to clear
na.qah describes being free from liability or punishment and, in active clauses, clearing or acquitting someone.
The verb most often marks a person as free from an oath, iniquity, accusation, or punishment; in active clauses it describes clearing or refusing to clear someone. The supplied verses use it both for release from obligations or consequences and for the denial of acquittal where wrongdoing is in view.
Senses in use
-
be free of obligation, guilt, or punishment · dominant
Niphal forms describe persons being released or left free in concrete situations: in Genesis 24:8 the servant is released from an oath if the woman will not go, and in Exodus 21:19 the striker is clear when the injured person recovers. In Numbers 5:28 the woman is cleared after the ordeal, while Proverbs 19:5 and Jeremiah 25:29 use the clause negatively, with the APB rendering that a false witness or the inhabitants of the land will not “go unpunished.”
-
clear or decline to acquit another · common
Piel forms occur where a speaker or the LORD is said not to clear someone: in 1 Kings 2:9 the command is not to acquit the man, and in Job 10:14 the speaker says that he is not cleared from iniquity. In Exodus 34:7 and Nahum 1:3, Piel infinitive-absolute forms stand in clauses that the APB renders “clearing he will not clear” and “will by no means clear.”
In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB variously presents the clauses with “clear,” “acquit,” “hold guiltless,” “released,” and “go unpunished.” Because its English is a whole-verse translation, these renderings show the clauses' presentation rather than fixed English equivalents for every form.