The Hebrew verb naats means to spurn, despise, or treat with contempt. It describes a deliberate rejection — not merely disliking something but treating it as worthless or beneath consideration. The word is used of Israel spurning the LORD (Numbers 14:11), of spurning wisdom (Proverbs 1:30), and of enemies despising God's people.
Naats (to spurn/despise) is one of the most dangerous postures in the Hebrew Bible. When Israel spurns God at Kadesh Barnea (Numbers 14:11), the consequence is forty years of wilderness wandering. When a son spurns his father's instruction (Proverbs 15:5), foolishness wins. Yet God does not despise the afflicted or the broken-hearted (Psalm 22:24; 69:33) — He lifts what humans spurn. The cross is the ultimate reversal: what the world spurned (a crucified criminal), God vindicated as Lord of all.