The Hebrew verb naats means to despise, reject with contempt, or to treat with scorn. In its most serious usage it refers to despising God Himself — treating His word, commands, or person with contempt. The word appears in the devastating accusation of Nathan to David: 'You have made the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme.'
The sin of naats — contemptuous rejection — is treated as one of the gravest in the Hebrew Bible. When Israel despised the LORD in the wilderness (Numbers 14:11), it provoked God's most severe responses. The sin is particularly serious because it is willful and deliberate, not accidental. Unlike unintentional sins which had atonement provisions, despising the LORD's word was a 'high-handed' sin (Numbers 15:30-31) that cut one off from the covenant community. Conversely, the servant of Yahweh is 'despised and rejected' (Isaiah 53:3) — bearing the contempt of others for their salvation.