Smitten, struck down, or broken β particularly in a spiritual sense of being humbled and contrite before God.
The Hebrew nake (or nakeh) is an adjective from nakah (to strike/smite) meaning one who has been struck or smitten. In its spiritual dimension, it describes the broken, contrite heart β the person who has been struck by God's correction and brought low. Isaiah 66:2 is the key verse: 'These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit (nake ruach) and who tremble at my word.' This connects to Isaiah 53:4: the Servant was 'stricken (nake) by God, smitten by him.'
The theology of nake is paradoxical: being struck is the pathway to being seen by God. Isaiah 66:2 announces that the God who fills heaven and earth looks specifically for the one who is nake ruach β stricken in spirit. Not the impressive, the accomplished, or the self-sufficient, but the broken one. This connects to the Beatitudes: 'Blessed are the poor in spirit' (Matthew 5:3). Isaiah 53 reveals that the Servant Himself became nake β stricken, smitten by God β so that we might be healed. The broken One bore our brokenness.