ייִדישער מחשבֿה אויף שמות 32:19

THE three words karab, “to come near,” naga‘, “to touch,” and nagash, “to approach,” sometimes signify “contact” or “nearness in space,” sometimes the approach of man’s knowledge to an object, as if it resembled the physical approach of one body to another. As to the use of karab in the first meaning, viz., to draw near a certain spot, comp. “As he drew near (karab) the camp” (Exod. 32:19); “And Pharaoh drew near (hikrib) (Exod. 14:10). Naga‘, in the first sense, viz., expressing the contact of two bodies, occurs in “And she cast it (va-tagga‘) at his feet” (Exod. 4:25); “He caused it to touch (va-yagga‘) my mouth” (Isa. 6:7). And nagash in the first sense, viz., to approach or move towards another person, is found, e.g., in “And Judah drew near (va-yiggash) unto him” (Gen. 44:18).