Lexical Summary nasham: To pant, to gasp Original Word: נָשַׁם Strong's Exhaustive Concordance destroy A primitive root; properly, to blow away, i.e. Destroy -- destroy. NAS Exhaustive Concordance Word Origina prim. root Definition to pant NASB Translation gasp (1). Brown-Driver-Briggs [נשׁם] verb pant (Late Hebrew in nouns נְשִׁימָה, נְשָׁמָה, ᵑ7 נִשְׁמָא, נִשְׁמְתָא; late Aramaic Ithpe`el; Syriac  breathe, blow; Arabic  gently breathe (of wind), etc.; see seek a thing with labour and perseverance (Lane3032);  a soul, Laneib.); — pant, of the deep and strong breathing of a woman in travail; Qal Imperfect1singular אֶשֹּׁם Isaiah 42:14. [נִשְׁמָה] noun feminine breath (see Biblical Hebrew, √ נשׁם); — suffix נִשְׁמְתָח Daniel 5:23, i.e. breath of life. Topical Lexicon Core Imagery of Intense Breathing נָשַׁם portrays the sudden, forceful exhalation that accompanies extreme strain or anguish. In Isaiah 42:14 the image is applied to God Himself, likening His long-contained energy to a woman’s final travail before new birth. Scriptural Setting: Isaiah 42:14 “I have kept silent from ages past; I have been quiet and restrained Myself. But now I will cry out like a woman in labor; I will gasp and pant.” This verse stands at the pivot of the Servant Songs. After gentle promises for the nations (Isaiah 42:1-9) and Israel’s blindness (Isaiah 42:18-25), the restrained breath signals that divine patience is ending and decisive salvation-judgment is about to begin. Divine Long-Suffering and Sudden Intervention The Lord’s silence corresponds to centuries of forbearance (Psalm 50:21; Romans 3:25). When He “gasps,” mercy and wrath emerge together: judgment on idolatry, liberation for the oppressed, and the opening of blind eyes (Isaiah 42:15-16). The verb balances God’s tenderness with His unstoppable zeal. Historical Background Eighth-century Judah faced Assyrian domination and the coming Babylonian exile. The labor-gasp metaphor assured the remnant that God’s covenant loyalty was not dormant but gathering momentum toward a redemptive climax, ultimately fulfilled in the Servant’s mission. Intertextual Resonances • Genesis 2:7 – breath that grants life. Together they trace a pattern: God breathes life, restrains His breath in patience, then releases it to renew creation. Christological and Eschatological Connections Isaiah 42:14 foreshadows both the cross, where divine wrath is poured on the sin-bearer (Romans 3:25-26), and the second advent, when “the Lord will slay him with the breath of His mouth” (2 Thessalonians 2:8). New Testament language of birth pains (Matthew 24:8) and delayed yet sudden return (2 Peter 3:9-10) echoes Isaiah’s gasp. Ministry Application 1. Hope for the suffering: apparent silence is divine restraint, not abandonment. Related Themes Patience and wrath of God; Breath of God; Birth imagery; Silence and speech of God; New birth and restoration. Forms and Transliterations אֶשֹּׁ֥ם אשם ’eš·šōm ’eššōm eshShomLinks Interlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel TextsEnglishman's Concordance Isaiah 42:14 HEB: כַּיּוֹלֵדָ֣ה אֶפְעֶ֔ה אֶשֹּׁ֥ם וְאֶשְׁאַ֖ף יָֽחַד׃ NAS: I will both gasp and pant. KJV: like a travailing woman; I will destroy and devour INT: labor will groan gasp and pant will both 1 Occurrence |
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