From an unused root meaning to shake off or to growl. Naʿar refers to a young male at various stages — from infancy (Moses as a baby, Ex. 2:6) to young adulthood (Joseph at 17, Gen. 37:2). It can also mean a servant or attendant, regardless of age.
The word naʿar appears at pivotal moments in Israel's redemptive story. Isaac is called naʿar on the way to Moriah — the young man who carried the wood for his own potential sacrifice, a type of Christ bearing His cross. Samuel is called naʿar when he first hears God's voice in the temple — the tender, receptive heart of youth open to divine encounter. David is the youngest (naʿar) of Jesse's sons — the unexpected, overlooked one whom God chose. The pattern is consistent: God frequently chooses the young, the small, the overlooked. In Hebrew wisdom literature, the formation of the naʿar is paramount: 'Train up a child (naʿar) in the way he should go' (Prov. 22:6). The New Testament echoes this in Timothy (1 Tim. 4:12 — 'Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young') and in the child (paidion) as the model of kingdom humility (Matt. 18:3).