Lexical Summary nidah: Impurity, uncleanness, menstruation, separation Original Word: נִידָה Strong's Exhaustive Concordance removed Feminine of niyd; removal, i.e. Exile -- removed. see HEBREW niyd NAS Exhaustive Concordance Word Originfrom nadad Definition impurity NASB Translation unclean thing (1). Brown-Driver-Briggs נִידָה noun feminine id. (on form compare Ges§ 20, 3, R. 1 Köii. 1, 497); — of Jerusalem Lamentations 1:8 (= נִדָּה Lamentations 1:17). II. נדד (√ of following, see Köii. 1, 42; compare Arabic Topical Lexicon Definition and Conceptual Range The term נִידָה points to the state of being cast off, treated as detestable, and ceremonially unclean. It conveys more than ritual impurity; it pictures a condition of repulsion that forces separation from normal fellowship. The nuance includes moral disgrace as well as physical uncleanness, highlighting the covenantal consequences of sin. Old Testament Usage Lamentations 1:8 records the single occurrence: “Jerusalem has sinned greatly; therefore she has become an object of scorn”. After the Babylonian destruction in 586 B.C., the city is likened to something so defiled that it must be avoided. The word paints Judah’s shame in stark, visceral colors—what was once holy ground is now viewed as contaminated refuse. Literary and Historical Context Lamentations is a series of acrostic laments penned amid the smoldering ruins of Jerusalem. The book personifies the city as a bereaved woman whose sinful rebellion has rendered her untouchable. Employing נִידָה underscores the full force of divine judgment promised in Deuteronomy 28:15–68 and fulfilled in real time. The exile becomes a living demonstration that covenant stipulations were not empty threats but certain outcomes for unrepentant disobedience. Connection to Levitical Purity Laws Leviticus 15 details bodily discharges that render a person ritually impure, compelling separation “until the evening” and demanding purification sacrifices. The Lamentations usage extends that purity paradigm from the sphere of bodily conditions to the moral realm: the emission of sin has made the entire nation a pollution. Thus ritual uncleanness functions as a parable for ethical defilement. Theological Significance 1. Separation from God: Isaiah 59:2 affirms that “your iniquities have separated you from your God.” נִידָה captures that breach. Christological Fulfillment Jesus Christ enters the human condition and touches the untouchable (Mark 5:25–34). On the cross “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:24), assuming the status of נִידָה so that believers might be presented “holy and blameless and above reproach” (Colossians 1:22). Hebrews 13:12—“So Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to sanctify the people by His own blood”—evokes exile language, showing the ultimate remedy for defilement. Practical Ministry Applications • Call to Repentance: Like Jerusalem, churches must face sin candidly, confessing and forsaking it to avoid corporate reproach (Revelation 2:5). Homiletical and Discipleship Insights • Illustrate the gravity of sin through the visceral image of uncleanness. Conclusion נִידָה serves as a riveting theological lens: sin pollutes, God judges, grace restores. The solitary appearance in Lamentations 1:8 distills an era of covenant failure into one searing term, yet Scripture’s unfolding narrative points inexorably toward the cleansing fountain opened at Calvary, where every believer finds deliverance from ultimate defilement. Forms and Transliterations לְנִידָ֣ה לנידה lə·nî·ḏāh leniDah lənîḏāhLinks Interlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel TextsEnglishman's Concordance Lamentations 1:8 HEB: עַל־ כֵּ֖ן לְנִידָ֣ה הָיָ֑תָה כָּֽל־ NAS: she has become an unclean thing. All KJV: sinned; therefore she is removed: all that honoured INT: and after that an unclean has become All 1 Occurrence |
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high hill, hill rising high into the sky, Lane2778; also earth-heap, sand-heap).