "от-знамени", "парус"]·ES["bandera", "como-estandarte", "de-estandarte", "estandarte", "mi-estandarte", "por-estandarte", "y-como-estandarte"]·SW["bendera", "bendera-hiyo", "bendera-yangu", "kama-bendera", "kwa-sababu-ya-bendera", "na-kama-bendera"]·TR["bayragimi", "bayrak", "bayrak-icin", "bayrak-olarak", "bayraktan", "bayrağı", "sancak", "ve-bayrak-gibi"]·urd["اور-جھنڈے-کی-طرح", "اپنا-جھنڈا", "بَ-جھنڈا", "جَھنڈا", "جھنڈا", "جھنڈے-سے", "جھنڈے-کے-لیے"]
2. pole, mast — A concrete physical sense of a pole, mast, or staff on which something is displayed or mounted. In Numbers 21:8-9, God instructs Moses to make a bronze serpent and set it 'on a pole' (עַל־נֵס) — here the word denotes the object itself rather than what it signals. Isaiah 33:23 may extend this to a ship's mast. The Spanish 'asta' and English 'pole' clearly differentiate this from the banner-signal sense, focusing on the upright support structure rather than the rallying emblem. 2×
AR["السَّارِيَةِ", "سَارِيَةٍ"]·ben["খুঁটির"]·DE["der-pole", "ein-pole"]·EN["a-pole", "the-pole"]·FR["le-pole", "un-pole"]·heb["ה-נס", "נס"]·HI["खंभे"]·ID["tiang"]·IT["il-pole", "un-pole"]·jav["cagak"]·KO["그-장대", "장대"]·PT["mastro", "o-mastro"]·RU["шест"]·ES["asta", "el-asta"]·SW["nguzo"]·TR["direğin"]·urd["کھمبے"]
3. sign, warning signal — A rare use as a warning sign or object lesson raised for public visibility. In Numbers 26:10 the earth swallowed the company of Korah and they became 'a sign' (לְנֵס) — their destruction displayed as a permanent cautionary example. The Spanish 'por senal' and English 'for sign' mark this as a communicative act: the event itself is raised up, metaphorically, as a visible admonition to the community, paralleling the physical raising of the military standard but now serving moral pedagogy. 1×
AR["عِبْرَةً"]·ben["চিহ্নের-জন্য"]·DE["fuer-Zeichen"]·EN["for-sign"]·FR["pour-signe"]·heb["ל-נס"]·HI["निशानी-के-लिए"]·ID["peringatan"]·IT["per-segno"]·jav["kagem-pepèngetan"]·KO["경고-로"]·PT["para-sinal"]·RU["знамением"]·ES["por-señal"]·SW["ishara"]·TR["-işaret"]·urd["نشانی"]
Related Senses
H0559 1. say, speak, tell (5297×)H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)G3004 1. say, tell, speak (2226×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)H4480a 1. source or separation (1198×)H1696 1. speak, say, tell (Piel) (1105×)H5892b 1. city, town (1093×)G1519 1. direction: into, to, toward (1061×)H3427 1. Qal: to dwell, inhabit (937×)G1537 1. from, out of (source/origin) (886×)H8034 1. Name (designation / identifier) (856×)G3361 1. subjective negation (not) (834×)G1909 1. on, upon (spatial surface) (757×)H0369 1. existential negation: there is not (738×)H5869a 1. in the eyes/sight of (evaluative) (734×)H5650 1. Servant, attendant, subject (723×)H0408 1. prohibitive negation do-not (712×)G2443 1. so that, in order that (purpose/result) (665×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† נֵס n.[m.] standard, ensign, signal, sign (NH id., flag, usually sign, i.e. miracle; 𝔗 נֵס, נִסָּא sign, miracle);—נ׳ abs. Nu 21:8 +; cstr. Is 31:9; sf. נִסִּי Ex 17:15; Is 49:22;— 1. a. standard, as rallying-point, י׳ נִסִּי Ex 17:15 (E), י׳ my standard (name of altar); conspicuously set on hill Is 30:17 (sim. of solitariness; ‖ תֹּרֶן עַל־רֹאשׁ הָהָר); signal of war [v. SchumacherZPV ix.…