H5331 H5331
Perpetuity, forever; eminence, glory; endurance; victory -- a word spanning time, majesty, and triumph.
Netsach is one of Hebrew's richest theological nouns, braiding together ideas that English must split across multiple words. Its overwhelming use (39 of 43 occurrences) is temporal: la-netsach means 'forever, in perpetuity,' the adverbial phrase shadowing so many psalmic laments and promises. But the root carries eminence and strength that surface in three remarkable singular occurrences: Samuel calls God 'the Glory of Israel' (1 Sam 15:29), Jeremiah's poet mourns lost 'endurance' (Lam 3:18), and the Chronicler lists 'the victory' among God's attributes (1 Chr 29:11). The LXX's rendering as nikos ('victory') in certain Psalm superscriptions influenced the tradition of reading la-menatseach as 'for the choirmaster/victor.'
Senses
1. perpetuity, forever — The dominant temporal-adverbial sense: perpetuity, forever, everlastingly. Almost always preceded by the preposition lamed (la-netsach) or ad (ad-netsach), it functions as a time adverb in psalmic lament ('Will you forget me forever?' Ps 13:1), prophetic judgment ('perpetual desolations,' Ps 74:3), and wisdom teaching (Prov 21:28). Spanish para siempre, German ewiglich, and French pour toujours all converge on unbounded duration. The 39 occurrences are spread across Job, Psalms, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Amos, making this one of the Bible's most common words for eternity. 39×
AR["إلى-الأَبَدِ","إِلى-الأَبَدِ","إِلَى-الأَبَدِ","إِلَى-الْأَبَدِ","لِ-الأَبَدِ","لِـلأبَد","لِلأَبَدِ"]·ben["চিরকাল","চিরকাল।","চিরকালের-জন্য","চিরকালের-জন্য।"]·DE["ewiglich","fuer-immer"]·EN["forever"]·FR["pour-toujours","à-perpétuité"]·heb["ל-נצח","נצח"]·HI["कभी-नहीं","ला-नेत्साख","ले-सर्वदा-के-लिए","सदा","सदा-के-लिए","हमेशा-के-लिए"]·ID["selama-lamanya","selamanya","untuk-selamanya"]·IT["per-per-sempre","per-sempre"]·jav["becik","kanggé-salaminipun","panebusing","salami-laminipun","salaminipun"]·KO["영원-히","영원히"]·PT["isto","para-sempre"]·RU["вовек","вовеки","навек","навеки","навечно","навсегда"]·ES["para-perpetuidad","para-siempre","para-siempre?"]·SW["milele"]·TR["asla","sonsuza-dek","sonsuza-dek-","sonsuza-dek-mi"]·urd["لِ-ہمیشہ","کبھی","ہمیشہ","ہمیشہ کے لیے","ہمیشہ-کے-لئے","ہمیشہ-کے-لیے"]
2. endurance, lasting strength — Personal endurance or lasting strength, found only in Lam 3:18 where the poet cries 'my endurance (nitschi) has perished.' The pronominal suffix personalizes the abstract concept -- this is not cosmic perpetuity but one person's capacity to endure, now shattered. Spanish mi fortaleza ('my fortitude') captures the embodied quality. The BDB lexicon connects this to the root meaning of 'sap of life,' suggesting vitality that sustains through suffering. 1×
AR["رَجَائِي"]·ben["আমার-স্থায়িত্ব"]·DE["[נצחי]"]·EN["my-endurance"]·FR["pour-toujours"]·heb["נצחי"]·HI["मेरी-आशा"]·ID["kemenanganku"]·IT["per-sempre"]·jav["kakiyatan-kawula"]·KO["내-힘-이"]·PT["minha-vitória"]·RU["сила-моя"]·ES["mi-fortaleza"]·SW["nguvu-yangu"]·TR["dayanıklılığım"]·urd["میری-قوت"]
3. glory, eminence — Divine eminence or glory, a hapax-like sense in 1 Sam 15:29 where Samuel declares that 'the Eminence of Israel will not lie or change his mind.' Here netsach is a divine epithet paralleling hod ('majesty') and tiferet ('splendor'). The term emphasizes God's unchanging, transcendent preeminence. The LXX's diamerismos is puzzling, but later tradition reads this as a title of confidence: the God who endures forever is also the God of surpassing glory. 1×
AR["نَصْرُ"]·ben["চিরস্থায়ী"]·DE["Glory-von"]·EN["Glory-of"]·FR["Glory-de"]·heb["נצח"]·HI["शअश्वत"]·ID["Kemuliaan"]·IT["Glory-di"]·jav["Kamulyaning"]·KO["영광"]·PT["Eternidade-de"]·RU["Вечный"]·ES["Eternidad-de"]·SW["Utukufu"]·TR["Ebedi-Olanı"]·urd["جلال"]
4. end, completeness — End or completeness, appearing once in Job 34:36 where Elihu expresses a wish that Job be tested 'to the end' (ad netsach). Here the temporal sense shades into finality -- not endless duration but the conclusion of a process. German Ewigkeit and French perpetuite are stretched to cover this, but the contextual meaning is closer to 'thoroughly, to completion.' Some scholars read this as a variant of the temporal sense, but the emphasis on termination rather than continuation marks it as distinct. 1×
AR["النِّهايَةِ"]·ben["শেষ"]·DE["Ewigkeit"]·EN["the-end"]·FR["perpétuité"]·heb["נצח"]·HI["अंत"]·ID["selamanya"]·IT["il-end"]·jav["salaminipun"]·KO["끝"]·PT["fim"]·RU["конца"]·ES["fin"]·SW["mwisho"]·TR["sonsuza"]·urd["آخر"]
5. victory, triumph — Victory or triumph, a single occurrence in 1 Chr 29:11 within David's great doxology: 'Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory (ha-netsach), and the majesty.' This reading, supported by the LXX's nikos and the Vulgate's victoria, influenced the Christian reading of 1 Cor 15:54-55 ('Death is swallowed up in victory'). Spanish la victoria and English 'the victory' both treat this as a martial-doxological term distinct from temporal perpetuity. 1×
AR["وَالنَّصْرُ"]·ben["আর-বিজয়"]·DE["[והנצח]"]·EN["and-the-victory"]·FR["[והנצח]"]·heb["ו-ה-נצח"]·HI["और-जीत"]·ID["dan-kemenangan"]·IT["[והנצח]"]·jav["lan-kamenangan"]·KO["그리고-그-승리와"]·PT["e-a-vitória"]·RU["и-победа"]·ES["y-la-victoria"]·SW["na-ushindi"]·TR["ve-zafer"]·urd["اور-فتح"]
Related Senses
H5921a 1. upon, on, over (spatial) (5443×)H0413 1. directional: to, toward (5366×)H1121a 1. son, male offspring, descendant (4914×)H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)H4428 1. king, human ruler (2518×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H3117 1. day, specific time (2231×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)H6440 1. before, in front of (spatial) (1870×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)H3027 1. physical hand (body part) (1596×)H5704 1. until, unto, as far as (1238×)H1697 1. word, speech, utterance (1235×)H4480a 1. source or separation (1198×)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×)H8141 1. year, unit of time (880×)H8034 1. Name (designation / identifier) (856×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† I. נֵ֫צַח n.m. La 3:18 eminence, enduring, everlastingness, perpetuity (לנצח Ecclus 40:14 as 4 infr.);—נֵ֫צַח 1 S 15:29 + 3 times; נֶ֫צַח Am 1:11 + 36 times; sf. נִצְחִי La 3:18; pl. נְצָחִים Is 34:10;— 1. eminence: נצח ישׂראל the Eminence of Israel (י׳) 1 S 15:29 (DrSam 98 glory of Israel); attribute of God 1 Ch 29:11 (‖ הוד, תפארת et al.). 2. enduring of life, and so life itself as enduring:…