nu describes stopping or invalidating vows, discouraging a people from acting, and thwarting plans.

The attested uses chiefly concern making vows ineffective in the marriage-and-vow setting of Numbers 30. Elsewhere the term describes holding the sons of Israel back from entering the land, frustrating the counsel of nations, and the requested prevention of something reaching the speaker's head.

1. Making vows ineffective · dominant

   In Numbers 30:12, the Hiphil perfect occurs where the husband acts concerning vows and the APB renders that he “breaks them” and that the vows “shall not rise.” Numbers 30:6 and Numbers 30:9 place forms of the term in the same setting of a woman's vows and obligations, though the APB does not isolate a corresponding English expression in those verses.

   Numbers 30:12Numbers 30:6Numbers 30:9
2. Holding people back from a course · common

   In Numbers 32:7, the term is addressed to a plural “you” in the question about forbidding the heart of the sons of Israel from crossing into the land. In Numbers 32:9, it describes those who saw the land and then acted so that the sons of Israel were held back from coming into the land.

   Numbers 32:7Numbers 32:9
3. Thwarting counsel or preventing an outcome · occasional

   In Psalm 33:10, the Hiphil perfect is in the clause about the LORD's action toward the counsel of nations and plans of peoples; the APB renders these actions “frustrates” and “thwarts.” In Psalm 141:5, the Hiphil jussive occurs in a request that the oil on the speaker's head not prevent the stated result.

   Psalm 33:10Psalm 141:5

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB varies between “breaks” in Numbers 30:12, “forbid” or “forbade” in Numbers 32:7, Numbers 32:9, and Psalm 141:5, and “frustrates” or “thwarts” in Psalm 33:10. Its wording in Numbers 30:6 and Numbers 30:9 does not clearly identify the term's individual contribution.