na.shakh denotes biting, chiefly the harmful strike of serpents and, in two passages, biting language for human aggressors.

The attested use chiefly concerns a serpent’s harmful bite, whether narrated as an attack, stated as a condition of being bitten, or used in a comparison. Two verses extend the same action to people: prophets who “bite with their teeth” and hostile “biters” who arise.

1. A serpent’s harmful bite · dominant

   In Numbers 21:6, the Piel sequential imperfect describes serpents acting against the people; the APB renders the clause “they bit the people.” Qal forms likewise describe a serpent biting someone in Amos 5:19 and Amos 9:3, a serpent’s bite before charm in Ecclesiastes 10:11, and the condition of a person already bitten in Numbers 21:8.

   Numbers 21:6Numbers 21:8Numbers 21:9Amos 5:19Amos 9:3Ecclesiastes 10:11
2. People described as biting or as biters · occasional

   In Micah 3:5, the Qal active participle identifies prophets who lead the people astray and whom the APB says “bite with their teeth.” In Habakkuk 2:7, the plural construct participle is used of those who suddenly arise against the addressed party; the APB calls them “your biters.”

   Micah 3:5Habakkuk 2:7

In the Anselm Project Bible: Across the serpent passages, the APB regularly uses “bites,” “bit,” or “bitten,” including the comparison in Proverbs 23:32. In Micah 3:5 it renders the clause “bite with their teeth,” while Habakkuk 2:7 uses “biters”; these are presentations of the whole clauses rather than definitions.